FInal Draft

The Bengals seemed relaxed and comfortable wading through this year's rich pool of talent in the 2010 NFL Draft. The supposed needs we fans and pundits identified didn't seem to register much with the team's brain-trust, and they exercised faith in their current roster as well as a strict adherence to their blueprint of the future. After the last pick was announced and young, fresh faces held up striped jerseys at local press conferences, the message of last year was echoed once more in this draft: the Bengals are a power team, dammit. Get used to it.

The most reasonable approach to the draft for a grind-house team is to become a physically stronger one and it seems the Bengals did just that.

First-rounder Jermaine Gresham comes with a big muscular frame, and although he is roughly the same weight as the unremarkable J.P. Foschi, he is far more athletic and nimble. While Gresham must prove he can block to avoid landing in the purgatories where Chase Coffman dwells, he certainly appears large enough to get the job done. I'm in favor of bringing back Reggie Kelly, if for nothing else, to simply instruct the youngster on the finer points of blocking. Many pair of eyes will be fixed on how his repaired knee holds up to the training camp grind, but any which way you slice it Gresham is a powerful player with future pro-bowl potential. It's a sensible pick that puts the onus on Bob Bratkowski to actually incorporate the tight end as a viable passing option—something many of us have clamored over for years—and by not choosing Dez Bryant, the pick shows the team's commitment to offensive power formations.

Then the defense got bigger. Weighing in at around 275 pounds, Carlos Dunlap is already adequately sized to play defensive end in the NFL, but the coaches say they want him heavier and would like to play him closer to 300 pounds—Antwan Odom underwent a similar weight-gain last offseason which had positive results. Dunlap was knocked for motivational issues and inconsistent play, but nearly every evaluator sees vast potential in this guy. If Mike Zimmer can turn on the light-bulb in Dunlap's helmet, the team may have scored a ferocious pass-rusher that can play inside on passing downs and become a key defensive specialist. The Bengals like versatile defenders and no team can have too many pass rushers. This pick was a luxurious impulse buy that only good teams with many returning starters can enjoy. If Dunlap makes Cincinnati's top-five defense even better, then you're talking about something truly dominant and that kind of stuff wins Super Bowls.

The third-round pick seems to go against my theory of size and strength, but Jordan Shipley does come with cliché white-receiver superlatives such as scrappy, hard-nosed, reliable, and, oh what the hell, cerebral too. Setting racist sports terminology aside, Shipley did produce some humongous numbers the last two seasons at Texas and is a prototypical slot receiver. The only concern of mine is the possible validity to the claim of one bitter and unpopular Laveranues Coles, that Carson Palmer prefers bigger targets. In Coles' defense, Carson does sail the ball often and smallish guys can only cover so much space. Still, with the addition of Gresham, Antonio Bryant, and Matt Jones—not to mention Dez Briscoe—having a small guy to get lost in the trees may have its benefits. Shipley adds additional pressure to the increasingly crowded receiver battle coming this training camp. Matt Jones is my early pick to be the first castaway. Stay tuned for that one.

What the Bengals didn't do is reach for a guard or a safety. Taylor Mays was still there at No. 21, but he is the same type of safety as both Roy Williams and Chinedum Ndukwe—no need to build a clone army, I suppose. They could have selected Jon Asamoah in the second, but apparently feel okay with their offensive line as it is. Once again, when you only lose one starter from a playoff team, you can select what you want and not what you need.

They did add Brandon Ghee to the defensive backfield and I think he could become the backup to Chris Crocker by Week 1, even though he is listed as a corner. His scouting report mentions big-hitting and an aggressive style of play, but also raises concerns about his technique and footwork. Luckily, the Bengals employ secondary coach Kevin Coyle, whose players regularly impress me with their excellent fundamentals. If the injuries mount once more at the safety position, Ghee may be thrown into action, prepared or not. I already prefer him over the likes of Tom Nelson in a similar scenario, so therefore, the pick is a good one.

Zimmer landed two more projects in the fourth round with tackle Gino Atkins and linebacker Roderrick Muckleroy.

Big Gino is said to have a nice burst at the line of scrimmage along with the proverbial “high motor”. With only three true tackles on the team, adding another belly to the rotation makes Tank Johnson's feet feel better already. It should also be noted that it was reported that Atkins dominated Mike Iupati at the Senior Bowl (that was my last Iupati mention now the he is a 49er, I promise).

As for Muckleroy, well, he's got a great name. The Bengals coaches liked what they saw out of this Longhorn and remarked about how they valued his ability to play different spots. His scouting report talks of good coverage ability, which is an area that needs improved at the middle linebacker position. The starting linebackers are strong but the depth is limited behind them. Even though Muckleroy should initially see mostly special-teams action early on, should Dhani Jones or someone else go down, a guy like this becomes crucial. Like Coyle and his men, linebackers coach Jeff Fitzgerald has a quality track record of developing great players, and while Muckleroy isn't likely to blossom with the likes of Keith Rivers and Rey Maualuga, he could certainly someday become a regular contributor—especially on passing downs.

What's interesting is that the Bengals return every starter on defense, yet invest four out of their first six picks on that side of the ball. They did compliment those picks nicely with passing-game help which screamed to be addressed, but while the experts insist that the NFL is a passing league based around speed and deception, the Bengals grow larger and more brutish with nearly every move. Is this road less traveled ahead of the curve or a stubborn and futile insistence to do things Marvin's way? After winning the division with only the first phase of morphing the Bengals into a smash-mouth team, I'd say the man has a good handle on what he's doing.


Mojokong—proud blogger of the AFC North Champion, Cincinnati Bengals; lest we forget.

Trading Down to Get A Leg Up

If Charley Casserly is even remotely correct in his assessment that this year's draft is the best since 1983, then a quality team with limited immediate needs like the Cincinnati Bengals may want to trade down and gain even more picks from such a stockpile of treasure.

Take a look at the 1983 draft. The list includes six Hall-of-Famers and 40 Pro Bowlers, such as: John Elway, Dan Marino, Eric Dickerson, Tim Krumrie (10th Round), and punter Reggie Roby (Reggie's name is historically glossed over in that draft, but he was a three-time Pro-Bowler and one of my very first football cards so he makes this list. It's also worth mentioning that he was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds as a pitcher when he came out of high school).

The idea that any draft can live up to that kind of stardom is an unfair expectation, but that isn't to say that this year’s is not a doozie. What makes it so formidable, experts say, is its depth at so many positions. Watching the NFL Combine on television, I heard the phrase “can find a good one in the middle rounds” countless times. Many positions are loaded to the gills with starter-caliber talent. That means teams choosing later in the first round don't need to feel pressured to move up to cover that one worrisome position. In fact, with talent pouring out from every orifice, the third-best player at a certain position may only be marginally ahead of the top-rated player, which really takes the pressure off of the front office to make that crucial pick.

The most urgent area of improvement for the Bengals is their passing game—no secret there. It is widely believed that if the twenty-first pick rolls around and Dez Bryant remains on the board, Cincinnati will choose him and make him the newest member of a revamped wide-receiving corps. The pick makes sense—Bryant could very well turn out to become an electrifying play-maker with his impressive size and speed—but what about the other receivers rated closely behind him? If all the really coveted prospects are gone by the time the Bengals pick, including Bryant, I like the idea of trading if possible to move back and get another middle-round pick.

Signing Antonio Bryant sheds some of the need to draft a receiver with the first pick. Tight end Jermaine Gresham could both help the passing game and also become a starter right away, but with Reggie Kelly apparently on the mend, the insistence of Bob Bratkowski to ignore the tight end in the first place, and Marvin Lewis' concerns of the heath of this year's tight-end crop, it all leads me to believe that the team is not that worried about radically improving the position.

Any rookie receiver the Bengals might draft would become the third-receiver at best when they begin their career. Identifying starting receivers in the NFL can be tricky as teams often use multiple wide-receiver sets, but Dez Bryant, Golden Tate, or anyone else would likely not be too involved in the majority of snaps. Seems to me that if they aren't going to compete for a starting job, they aren't worth a first-round pick in such a rich draft. An early second-round receiver could provide a similar short-term impact to the offense and passing game, and that is what this draft should be about: winning now.

Cincinnati already has nine picks thanks to the third and fourth-round compensatory picks for losing Stacy Andrews and T.J. Houshmandzadeh in free-agency last offseason. Since the defense is exactly the same as last year's top-five unit, and the successful running game only lost Larry Johnson, the Bengals can inject huge doses of top-notch depth to a bruising, physical team and focus on the limited roster concerns that currently exist. I say that if the first-round wish-list is depleted once the Bengals are on the clock, Mike Brown, Marvin Lewis, or whoever else is in charge at the time, should get on the phone and make a deal that gets them another pick or two later on.

With the unknown future of the league, coupled with Mike Brown's curious football operation decisions, the best plan of action for the Bengals is to stock the shelves behind the starters with some worthwhile product. That way, once other teams start buying Cincinnati's players once they become high-priced free-agents, a nice replacement awaits to undergo the same process. The Bengals might not ever go 14-2 that way, but at least they can consistently be somewhere near nine wins a season and be considered a perennial winning team. After 2010, I'm afraid we may slip back into the darkness of losing if Cincinnati cannot compete financially. Playing it smart, trading down for more picks and adding more depth in this bumper-crop draft could help the Bengals make a run next year while simultaneously buying them a couple more seasons of fielding a competitive team in the future.


Mojokong—April is the cruelest month.

The Silent Shift of Power

The offseason is a time to take a hard look at the future. Front-office personnel and fans alike analyze and debate their team's strengths and weaknesses and try to make out a road map for the immediate years ahead. A handful of meaningful signatures alter the shape of a team and a new facade is constructed year after year. This year for the Bengals however, one man has yet to scribble his name in ink. Without that, it becomes impossible to speculate about Cincinnati's future in any great detail.

It has been written that Marvin Lewis wants more control of the organization with his new contract. He will enter his eighth year with the Bengals this upcoming season and is six away from the most wins in franchise history; his request for more pull seems fair and deserved. With the Draft rapidly approaching, it would make sense to think negotiations on that front should be heating up. After all, if Marvin gets what he's after then this should be his draft, but if team ownership is unwilling to concede some of its absolute power then it becomes Mike Brown's draft, and I for one just don't like the sound of that.

Speculating on the inner-workings of the Bengal brain trust is like trying to become an expert on North Korea—there's very little to work with—but it does seem that Marvin has surpassed his coaching predecessors in the influence he has over player-personnel decisions. I remember in 2003 when Lewis first arrived, Cincinnati loaded up on mid-range free agents that seemed hand picked by him. As average as those guys seemed at the time—Kevin Hardy, Tori James, John Thornton, Reggie Kelly, and Carl Powell—they immediately gave the Bengals an injection of credibility and helped build a foundation of Marvin Guys.

Then in training camp last year, Marvin himself said that the 2009 team was composed of “his guys” and that the season was “on him”. To me, that sounds as if some of the players prior to that season were not Marvin Guys, but instead Mike Brown Guys. Marvin's Guys bulldozed the AFC North and made the playoffs, while players like T.J. Houshmandzedah and Stacy Andrews have already rankled people in their new cities.

At this point, Marvin appears to know exactly what kind of system he wants his team to operate within. He knows the kind of people he can effectively work with and what personalities to prune for the good of the team. If given the final say on player moves, there is little reason to think the Bengals won't continue to win. But if he is refused such power in Cincinnati, I think he will move on and find it elsewhere and a new wave of ruinous instability will wash through Paul Brown Stadium once again.

History has shown that Mike Brown is comfortable running the entire front office alone. Any dumbbell can do the math and see that his track record without Marvin is laughably poor. It seems extremely unlikely that Brown will suddenly cave and bring in a general manager from outside the organization, so that means the promotion of Marvin to such a post is our only hope of attaining any operational normalcy compared with the rest of the NFL.

I see the optimal contract for Marvin being a four to five-year extension as head coach with extended responsibilities, and then making the transition to full-time general manager and appointing his own successor on the sidelines. A move like that would do wonders for the near-fatally damaged public image of Mike Brown. To admit someone like Marvin, who is of sound football intelligence, can do the job better than he, would personally impress me and force me to back off my torment of the man.

Yet if Brown is to do so, it should be now. Drafting players with an uncertainty of who may be coaching them in the near future is risky and bad for business. There is something poetically profound in Bill Parcells' statement that “if they want you to cook the dinner, at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries.” Marvin Lewis should be allowed the same consideration; it's up to Mr. Brown to stay out of the kitchen.



Mojokong—chronicler of the power struggle.

Bringing Bobbie Back

Bobbie Williams, the Cheshire Cat of the Cincinnati Jungle, returns with a new contract giving the fuzzy big man plenty to smile about. The move is by no means surprising. Bobbie has now played for Marvin Lewis for many years and was the veteran presence of last year's impressive o-line. From the outside, he appears to be an emotional leader on the team and every Bengal fan loves the elation he displays after wins.

Bringing back the unrestricted-free agent veteran does prompt a few questions though.

The first of which is, do the Bengals draft Mike Iupati if he is still there? I've made my feeling clear on this: absolutely, yes. It isn't unrealistic to think that Iupati could become a top-five guard fairly soon in his career and remain there for years to come. Because he plays arguably the lowest profile position on the field, he isn't valued fairly and that factor will benefit some mid-first round team immensely; why not the Bengals?

The way the Bengals are shaping up, the offensive line remains the most important facet of the team. Bobbie Williams is old, and Evan Mathis and Nate Livings have not sold me on becoming long-term fixtures. To this day I prefer Andrew Whitworth at guard, but I have come to accept him as a left tackle and feel okay about his future there. Kyle Cook is good in the middle—though I would like to add some competition for that spot—and Goo has to sit in at right tackle for at least the next four years to translate into a worthwhile pick. That means the most obvious room for improvement on the line is at guard. If all of this true, than it makes total sense to both resign Bobbie Williams and draft Mike Iupati if possible.

The other question is, how rapidly are Bobbie's skills fading as he ages? I feel as if his play declined last season. You could say it was a marginal drop, but it was like a coffee stain on a dress shirt; it was there, we just did our best not to notice. Not to say that Bobbie is a bum—far from it. Benson would not have been that good last year if Williams was constantly blowing it. Run-blocking is his strength; he's big and can push people backward. But pass-protection is the first thing to go for an old grizzly bear of Bobbie's age and mileage, and the wear-and-tear is already showing.

I don't anticipate Bobbie to completely fall apart in 2010, and he may not decline much from last season at all. But if injuries or general slowness make him a problem, having depth behind him becomes even more paramount. Therefore, the answer to the second question is: the drop off in his productivity is enough of a concern to keep an eye on, but not enough to panic over.

Even if Bobbie simply provides leadership and consistency to his line mates, he's worth bringing back. This is a group that Marvin said “rose from the ashes” last season and credited a lot of that to Bobbie and his veteran presence on the squad. Sure he cuts into the meager budget under which the Bengals operate in comparison to most teams, but if Marvin okays the deal I assume it to be important. My only concern is that with Williams resigned, the team now considers the guard position secure or fixed, and ignores it throughout the off-season. If not consistently addressed with youth, depth and competition, the offensive line—the lynchpin of the team's success—could return to the ashes faster than we'd like.

Mojokong—patches won't hold the dam forever.