Bengals 2012 Free Agency/Draft Thoughts

Here are my humble thoughts on what I would like the Bengals to accomplish this offseason.

I think we all agree that there are some glaring needs on this team that we need to fill in order for us to take that next step. Gonna just go down the list in order of priority.

Guard: A great offense starts with a great offensive line. No other way around it. If we want Andy Dalton to have any kind of continued success we need to protect him. With Bobby William's age and injury, and Nate Livings being awful, this is our biggest area of concern in my opinion. There are a few high level guards that are hitting free agency this year. Mathis, Nicks, and Grubbs come to mind (Mathis being unlikely based on the way he left town). We have the cap room to sign one, we just need Mikey boy to open up the pocketbook. If we cant get one in free agency we definitely need to address this position in the draft. Would love to see David DeCastro with our first pick if hes still there. If not, guys like Cordy Glenn, Kelechi Osemele, or Kevin Zeitler would be good options with our later pick or maybe round two.

Solution: Drafting David DeCastro with Pick 1A

Corner Back: Damn losing J-Jo hurt. It sucks thinking how good this defense might have been if we hadnt lost him. Now with Leon Hall's injury, this is a definite need. I don't really see many free agent corners that look like they would be a good fit. Someone mentioned Terrel Thomas earlier and he might be ok. Anyways I think we need to fill this need in the draft. One of our first two picks needs to be a corner unless something crazy happens (ie Richardson and DeCastro falling to us). Would love to see Kirkpatrick fall to us, but I think realistically either Alfonso Dennard (not a huge fan), Chase Minnifield, or Stephon Gilmore with one of our 1st rounders.

Solution: Drafting Chase Minnifield with Pick 1B

Safety: First off I think we need to resign Reggie Nelson. He struggled at times but overall I think he had a good season. Chris Crocker is terrible and needs to go. Would like to see us make a play for LaRon Landry if we could get him. If not we could try to go for Mark Barron in the draft. Hes the only one that looks like an immediate solution to me from this weak safety class. If we cant get either we hope and pray Robert Sands or Taylor Mays can step it up.

Solution: Signing LaRan Landry

Running Back: Cedric Benson sucks. Old, slow, lacks good vision, and he fumbles at the worst times. Got to go. Bernard Scott looks ok, but im not sold on him. I think this isnt as important as the other big positions of need. With good offensive line play, even an average running back can excel. Either way I think we need to get a true west coast back. No more slow, truding types. We can fill this position several ways. In free agency we could go after guys like Micheal Bush or Peyton Hillis. Both would probably be expensive though (maybe not Hillis thanks to his off-field antics), so I would rather fill this position through the draft. Not sold on picking any back in round 1 unless his name is Trent Richardson. Would rather go with guys like Doug Martin or Isaiah Pead in the third.

Solution: Drafting Doug Martin with our 2nd and Isaiah Pead with one of our 3rd rounders

Wide Reciever: Dont think Jerome Simpson is coming back with his whole legal situation. Opens up a slight hole for a #2 reciever. We have plenty of good slot guys (Shipley, Gresham, Hawkins) and a good jump ball guy (AJ), so i would like to see a speedy guy here. Open up the field for the slot guys and take advantage of the double teams AJ will dray. Would really like to see this filled in free agency. No high price guys (Vincent Jackson, DeSean Jackson) but maybe a Robert Meachem or Pierre Garcon. Absolutley dont want to see us use a high round pick on a reciever. Maybe try using a late round flier on a guy like Tim Benford or Marquis Maze.

Solution: Signing Robert Meachem

I think this would build an awesome team for next year to get us back to the playoffs. What do you guys think?