Open Thread: Post-Friday Reactions

Well, the picks are in. In the second round, the Bengals went after and pulled in Carlos Dunlap, a defensive end from Florida. We've talked about him quite a bit, and here's the announcement thread with the scouting report on him in case you want to refer to it. Dunlap seems determined to have a good career, and he's saying the right things so far.

"They're going to talk about a lot of things, and I know there's a lot of things I need to work on myself, right now I'm just taking all that in as motivation and I'm looking forward to my NFL career and proving a lot of people wrong, that's all I can do." - Dunlap

One last piece on Dunlap from ESPN: "f he realizes his potential he'll be a steal here. He is worth the risk at this point in the draft."

How he fits: Antoine Odom was the team's most productive pass-rusher and he's coming off an Achilles? injury. Second-year player Michael Johnson needs to step it up from his rookie season. The team needed another force at defensive end that can play on all three downs and not force the team into sub-packages to get to the quarterback. The defense was certainly a strong suit last year, but additional pass-rush will make them even better.

Then, the Bengals made a huge mistake in the eyes of some Bengals fans, at least here around Cincy Jungle, picking Texas WR Jordan Shipley. Shipley is known for his separation ability, route-running, and ball skills. He's said to be one of the most polished receiving prospects in the draft, and should fill an immediate need for consistency at the slot receiving position. Shipley also provides return skills should Quan Cosby falter. The thing about Shipley is, he doesn't do anything worse than Gilyard. He runs routes just as well, he probably runs more refined routes, has better ball skills, and scouting reports seem to indicate that he's a more consistent blocker.

The only evaluations I've seen on Shipley so far on Twitter come from Chris Mortensen.

1: Bengals take Jordan Shipley. Love the pick #nfldraft

2: You know Carson Palmer is loving Gresham, Shipley & Antonio Bryant. #nfldraft

On Shipley, Yahoo! Sports gives similar glowing reviews of the pick:

National Football Post: Shipley gives the Bengals a much-needed presence in the slot. He isn't the biggest or fastest of wideouts. However, he's got a good feel vs. zone, knows how to pluck the football and will move the chains on third down.

ESPN's draft tracker likes his consistency. I think you will, too.

How he fits: Chad Ochocinco and newly-acquired Antonio Bryant will most likely be the outside starters, but Shipley's route running and sure hands will enable him to compete for the slot role with Andre Caldwell. There are question marks at the position, but his consistency will not be one.

Hard to be down on the guy after all that. We'd love the pick if Gilyard wasn't on the board. One last word on Shipley, from SI's scouting report:

Extends his hands to make the reception and offers the quarterback a nice target. Works hard running after the reception using his blocks everywhere on the field. Displays tremendous focus and concentration, comes away with the difficult reception in a crowd and easily adjusts to the errant throw.Outstanding eye/hand coordination, and is a sure-handed receiver. Recognizes defenses, and cuts short routes to find the open space on the field. Effective as a downfield blocker.

With the compensatory pick, the Bengals selected Brandon Ghee (pronounced Jee), a cornerback from Wake Forest. Ghee essentially projects to be an average-to-good 3rd corner for Cincinnati. He provides depth and will likely be the team's 4th or 5th corner going into the year, depending on David Jones' future. Morgan Trent should retain his nickel role ahead of Ghee. Ghee was actually present at the draft in New York, and got to take a picture with the commissioner Roger Goodell. 

National Football Post: A gifted size/speed athlete who does a nice job when asked to get his hands on receivers and press off the line. But he isn't real technically sound and will struggle when asked to play in off man.