Anybody who's anybody when it comes to the NFL Draft has been handing out report cards to every team, letting everybody know how they did. One would think that the Bengals, who have only had three winning teams over the last 20 years, would have a terrible grade. However, most analysts have given the Bengals not only a passing grade, but they've received nothing lower than a B.
Mel Kiper Jr. gave the Bengals an A-. Adam Caplan gave them a B and Pete Prisco gave them a solid B. Our very own Joe Goodberry gave the Bengals a B+.
The Cincinnati Enquirer's Bengals beat writer Joe Reedy was no different. He handed the Bengals a grade of A- for the 2011 NFL Draft.
The day after last year’s draft the Class of 2010 got a B. With the contributions that they made it ended up as an A-. That makes this year’s draft class having a lot to live up to. However, with their future combination set in Green and Dalton, we think this one lives up to being one of the best this year. That’s why I give it an A-.
His reasoning for the grade is this: the Bengals filled most of their needs in the draft. They had five major needs going into the draft at the positions of quarterback, wide receiver, offensive line, safety and running back, and they filled four of those needs. Reedy calls the running back position a partial fill because the Bengals did draft a running back, but not until their compensatory pick in the seventh round, when they selected Baylor running back Jay Finley.
In last year's draft, Reedy saw only one opening day starter. This year, he can see three opening day starters while three others make immediate impacts on the team.
The day after last year’s draft we saw only one Opening Week starter with three others having the chance to make immediate contributions. This year of the eight draftees we see three possible Opening Week starters (WR A.J. Green, QB Andy Dalton and OG Clint Boling) and three others making immediate contributions (LB Dontay Moch, S Robert Sands and WR Ryan Whalen). Moch and Whalen though could be more contributors on special teams.
If that's true, six of the eight players that the Bengals selected in this year's draft would be contributors on the team. That would be fairly impressive.
As for the rest of the division, Reedy gave the Ravens a B+ and both the Steelers and Browns a B.