Why The Bengals Drafted Gresham

Dez Bryant was still on the board. Why would we draft a TE when our "Ocho of the future" was right there? It would have been dumb, that's why. The Bengals WR's are in their 30's, but Dez was not starting for this team in 2010. Jermaine Gresham is going to. Not only is he better than any TE we had prior to drafting him, he is every bit the potential All Pro his press clippings suggest.

He was not interested in partying because he was drafted, he sat home alone to await news of his destination. He can't wait to get to work, apparently, he loves this game, not the money the game blesses him with. What a novel concept.

Some Bengal fans will have to be convinced however. No matter what happens, it was the right pick to make. Pay no mind to the draft snobs who over think such things and cry like fat kids denied a candy bar when their "mock" gets blown to bits. With Gresham there to be had, there was really no alternative that made much sense.

Ever since Antonio Gates took the league by storm as an undrafted FA, the TE position has been compared to a basketball Power Forward. I see our TE position as having been well manned by a "defensive" type in Reggie Kelly for the better part of this last decade. Kelly wasn't going to score you many points (catch a lot of passes) but on the "defensive end" (blocking wise), he was gonna hold his man to single digits. So in conjunction with three very productive scorers (Ocho, TJ, and Henry), Kelly sufficed. Especially when there were so many other positions in more dire need of a personnel upgrade.

As we stood entering this draft however, only one position could be accurately described as being in shambles. That position was Tight End. The only functional starter we had was Reggie Kelly and he is in his mid 30's and coming off an achilles tear. Unlike DE, where Odom is coming off the same injury but several years younger, the Bengals don't have any Micheal Johnson's or Jon Fanene's who, in Kelly's absence, stepped in and proved themselves as viable, productive options at the position. Foschi was serviceable, but he is a backup and we haven't even resigned him.

TE is the only position where there was a prospect that was not only available to us, but that you could also pencil in as our starter the minute we drafted him. His game tape shows he will in all probability be at least a functional blocker as well as an excellent receiver over the middle and in the red zone.

All indications from last season point towards the running game and defense that were the strength's of this team last season getting even better regardless of whatever additions are made via this draft. This team's number one issue is being able to pass the ball effectively because it was quite obvious that Ocho by himself is not going to get it done.

Call me crazy, but I'm not one of those people who think Carson forgot how to throw. I'm also not going to assume that our receiving corp. is automatically fixed due to the signings of Bryant and Jones. While I do believe that those two should definitely improve the pass game, there are still question marks about both players.

We have incredibly talented defensive units like the Ravens and Jets capable of shutting down even the best offenses, and offensive juggernauts like the Chargers and Colts capable of outscoring anybody to contend with in the AFC. It wouldn't have made sense to not simultaneously address our biggest need positionally as well as the team's weakest unit (receiving corp.). Not when a team is lucky enough to have a guy who addresses both of their biggest concerns fall in their lap.

With the 21st Pick in the NFL Draft...

So, we're mere days away from the NFL (something like 60 hours!) I figured I should go ahead and create a blog post about it as it pertains to the Cincinnati Bengals. Well, if you want me to be honest, Brad has been begging me to blog for some time now and I told him I would, so here I am. For all of you to tell me how stupid I am and how little I really know about the draft.

So, where to begin? I think the best thing to do is assess team needs, and the needs, in my opinion at least are as follows and in this order:

1. FS

2. TE

3. OL

4. CB Depth

5. DE

Now, looking at that I know what you're going to say "Wait, you want Gresham and Safety is a more pressing need?" The answer is a simple Yes. And why, you may ask, because Gresham, in terms of talent and potential, is one of the handful of elite talent of this draft. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I'ms aying that there's typically 5-10 guys who have that ridiculous level of talent than there's a drop off. A lot of times, the top teams don't take those guys because they're A. Risky & B. typically not worth the money, especially if they don't pan out (I say this comparing their salaries to that of QBs, OTs & DL)

So, going one by one, this means we need to assess the best players of those positions (I'll list the top 3) along with where I have them listed in my latest big board:

FS - 1. Eric Berry (1) 2. Earl Thomas (13) 3. Nate Allen (36)

Now this is a list of INCREDIBLE FS talent. In most years, each of these guys are the best FS talents in the draft, but in this year, you're talking about essentially 3 FS's who may end up as first round picks, and that's incredibly high for a safety. Usually a safe pick, it is typically passed up because it's one of the less valued (financially speaking) positions on the field. I know that some of you are wondering where Taylor Mays is, but the fact is that he's a SS, and we currently have 3 SS's and 4 safeties who like to get beaten deep. Of these guys, Allen is probably a reach and Berry will be long gone (as I think he's the best player in this draft, period) and that only leaves Earl Thomas who I have going 17th overall in my latest mock draft. If Thomas is there, he'll probably be the pick, but I think he'll be gone unless we decide to trade up and nab him.

TE - 1. Jermaine Gresham (17) 2. Rob Gronkowski (47) 3. Aaron Hernandez (63)

Now we're talking about the #2 area of need and I believe that this class is deep, but there's only one person who's on the first tier and that's Jermaine Gresham. The guy can block and catch, although catching is his strong point. He spent the majority of his time on an explosive offense where he was not only one of the main contributors catching but also spent the majority of his time lined up on the line of scrimmage as a pro style TE. Gronkowski is an option as well, but in the 2nd round and Hernandez, to me, will be too much of a Coffman clone to be worthy of a pick. The main reason this is the biggest need is because, currently, our team's tight end situation is Coats, Coffman & Clark. A long snapper, a guy who's never seen a snap and a man who has shown what piss poor hands he has. Needless to say, Gresham is an immediate upgrade by leaps and bounds.

OL - 1. Russell Okung (5) 2. Bryan Bulaga (9) 3. Trent Williams (11) 4. Bruce Campbell (18) 5. Anthony Davis (19) 6. Mike Iupati (22)

Now this is where it starts to get intriguing. I think Anthony Davis is one of the premier guys and is a guy who could reasonably fall to us. In fact, I've seen mocks where everyone on this list except for Okung have been there when we pick. This is hard to gauge, but if Bulaga is there, I would have a hard time not picking him up and moving Whitworth inside. Williams can come in and play RT or RG as Bobby Williams is getting old. Iupati is a guard and I'm always against drafting a guard in the 1st and Campbell will probably be a Raider. I know everyone thinks we need a guard, but in my opinion, we could benefit more from a tackle and then moving Whitworth back inside than by taking a mauler and keeping Whitworth on the outside.

CB Depth - Joe Haden (8), Kyle Wilson (23), Patrick Robinson (27)

JSCL seems to think we're falling in love with some corners here, but I don't think we add to the CB depth chart til much later in the draft. The reason I list it is because we tried to play last year with, essentially, 3 guys (as one of the 4 was injured at most points in the season) and then using Crocker. We can upgrade in rounds 2-5.

DE - 1. Derrick Morgan (12) 2. Brandon Graham (16) 3. Sergio Kindle (23) 4. Carlos Dunlap (24)

Now this is an interesting predicament because we could conceivably have a great player at an area that has depth but quite a few question marks, as well. Odom has been injured constantly since he's signed on and Geathers is no longer a pass rusher. Fanene has shown he's good in spurts but disappears for long periods at a time and Rucker is a backup. Brandon Graham seems like the prototypical Marvin Lewis pick. Hell of a player who went to and performed extraordinarily well at the Senior Bowl, high character and a team leader. He's also a tweener, as is Kindle. Morgan could be re-united with his teammate The Giraffe, but that's a longshot and Dunlap...would scare all of us. Hopefully someone trades up ahead of us and takes Dunlap before we can (a la Derrick Harvey 2 years ago)

So, conceivably, that would give us the following prospects at 21:

Bryan Bulaga (8), Derrick Morgan (12), Earl Thomas (13), Brandon Graham (16), Jermaine Gresham (17), Bruce Campbell (18), Anthony Davis (19), Mike Iupati (22), Sergio Kindle (23) & Carlos Dunlap (24).

In my opinon, of those guys listed, these guys have a shot of being available when we pick:

Brandon Graham (16), Jermaine Gresham (17), Mike Iupati (21), Sergio Kindle (23) & Carlos Dunlap (24). #20 on my big board is Dan Williams, but he fits better in a 3-4 scheme and our DTs are worked out enough, although I could see us grabbing a DT later on in the draft.

So, what does this say about the draft? It says that it's hard to pick but fun to try. There are a lot of different ways we can go and I'll be happy because I have faith in this staff to make the right picks and maek the most out of the bad ones we get. Typically we do well with our first round picks, but unlike 2007, I don't foresee the #1 guy on our board dropping right to us so we may have to settle for a guy who will be a superstar.

Big Board & Mock Draft coming soon.