FanPost

A little different take on the draft from a Cincy fan

Everywhere you look there is a mock draft mocking cornerback to the Bengals. While I'm not completely against the idea, I know we need some more youth in the defensive backfield, I'm not sold it's a first round need. I personally think the best option for the Bengals, with their first pick, wherever that may end up being(trade downs always being on the table) would be a linebacker.

This is not a post to to call for Cincy to go out and take Ryan Shazier, although I do think he'll be a good pro, I believe the better prospect is Kyle Van Noy out of BYU. Kyle Van Noy is a versatile linebacker that is athletic enough to play any position for Cincy. If we were to take KVN and insert him into our lineup, I think he'd do best on the weakside. Now I know what you're thinking, Vontaze Burfict mans the weakside! Yes, yes he does, and he does it at an all pro level. But, hear me out here, drafting KVN and replacing Vontaze with him would allow us to completely re-tool out linebacking core. Move Vontaze inside, where he quit honestly would probably be even better, and slide Rey 58 over to the strong side replacing James Harrison, and where I think he'd be much better suited playing at. If it doesn't work out, then slide Vontaze back over and you can move KVN around due to his versatility.

Now with the second pick we have, I think the best route to go would be at the center position, It's a position that needed to be addressed before Kyle Cook was let go and now even more so. The two guys I think would work best are Weston Richburgh out of Colorado St. and Marcus Martin out of USC. To be honest, I don't care which we on get as I feel they are both great fits for what we need here in Cincy. Also I think the chances of landing on of these two guys is pretty good, the only other team I see prioritizing OC with a round two pick this year is San Francisco, who have a kings ransom in picks and will probably get whoever they like better with some savvy trading. Cincy should just sit tight in round two and grab whichever one falls to them.

Round 3 is where it gets kind of difficult. Everyone says we should look at quarterbacks with our third round pick, guys like Aaron Murray, Tom Savage, or A.J. McCarron. I disagree. By this time hopefully the Bengals have acuried more picks with some trades and can be more flexible, but either way I say we take BPA of the defensive lineman or cornerbacks. A guy like E.J. Gaines would be perfect for us. He completely shut down Mike Evans when Mizzou played Texas A&M, and he's a physical guy who can play man coverage. I really believe he's going to be a steal. If not him then hopefully Jackson Jeffcoat will still be available. One darkhorse pick here would be a tightend if a top one is still available, I'm talking about C.J. Fiedorowicz. Jermaine may not be in the Bengals long term plans and getting a guy that can play opposite Tyler Eifert could be on the agenda in this years draft. If not C.J. Fiedorowicz, then maybe Arthur Lynch later in the draft, one he's a good player, and two, he played for Georgia and that just seems like a trend for us.

There you go, my take on how this should roll out, what do you all think? Am I out of my mind or do you agree just a little? Let me know!

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Cincy Jungle's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan, which is as important as the views of Cincy Jungle's writers or editors.