By Adam Kiefaber
Last year at this time, fans of the Cincinnati Bengals were confident that their team was good enough to make a run at the Super Bowl.
It is amazing on how drastically things have changed.
The offensive line didn’t open holes, Rudi Johnson looked slow, Odell Thurman wasn’t reinstated, Chad Johnson feuded with Carson Palmer and the defense couldn’t stop anyone.
Now, the Bengals have the ninth overall pick in the NFL Draft and need to do something to get their fans believing in Super Bowl aspirations once again.
I decided to take eleven of the most recent mock drafts I could find and use them to find out what the Bengals might do.
Before I breakdown the top nine picks, let’s see which players are being predicted as the Bengals No. 9 pick. (In order of probability)
- 45.5% - 1) LSU DT Glenn Dorsey - A staggering five of 11 of the most recent mock drafts that I could find had the Bengals selecting Dorsey. 99.9 percent of Cincinnati fans would be dancing in the street if this actually happened. Here is the list of sites having the Bengals landing Dorsey - profootballexperts.com, Foxsports.com, WalterFootball.com, TheFootballExpert.com, footbalsfuture.com.
- 18% - 2t) OSU DE Vernon Gholston Fans of the Cincinnati Bengals would love this pick as well. After his amazing performance in the combine, some mock drafts have Gholston going as high as No. 2 overall. The Bengals would jump at the opportunity to draft Gholston, but he probably won’t be there when they pick at No. 9. These two mock drafts have Cincinnati taking Ghoston - Draft King, mynfldraft.com.
- 18% - 2t) Clemson DE Phillip Merling - If the draft was today and Cincinnati selected Merling, many fans would get on google to find out who in the world they were drafting. However, Merling is the prototypical big defensive end. Scouts describe Merling as a perfect fit for the 3-4 defense because of his size. These are the sites predicting Merling - NFL Draft Countdown, CBSSports.com.
- 9% - 4t) Miami FS Kenny Phillips The Bengals could use a safety and Phillips could be a good one, but they could trade down and still get Phillips. This site newnfldraft.com has Cincinnati taking Phillips.
- 9% - 4t) USC OLB Keith Rivers Cincinnati desperatly needs linebacking help. According to most mock drafts, Rivers would be available later on in the draft. However, this mock draft nfldraftdog.com has Cincinnati taking him.
- Let’s break it down pick by pick (# out of 11 mock drafts)
No. 1 Miami Dolphins - Jake Long (2), Chris Long (8), Matt Ryan (1)
No. 2 St. Louis Rams - Chris Long (3), Glenn Dorsey (2), Jake Long (3), Vernon Gholston (3)
No. 3 Atlanta Falcons - Matt Ryan (8), Sedrick Ellis (1), Jake Long (2)
No. 4 Oakland Raiders - Darren McFadden (6), Sedrick Ellis (1), Glenn Dorsey (2), Jake Long (2)
No. 5 Kansas City Chiefs - Jake Long (2), Ryan Clady (4), Glenn Dorsey (1), Sedrick Ellis (4)
No. 6 New York Jets - Vernon Gholston (3), Darren McFadden (5), Sedrick Ellis (1), Mike Jenkins (1), Leodis McKevin (1)
No. 7 New England Patriots - Mike Jenkins (1), Vernon Gholston (3), Ryan Clady (1), Leodis McKelvin (5), Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (1)
No. 8 Baltimore Ravens - Sedrick Ellis (2), Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (1), Matt Ryan (2), Brian Brohm (2), Leodis McKelvin (1), Mike Jenkins (1), Aqib Taib (2)
NO. 9 CINCINNATI BENGALS
Who is the selection? Like last year it will be the player that falls to them, but there is a good chance that Gholston, Ellis and Dorsey will be gone by the time the Bengals pick. However, one of those three should be there at No. 7. New England should be willing to trade down unless the Patriots really want that player.
Other News - Bengals get a LB
If the Bengals had drafted Virginia linebacker Darryl Blackstock (left) in the third round of the NFL Draft, I would have gave a good ole Tiger Woods fist pump.
At the time of the ‘05 NFL Draft, I was updating a sports talk radio station’s Web page with mock drafts and articles about possible players that the Bengals could draft. Blackstock was definitely one of those players.
After a junior season where he led all linebackers on the level of play formerely called Division I-A, Blackstock decided to forgo his senior season. Like his college teammate and now NFL teammate Ahmad Brooks, Blackstock (6′ 3″ 245 lbs.) is a young linebacker with size.
Personally, I really liked this player in college and I’m excited to see him play in the preseason. According to sources, Blackstock agreed to a one-year deal, so he will be playing with something to prove.
Other news - Falcons sign Alex Stepanovich
Stepanovich started four games and saw action in 12 games at center last season with the Bengals.
Many Bengal supporters are still not sold on Eric Ghiaciuc. Dan Santucci looked solid during the preseason, but he might be better suited to play guard. The Bengals could be looking at centers in the draft or on the free agent market.
I know Ghiaciuc is young, but he doesn’t seem like the answer at center. He would make a quality backup, but it would be nice for Cincinnati to get a starter. Some of the familiar names in the free-agent market are Todd Steussie, John Wade and Casey Wiegmann. There doesn’t seem to be a high profile center in this year’s draft.
The best option could be moving guard Bobbie Williams to center and to start tackle Stacy Andrews at right guard.
Rumor: Shaun Alexander coming back home?
ESPN.com put a rumor about Shaun Alexander on its “Rumor Central” page.
The title reads, “Bengals, Alexander might be a match” - to read the rumor one would have to sign up for ESPN Insider. The rumor doesn’t have much truth to it, ESPN.com obviously made it up so Bengal fans would sign up for its service.
This is what it says -
With deals to acquire T.J. Duckett and Julius Jones in the backfield, the Seahawks will have to do something with Alexander, John Clayton reports.
Cutting or trading him doesn’t have much of an impact on the cap. They would lose $150,000 of cap room by trading him. If they put the June 1 cut on him, they would save $4.475 million of cap room.
One interesting option for Alexander could be the Cincinnati Bengals. Alexander grew up in Florence, Ky., and is popular around Cincinnati. For years, there were plenty of rumors that the Bengals might try to acquire him in a trade.
Do we want Alexander? Any thoughts on Blackstock? Who would you like to see the Bengals draft?
7 comments ↓
We definitely don’t want Alexander. Last year, Alexander was badly outperformed by his back-up behind the same line. What’s worse is that he had clearly lost a step and was shying away from contact (he would actually turn to take the blow instead of continuing his charge ahead). His time as an effective running back is gone.
Blackstock is a decent move. At the worst, he provides cheap depth for a year. At best, he actually flashes some of the potential people saw in him in 2005 and becomes a borderline starter (or, possibly on this team, a starter by default anyway).
not been much to talk about lately. any news coming?
Yeah not much happening. Tab Perry could be deciding on where he will be signing soon, according to the team’s Web page. Personally, I thought Perry is a good kick returner, but might not be focused enough to be a solid receiving threat or at least that is the impression I got after a terrible preseason last year.
The Bengals re-signed linebacker Roy Manning to a one-year deal. The move doesn’t mean that much, Manning will see most, if not all, his playing time on special teams. Hopefully, Cincinnati will bring in a coupe of other linebackers in to compete for his job.
The further we get in free agency, the more I want the Bengals to acquire Ben Utecht. I will probably talk more about him soon.
Also, there is always draft talk until late April.
hey since the bengals are talking about a kick returner why not ask Joshua Abrams to try out. He is an Ohio U product and averaged 26 yds a return. It’s only a try out and would not cost them a pick in the draft.
Trust me, I would love that, but the Bengals already have one Abrams and his name is DeDe Dorsey. In Ohio’s opener this past season, Abrams blocked three punts in that one game. Dorsey blocked a punt last year and returned it for a TD - I would love the Bengals to keep Dorsey, but with Irons, Perry, Watson, Rudi and a possible draft pick it is hard to see the Bengals keeping a roster spot for Dorsey or Abrams.
Yeah the blocked punt that went for a TD I was at that game in the endzone it happenen in. THe Arizona game. though cincy lost it was the best play of the year IMO.
I was there too. It was awesome and so unexpected. Damn Antrel Rolle!
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