Mel Kiper Revisits The 2006 NFL Draft

The Bengals 2005 season was exciting and exciting is a massive understatement. For the first time in 15 years the Bengals went to the playoffs and Carson Palmer, Rudi Johnson and Chad Johnson gave Bengals fans legitimate Super Bowl hopes. Unfortunately, Palmer was seriously injured almost immediately in their first playoff game and they went on to lose to the Steelers.

Heading into the offseason, the Bengals had a late first-round draft pick. They went on the clock at No. 24 and they used that pick to select University of South Carolina cornerback Johnathan Joseph. Of course, four years later the Bengals lost Joseph in free agency to the Houston Texans where he's had an excellent season.

ESPN's Mel Kiper recently went back and revisited the 2006 draft and, since hind sight is 20-20, he picked who each team should have taken.

First, he had Johnathan Joseph being taken off the board before the Bengals went on the clock. Kiper had Joseph drafted at No. 18 by the Dallas Cowboys.

Not much of a surprise for me that Joseph has been this good; the No. 24 overall pick is the kind of player you want locked up with a No. 1 receiver. Certainly in the upper echelon of NFL corners.

Then, at No. 24, Kiper had the Bengals drafting offensive tackle Eric Winston.

In the last five seasons, Winston has started 80 out of a possible 80 games. He plays a big part of what makes Houston's run and play-action game perhaps the best in the NFL.

There's no question that the Bengals could use help on the offensive line. Since they drafted Andrew Whitworth in the second round of the 2006 draft, they would have their two starting tackles for the next few years. Of course they have Andre Smith now but in 2009 they could have picked somebody else with the No. 6 pick that would have helped them out even more.

What do you think about Kiper's pick for the Bengals in 2006?