Decent Draft Overshadowed by Ongoing Problems

The Bengals' selection of some very promising players is overshadowed by two problems that have plagued us in the past and still need to be addressed.  But before discsussing this and the strengths of the draft, let's address the most controversial pick of the weekend.

The Jury is Still Out

Jerome Simpson, WR, Coastal Carolina: Roughly 80% of Bengals fans hate this pick but I really don’t mind it.  The main reason most seem to hate this pick is because people believe we could’ve gotten him in the third round or later.  But in hindsight, Mark Curnutte reports that the Steelers were considering picking Simpson seven slots later.  What we often lose sight of on draft day is that the 32 NFL teams aren’t using Mel Kiper’s draft board.  Each team spends months looking at film, visiting with and ranking their own players and we don’t know what any team’s draft board looks like.  With the mixed reviews on Malcolm Kelly and Limas Sweed, after doing some research on Simpson, there is reason for excitement.  He’s 6-2, has a 41 1/2 inch vertical and runs in the 4.4’s.  Not only that, he has freakishly long arms and enormous hands, which counts for a couple extra inches of height (why 6-6 Eric Hicks played like he was 6-10 for your Cincinnati Bearcats).  Considering all this, Simpson sounds like a potential stud to me.  That being said, by making this selection over other top name receivers, his entire career  should draw step by step comparisons to both Malcolm Kelly and, especially, Limas Sweed who wound up going to Pittsburgh (maybe only because Simpson was gone).  Yes, the pick is questionable but it deserves at least a couple of years to play out before it is ripped as heavily as it has been already.

Two Common Problems

The selection of Fresno State defensive tackle, Jason Shirley makes no sense.  We heard phrases like “high character,” “great motor” and “effort guy” for Keith Rivers, Jerome Simpson, Pat Sims, Andre Caldwell and Corey Lynch.  Then we pick up a guy who played three games his senior season because he was suspended.  He also is awaiting his court date for suspicion of drunk driving.  Have we not learned anything from damaging suspensions and the public ridiculing of drafting problem players in the past?  Yes, it is a late round selection but up until this pick, we seemed to have shed the mentality of drafting guys with questionable character at a discount.  But, apparently, those days are not over.  Odds should be created on whether this guy will get a DUI in our city (with no public transportation and very few taxis) in the next calendar year. 

As has been previously pointed out on WDR, the Bengals continually get outmaneuvered by other football teams who, unlike us, make the extra effort to get the guys they want most.  It may have been expensive this time as it cost us elite USC defensive tackle, Sedrick Ellis.  What makes it even more frustrating is that the whole football world knew that New Orleans was going to do this for three weeks. But on draft day, we just sat back apathetically and let it happen.  The missed selection of Ellis would have filled a vacant need of DT right away.  Perhaps  defensive tackles, Pat Sims and Jason Shirley will pan out eventually and shore up our defensive line but the likelihood is lower than if we would’ve drafted Ellis.  One has to think that the reason we don’t make trades on draft day is because we are intimidated at the possibility of handling any changes.  How else can we pass up 9 additional draft picks to move down 9 spots in 1999?  The Bengals refusal to move in the slightest on draft day when other teams are aggressively pursuing the guys they want continues to be a huge problem.

Strengths of the 2008 Draft

Keith Rivers:  After getting passed the sting of having New Orleans thieve Ellis from us, it is hard not to be excited about Keith Rivers.  He plays all three linebacker spots and looks like he will be in the starting lineup right away.  The possibility of having Rivers, Brooks and Thurman in the linebacker rotation on draft day is certainly promising.

Getting 3 Wide Receivers: Message to Chad...we will move on without you.  While we didn't see a trade for Chad go down on draft day, we have put ourselves in a position to more comfortably let him hold out or trade him after June 1st with a lesser salary cap hit for 2009 and/or 2010 picks.  Hopefully, we choose the latter to rid ourselves of all the headaches but even if we don’t, we’ve drafted some potential replacements.

-Pat Sims: Pat Sims, defensive tackle from Auburn was consistently rated highly with Trevor Laws and is 3 inches taller and 20 pounds heavier.  There definitely was some panic when we chose Simpson over Trevor Laws and Pat Sims but with Sims falling to us in round 3, selecting a receiver seemed to be the proper move in Round 2.  Again though, scrutinizing comparisons between Laws and Sims are much deserved due to our selection in round 2.

Final Diagnosis:  Decent Draft.  If I had to rate it, I'd say 6 out of 10. We drafted some very promising players but there continues to be two main concerns in drafting problem children at a discount and refusing to move up to get the best possible players to fill our most desparate needs.  While I think we did pretty well on the whole, these two problems have been ongoing for years and continue to hinder our chances at making the playoffs and winning a Super Bowl.

Comments

[John A. Schizzle]

I like the kid from Fresno State. I mean we don't want a football team full of Nancy's do we? He could be our next Termaine Mack!