Assessing Jake Fisher's Draft Value

The Cincinnati Bengals came out of the 2015 NFL draft with not one, but two offensive tackles with their first two picks.

They selected Texas A&M's Cedric Ogbuehi at No. 21 overall, but that didn't stop them from taking another tackle in Round 2 who they viewed as easily the best player on the board. That was Oregon's Jake Fisher, selected with the 53rd-overall pick.

After Cincinnati took Fisher, head coach Marvin Lewis was quick to point out that this was a great value pick, who he and owner Mike Brown wanted.

"(Jake Fisher) was, we felt, the best player we had ranked and we just couldn't go by him," Lewis said via the Cincinnati Enquirer. "We'll find a way to fit him in."

"For (Mike Brown) to stay with the conviction of it, that this was the guy we ranked highest so let's let it flow. If you go for another position you don't place quite the value on that position player, you are overshooting your thought then you are somewhat disappointed and allowed a better player to go elsewhere."

While it's clear the Bengals thought Fisher was a great value here, what did other draft analysts and experts think of it? Not only do they agree, but when you compare it to the selection of Ogbuehi, it shows how easily Fisher could have been the Bengals first pick, and it wouldn't have been much of a difference in value.

NFL.com's Lance Zierlein gave Fisher an early second-round grade and ranked him the 37th-overall prospect. That's just seven spots behind where he ranked Cincinnati's first-round pick, Ogbuehi.

ESPN's Scouts Inc. had Fisher ranked 39th overall, four spots behind Ogbuehi. Mel Kiper thought there was a bigger difference in the two tackles. He had Fisher ranked 43rd in his final rankings, 13 spots behind Ogbuehi. Todd McShay ranked Fisher as his 39th-best prospect.

Bleacher Report's Matt Miller was one off the few who had Fisher ranked ahead of Ogbuehi. Miller ranked Fisher 31st overall, two spots ahead of Ogbuehi had him ranked as his 33rd-best prospect.

CBS Sports' Rob Rang saw a massive difference between the two, as he ranked Fisher 29th, 50 spots ahead of Ogbuehi. Fisher's cumulative grade by CBS was 31st overall vs. Ogbuehi's 45th-overall ranking. The guys at Mocking the Draft ranked Ogbuehi 44th, four spots behind Ogbuehi at No. 40.

If you average those rankings, Fisher had a 32.55 ranking, making him worthy of the final pick in the first round, well ahead of where he was selected. This only reinforced the belief that Fisher was just too good of a player for Cincinnati to pass on at pick No. 53.