If the Bengals are dead set in drafting Mardy Gilyard during next month's NFL draft, they'll likely have to do it in the first round. Gilyard would most likely be off the board by the time Cincinnati picks 54th (second round) in next month's NFL draft, writes Carlos Holmes.
Gilyard has been worked out by Denver and New England and has a visit lined up with Tennessee. New England owns the 44th, 48th and 53rd overall picks.
Gilyard is an interesting pick, but there's questions. First of all, we highly doubt that Gilyard would contribute to a role more than special teams in 2010 with Chad Ochocinco, Antonio Bryant and Andre Caldwell being the team's first three receivers. Secondly, you'd have to ask yourself if there's other positions that the Bengals could address that would give the team a vast upgrade.
But the points for drafting Gilyard are compelling. "The team is in need of a young play-making receiver to groom behind Chad Ochocinco." Gilyard (6-foot-0, 187 pounds) and Chad (6-foot-1, 192 pounds) are nearly equal size. Both are fast and quick. Like Chad, Gilyard is a play-maker. If you're looking for someone to help this year, picking Gilyard in the first round probably wouldn't give you much. But if you're looking beyond this year, then Gilyard might be worth checking into. And if he's there in the second round, which seems unlikely (which was thought of with Rey Maualuga too), then you might have to pull the trigger and take him.