Bengals Draft Class Tournament: Round Two - #4 (2010) vs. #5 (2003)

Welcome to the first Bengals Draft Class Tournament. We have taken the past 16 Bengals draft classes and seeded them one through 16. Consider this our version of March Madness! The tournament will continue until the readers of Cincy Jungle have crowned a winner of the best Bengals draft class of the 21st century. Check out the first round winners and all the details here.

Both the 2010 draft class and the 2003 draft class easily cruised through their first round matchups. Each draft class advanced with a dominating 99% to 1% blowout victory. Carson Palmer’s group destroyed the 2002 draft class with Levi Jones, while Geno Atkins and Carlos Dunlap annihilated Chris Perry’s class of 2004. Now these big winners from round one square off in round two. Will one of these draft classes continue their dominance in our tournament, or will this matchup prove to be a tough dogfight where every vote counts, and the staff at Cincy Jungle spend all sleepless nights counting "hanging chads"?

#4 2010 Draft Class

Year	Round	Pick		Pos	To	All Pro Years	Pro Bowls	Starts	Games	College/Univ
2010	1	21	Jermaine Gresham	TE	2015	0	2	6	89	Oklahoma
2010	2	54	Carlos Dunlap	DE	2015	0	1	3	86	Florida
2010	3	84	Jordan Shipley	WR	2012	0	0	0	24	Texas
2010	3	96	Brandon Ghee	DB	2014	0	0	0	29	Wake Forest
2010	4	120	Geno Atkins	DT	2015	2	4	5	89	Georgia
2010	4	131	Roddrick Muckelroy	LB	2012	0	0	0	21	Texas
2010	5	152	Otis Hudson	T	2012	0	0	0	0	East. Illinois
2010	6	191	Dezmon Briscoe	WR	2013	0	0	0	25	Kansas
2010	7	228	Reggie Stephens	C	2013	0	0	0	0	Iowa St.

Why the 2010 draft class should advance:

Geno Atkins in the fourth round

Seriously, do we really need another reason? Atkins has been arguably the best defensive tackle over the last half decade in the NFL, and perhaps the best in Bengals’ history. His 40 sacks over the last five seasons continually rank him among the best pass rushers from the interior of the defensive line. This past season, fully recovered from an injury which impacted his 2013 and 2014 seasons.

Two dominant defensive linemen

Quick – who leads the entire 2010 NFL draft class in sacks? If you said Carlos Dunlap, you are correct. Despite being the 30th defensive player selected, and eighth defensive end, Dunlap leads them all with 49 sacks. Not bad for a player who didn’t become a regular starter until his fourth year in the league.

Solid play

The Bengals broke from tradition and drafted a tight end in the first round. In his time as a Bengal, Jermaine Gresham was a solid blocker and made multiple Pro Bowls. He gave the Bengals a pretty decent tight end, which was something that had not been drafted by the Bengals in quite a while.

Promise gone to waste

While Jordan Shipley’s career totals are underwhelming, it’s hard to knock a pick too much for injuries sustained after being drafted. As a rookie receiver, Shipley managed to secure 600 receiving yards, despite sitting behind Chad Johnson and Terrell Owens on the depth chart. He showed some promise, and with a class already loaded with Atkins, Dunlap, and Gresham, he’s icing on the cake.

Why the 2010 draft class should not advance:

Solid isn't good enough

Jermaine Gresham was a solid tight end, but he wasn’t Rob Gronkowski or Jimmy Graham, who were both drafted after Gresham. It makes you wonder what might have been if the Bengals had gone another direction with that pick. And let’s not forget some ill-timed drops and penalties which seemed to pop up at very inopportune times.

Back to that wasted promise...

While it’s great that Shipley had a nice rookie year, his career totals leave a little to be desired. And let’s not forget that Eric Decker was taken three picks after Shipley, and Antonio Brown was taken more than 100 picks after Shipley.

Silent burn

As a third round pick, Brandon Ghee never contributed much except for helping Bengals’ fans learn that Ghee is not pronounced the same way it looks. Apparently the "H" is silent, much like his career.

Falling flat

The end of the draft fell flat. Roddrick Muckelroy, Otis Hudson, Dezmon Briscoe and Reggie Stephens were non-factors for the Bengals. Although, in the case of Briscoe, that was mostly due to the Buccaneers swiping him from the Bengals’ practice squad by offering him the financial equivalent to a player on the 53-man roster, despite placing him on their own practice squad.

#5 2003 Draft Class

Year	Rnd	Pick		Pos	To	All Pro Years	Pro Bowls	Starts	Games	College/Univ
2003	1	1	Carson Palmer	QB	2015	0	3	10	160	USC
2003	2	33	Eric Steinbach	G	2011	0	0	8	125	Iowa
2003	3	65	Kelley Washington	WR	2010	0	0	0	91	Tennessee
2003	4	98	Dennis Weathersby	DB	2003	0	0	0	4	Oregon St.
2003	4	118	Jeremi Johnson	FB	2009	0	0	5	96	West. Kentucky
2003	5	136	Khalid Abdullah	LB	2003	0	0	0	16	Mars Hill
2003	6	174	Langston Moore	DT	2008	0	0	1	51	South Carolina
2003	7	215	Scott Kooistra	T	2011	0	0	0	84	North Carolina St.
2003	7	259	Elton Patterson	DE	2004	0	0	0	8	Central Florida

Why the 2003 draft class should advance:

Two letters: QB

Akili Smith. Scott Covington. John Walsh. David Klingler. Donald Hollas. Erik Wilhelm. Bob Jean. Doug Gaynor. Steve Bradley. These were the nine quarterbacks drafted by the Bengals following Boomer Esiason's departure in 1984. Not a single one of them threw for more touchdowns than interceptions, and collectively they compiled 41 touchdowns and 65 interceptions.

2003 ended the two decades of dismal quarterback draft picks with the selection of Carson Palmer. Palmer highlighted a resurgence of the Bengals' offense, and in 2005 led them to their first playoff appearance in what seemed like forever. With Palmer, the Bengals finally had a legitimate quarterback, and team, and put the putrid decade of the 1990’s behind them. Palmer has put together a very good NFL career, playing for more than a decade, and compiling 40,000 passing yards and 259 touchdowns, to only 166 interceptions.

Going guard

Guard was a position often passed over by the Bengals, especially early in the draft. This was evident on Sundays as the Bengals struggled to get solid play from their interior offensive line. 2003 brought about a willingness to address this often overlooked deficiency, with the selection of Eric Steinbach as the first pick of round two. Steinbach was the highest selected guard by the Bengals since Freddie Childress was taken 55th overall way back in 1989.

Finding a fullback

Taken at the end of the fourth round, fullback Jeremi Johnson had a good career as a Bengal. He helped pave the way for Rudi Johnson and his record setting performances for single season yardage in franchise history. Only recently have the Bengals found a fullback to replace what they lost when Johnson’s time was over.

Why the 2003 draft class should not advance:

Traitor?

Again, we start with Palmer. Despite all the good he did, it is difficult to forget how his time with the Bengals ended. Quitting on a team when you are supposed to be a leader will never sit well with some.

Leaving town

Steinbach was a good guard, but left town after his rookie contract to play for the divisional rival Cleveland Browns. Also, he never reached a Pro Bowl, or became ‘elite’, despite being the top drafted guard in 2003.

Unmet expectations

The middle and bottom portions of the draft were very weak. Nine wide receivers drafted after Kelley Washington topped his career total of 1,500 receiving yards. Dennis Weathersby had been shot before the draft and only appeared in four NFL games. The draft finished off with a dud, as the last four picks were Khalid Abdullah, Langston Moore, Scott Kooistra, and Elton Patterson.

Voting is also now open for these matchups:

Seed #1 (2001) vs Seed #9 (2013)

Seed #2 (2011) vs Seed #10 (2014)

Seed #3 (2006) vs Seed #6 (2012)