For the No. 66 pick in the second-annual Cincy Jungle Mock Draft, Jason Garrison selected for the Cincinnati Bengals, who have the standard three picks. Here is the pick ...
With the No. 66 pick in the NFL Draft, the Cincinnati Benglas select......
Curtis Brown, CB, Texas
When it comes to the Bengals third-round pick, I looked at a few different positions. I looked at offensive linemen, safeties, running backs and defensive ends. While I really wanted to draft an interior lineman for the Bengals, there weren't any worth a third-round pick, and while I toyed around with the idea of selecting Oklahoma running back DeMarco Murray for the Bengals, I didn't think that selecting three offensive skill positions in the first three rounds would be a good idea, especially when there are some glaring needs on the defensive side of the ball.
I would have liked to draft Oklahoma free safety Quinton Carter but, unfortunately, UpStateMike selected him with the No. 60 pick for the New England Patriots, so I decided to take the best cornerback left on the board and that was Texas' Brown.
I can't say for sure if Johnathan Joseph will be a Bengal again in 2011 but it seems as though that the Bengals lost their chance to re-sign him. That leaves the Bengals with Adam Jones and Leon Hall as their probable starters, which isn't necessarily bad, especially considering how talented both corners are if they can stay healthy. However, 2011 is a contract year for both Hall and Jones and the Bengals need to start thinking about the future of their secondary. If Hall asks for the same amount of money that Joseph did, the Bengals will probably decide, like they did with Joseph, that he's not worth it. Regardless of whether or not that's the right decision (it's not), they'll need somebody to step in and start in Hall's place. That somebody could be Curtis Brown.
CBS Draft Scout ranks Brown as the eighth best cornerback in this year's draft class. Rob Rang has Brown going to the Eagles in the second round in his mock draft, and Chad Reuter has him going to the Lions in the second. Brown, a former receiver, has elite speed and is capable of helping in the passing game as well as against the run. He may not be able to jump into a starting role immediately but that isn't necessarily going to be asked of him. He'll play in nickle and dime formations and possibly fill in if Jones or Hall goes down with an injury. Next year, though, we may be watching him as a starter on defense.
Brown's elite speed, ability to mirror receivers on the outside and proven special teams acumen have made him a lot of fans among NFL coaches and scouts. The importance of finding athletes of his caliber for the cornerback position should put Brown in the top third of many draft boards come April.
Oh, and did I mention that he's an accomplished return man too?
I couldn't find a Curtis Brown Highlight video that I could embed, so you can watch his highlights here.
Draft Overview:
# | Team | Picked By | Name/Positon of Pick |
1 | Carolina | James Shively | Nick Fairley / DT |
2 | Denver | sexsalad | Patrick Peterson / CB |
3 | Buffalo | Elguapo09 | Von Miller / OLB |
4 | Cincinnati | Jason Garrison +2 | A.J. Green / WR |
5 | Arizona | Broski | Da'Quan Bowers / DE |
6 | Cleveland | Joe Goodberry | Marcell Dareus / DL |
7 | San Francisco | Heybrown | Prince Amukamara / CB |
8 | Tennessee | Oxalis | Cam Newton / QB |
9 | Dallas | Jim0ijk | Robert Quinn / DE |
10 | Washington | Pardon_My_French | Blaine Gabbert / QB |
11 | Houston | Joe27 | Julio Jones / WR |
12 | Minnesota | CarsonOrBust | Tyron Smith / OL |
13 | Detroit | The_Black_Stripes | Cameron Jordan / DL |
14 | St. Louis | Jaegner | Aldon Smith / DE |
15 | Miami | JaredM | Mark Ingram / RB |
16 | Jacksonville | Whodatchemsit | JJ Watt / DE |
17 | New England (from Oakland / Seymour) | UpStateMike | Anthony Castonzo / OT |
18 | San Diego | Quickslant | Mike Pouncey / OG |
19 | New York Giants | TheDealio | Akeem Ayers / OLB |
20 | Tampa Bay | Doc Scratch | Ryan Kerrigan / DE |
21 | Kansas City | Indesignkat | Corey Liuget / DT |
22 | Indianapolis | Ddbumpus | Nate Solder / OT |
23 | Philadelphia | Buckeyenut12 | Gabe Carimi / OT |
24 | New Orleans | FriarBob | Cameron Heyward / DE |
25 | Seattle | IgnatiusJReilly | Jake Locker / QB |
26 | Baltimore | FriarBob | Adrian Clayborn / DE |
27 | Atlanta | TruWhoDey | Justin Houston / DE/OLB |
28 | New England | UpStateMike | Muhammad Wilkerson / DL |
29 | Chicago | Bsmith4256 | Derek Sherrod / OL |
30 | New York Jets | Polo_614 | Phil Taylor / DT |
31 | Pittsburgh | Jason Garrison | Jimmy Smith / CB |
32 | Green Bay | Sean Weaver | Stephen Paea / DL |
33 | New England (from Carolina / Armanti Edwards) | UpStateMike | Brooks Reed / OLB |
34 | Buffalo | Elguapo09 | Allen Bailey / DE |
35 | Cincinnati | Jason Garrison +2 | Christian Ponder / QB |
36 | Denver | sexsalad | Kyle Rudolph / TE |
37 | Cleveland | Jason Garrison | Torrey Smith / WR |
38 | Arizona | Broski | Rodney Hudson / OG |
39 | Tennessee | Oxalis | Marvin Austin / DT |
40 | Dallas | Jim0ijk | Danny Watkins / OG |
41 | Washington | Pardon_My_French | Jonathan Baldwin / WR |
42 | Houston | Joe27 | Rahim Moore / FS |
43 | Minnesota | CarsonOrBust | Ryan Mallet / QB |
44 | Detroit | The_Black_Stripes | Stefen Wiesnewski / C/G |
45 | San Francisco | Heybrown | Andy Dalton / QB |
46 | Denver (from Miami / Brandon Marshall) | sexsalad | Drake Nevis / DT |
47 | St. Louis | Jaegner | Leonard Hankerson / WR |
48 | Oakland | NoodleXV | Brandon Harris / CB |
49 | Jacksonville | Whodatchemsit | Aaron Williams / S |
50 | San Diego | Quickslant | Jabaal Sheard / DE |
51 | Tampa Bay | Doc Scratch | Martez Wilson / MLB |
52 | New York Giants | TheDealio | Mikel Leshoure / RB |
53 | Indianapolis | Ddbumpus | Titus Young / WR |
54 | Philadelphia | Buckeyenut12 | Davon House / CB |
55 | Kansas City | Indesignkat | Sam Acho / OLB |
56 | New Orleans | FriarBob | Mason Foster / OLB |
57 | Seattle | IgnatiusJReilly |
Marcus Cannon/ OG/OT |
58 | Baltimore | Joe Goodberry | Ben Ijalana / T-G |
59 | Atlanta | TruWhoDey |
Ryan Williams / RB |
60 | New England | UpStateMike |
Quinton Carter / S |
61 | San Diego (from NYJets / Antonio Cromartie) | Quickslant |
Colin McCarthy / LB |
62 | Chicago | Bsmith4256 | Tandon Doss/ WR |
63 | Pittsburgh | FriarBob | Will Rackley/ OG/OT |
64 | Green Bay | Sean Weaver | Randall Cobb/ WR |
65 | Carolina | James Shively | Colin Kaepernick/ QB |
66 | Cincinnati | Jason Garrison +2 | Curtis Brown/ CB |
67 | Denver | sexsalad | |
68 | Buffalo | Elguapo09 | |
69 | Arizona | Broski | |
70 | Cleveland | FriarBob | |
71 | Dallas | Jim0ijk | |
72 | New Orleans (from Washington / Jammal Brown) | FriarBob | |
73 | Houston | Joe27 | |
74 | New England (from Minnesota / Randy Moss) | UpStateMike | |
75 | Detroit | The_Black_Stripes | |
76 | San Francisco | Heybrown | |
77 | Tennessee | Oxalis | |
78 | St. Louis | Jaegner | |
79 | Miami | JaredM | |
80 | Jacksonville | Whodatchemsit | |
81 | Oakland | NoodleXV | |
82 | San Diego | Quickslant | |
83 | New York Giants | TheDealio | |
84 | Tampa Bay | Doc Scratch | |
85 | Philadelphia | Buckeyenut12 | |
86 | Kansas City | Indesignkat | |
87 | Indianapolis | Ddbumpus | |
88 | New Orleans | FriarBob | |
89 | San Diego (from Seattle / Charlie Whitehurst) | Quickslant | |
90 | Baltimore | Jason Garrison | |
91 | Atlanta | TruWhoDey | |
92 | New England | UpStateMike | |
93 | Chicago | Bsmith4256 | |
94 | New York Jets | Polo_614 | |
95 | Pittsburgh | Joe Goodberry | |
96 | Green Bay | Sean Weaver |