NFL Draft analysis shows Bengals getting great value out of picks

Are you satisfied with the Bengals draft so far? Arif Hasan would be.

He has compiled a collection of rankings from 48 talent evaluators on Minnesota-based site ZoneCoverage.com. Hasan has gathered information from analysts such as Todd McShay, Mel Kiper, and Lance Zierlein in order to assign a specific draft value to each prospect, calling his collection the “consensus board.” Based on this board, the Bengals have ranking of +24.

According to Hasan’s consensus board, Bengals’ first round pick Billy Price was ranked the 34th best prospect in the draft in 2018. Since the Bengals picked Price with the 21st overall pick, they received a grade of -14 on Day 1. James Daniels was ahead of Price on the consensus board, along with fellow linemen Conor Williams and Will Hernandez. However, if the Bengals were as determined to land Price as they have let on, then a first round reach would have been necessary, according to Hasan.

In the second round, the Bengals reached once more for Jessie Bates, taking him at 54 instead of 57. The score of -4 here isn’t bad, since there were no safeties close.

The third round is where the Bengals made up their ground. Both third round picks in Sam Hubbard and Malik Jefferson were projected by the consensus board to be taken earlier than they actually were. While Jefferson was valued at 69, he was taken at 78 to earn a +10 rating. Hubbard was placed at 47 on the table, but fell all the way to 77 in the draft, earning a +31 ranking.

While slightly reaching for the first two picks, according to Hasan’s consensus board, the Bengals nailed it by taking Hubbard.

With Day 3 commencing on Saturday afternoon, we will see if the Bengals can keep up the good work.

Are you satisfied with the Bengals’ Day 1 and 2 draft picks? Share your thoughts below!