Bengals Draft Depot

Was it a mistake for the Bengals to not take a Safety in this year's draft? Possibly as next year's Safety class isn't nearly as deep as the 2010 class was. It looks now that there may be 2 players at Safety that get a 1st round grade. This year there were 2 Safeties that had top 10 grades, and another 2 that had later in the 1st round grades. Only 2 went in the 1st, but I'm betting that's due to every team knowing how loaded the position was and opting to wait, causing Mays and Allen to slide until the early to mid 2nd round. There is DeAndre McDaniel who is listed as a SS, but can cover and I believe could play either position in the NFL. The other 1st rounder is Deunta Williams and he is a FS that can also cover. So despite not having as deep of talent, if the Bengals use a 1st round pick at the position they could likely get a good cover player, which would be a good compliment to Williams and Crocker.

Obviously we don't know what the needs are going to be after this season. That being said after this 2010 season Chad will only have a 1 year club option left on his contract and he'll also be 33 years old. I wouldn't be suprised to see the Bengals target their future number 1 WR in the 1st round. It'd be a good year to take a WR as the position is absolutely loaded, with 5 players as of now that have 1st round grades and I could easily see 2 more developing into 1st rounders by season's end. Not only that, but I think all 5 can be legit number 1 WR's in the NFL. This easily could be the most loaded WR class in the history of the NFL. Right now I have 4 players at the position with top 15 grades. Does that mean 4 will go in the top 15, no. But those quality players will drop later into the 1st round which is hopefully where the Bengals will be picking and they could land one of those top 15 talents.

The defensive line positions are also stacked, both DE and DT. That could work to the Bengals advantage as Tank is basically on a year to year contract and can be cut at anytime. If he can't get over his injuries that could be the case. At DE I wouldn't be suprised if this is the last year of Geathers being a Bengal, especially if Carlos Dunlap produces. Or maybe Odom is never the same after the Achilles injury. They have 2 young players full of potential, but on passing downs they could move Dunlap inside, hopefully with Geno Atkins who's a good pass rusher. That could leave Micheal Johnson and an open spot for clear cut passing downs. I think the Bengals are trying to build a D line ala the Giants 2007 Super Bowl winning team. They are close and another early round pick at DT or DE could give them a line just as good.

Runningback is also a pretty deep pool of talent in next year's draft. Benson is on his last year of his contract and the Bengals may not be willing to resign a 28 year old RB to a big contract. Especially if he has a 350 plus season of carries. I think players like Evan Royster,Ryan Williams, or Mark Ingram fit the bell cow type of back the Bengals are looking for. There are also speed backs with pass catching skills such as Noel Divine, but with Bernard Scott in house I doubt they'd go that route.

Basically other than Safety next year's draft will be setting up perfectly for the Bengals projected needs at this point. The positions they are already strong and deep such as LB and the O line are the weaker position groups in the 2011 draft class, so as long as they can stay deep and healthy at those positions they'll be in good shape. Teams that have needs there next year will have to jump on those positions early to fill their need and you could see many reaches. That could cause top talents at WR,RB,or the D line to slide some. So it's possible top 10 talents will be available at all of those positions towards the later part of the 1st round. Also you could see 1st round talents slide to the 2nd and so on. Just like this year we could see the Bengals land 2 1st round talent players.