Tackle prospect Michael Oher looked really good, save for a holding call on fourth-and-one that was converted, during Saturday's Senior Bowl. Scout.com moved Oher to the second spot in their mock draft, while the Bengals selected Everette Brown, a defensive end from Florida States. Eugene Monroe, the third offensive tackle drafted in their mock, goes to the Raiders as the seventh pick.
Marvin Lewis' North squad lost Saturday's Senior Bowl, 35-18, with Pat White engineering two scoring drives and winning the game's MVP. What could be concerning, or typical, or pointless to examine, is the North squad's offensive possessions. In four of 13 possessions, the North went three-and-out, five turnovers (two were turnover on downs late in the game), on the losing end of first downs (13-17), total yards (280-353) and a terrible yards-per-rush average (2.9). We're not deeply examining this game; where there's hardly any preparation, zero development of team unity, zero adjustment to the player's talents; nevertheless, as Bengals fans, we've seen this type of offense before. Trivial pointless Bob Bratkowski complaining.
Much of the "oh my god" terrible came from Graham Harrell, who not only completed four of 13 passes, including a pick, but is now being noted as having terrible arm strength. Chris Steuber writes of Harrell that "it's obvious that taking snaps under center for the first time has taken a toll on Harrell and his ability to perform at a high level. However, his lack of arm strength is alarming. Harrell had no lift on the ball, which was caused by his feet not being properly set."
Going 0-2 is really meaningless for Marvin Lewis, who by now should have a good idea which players are a good deal more valuable than others -- dare we say gems?
Defensive tackle B.J. Raji, who is a likely first round pick, said that the Bengals coaching staff told him to "play more on the guard since the guard was coming around, and try to reach him. They widened up my alignment a little bit and I made a couple of plays." Louisville Center Eric Wood was impressed with Raji.
Conner Barwin didn't have a catch during his 20 snaps at tight end and knocked down a pass at defensive end.