Who Dey Draft 2015

The National Football League draft is the one event of the year in which every NFL team believes that they are picking the next big football superstar to join their team. Whether it be a quarterback, a running back, or even a lineman, the bottom line is that hope springs eternal during the draft as former collegiate standouts realize their derams of playing in the NFL while coaches believe that their newest batch of players will be the piece that their team needs to bring home the Lombardi trophy. With the 2015 NFL Draft in the books, I thought I would take a look at the players that the Cincinnati Bengals drafted and discuss their possible role on the team in this post.

The first player chosen by the Bengals was an offensive tackle out of Texas A&M named Cedric Ogbuehi. Their second pick of the draft was Jake Fisher of the University of Oregon, also an offensive tackle. With 2015 being the last contract seasons for current offensive linemen Andrew Whitworth and Andre Smith, I believe that the Bengals drafted Ogbuehi and Fisher to potentially take Whitworth’s and Smith’s place. Whitworth will be entering his tenth season in the league so time is not exactly on his side, and Smith gets hurt quite a bit and based on what I remember, he also made the Bengals shell out some big time cash when they resigned him. With star wide receiver A.J. Green entering the final year of his contract as well, I believe the Bengals plan to part ways with Whitworth and Smith and use Ogbuehi and Fisher as their replacements in order to use the money that they are saving to resign Green.

The Bengals also drafted two tight ends this year as they selected Tyler Kroft out of Rutgers with their first pick in the third round and C.J. Uzomah out of Auburn in the fifth round. After saying goodbye to the seemingly aloof and frustrating to watch Jermaine Gresham, the Bengals only remaining tight ends on the team were Tyler Eifert and Ryan Hewitt. Eifert is going to be the starter this year and Hewitt split time last season as both a tight end and a full back. I think the Bengals might make Hewitt a permanent full back and use either Uzomah or Kroft as a second tight end.

Their second pick in the third round was Paul Dawson, a linebacker out of Texas Christian University. The Bengals defense was not very good last season, and the absence of Vontaze Burfict due to injury last year was a big reason why. He plays with reckless abandon, which is both good and bad as he makes a lot of great plays but also hurts himself a lot. With Burfict still recovering from surgery, the Bengals probably drafted Dawson in case Burfict is not ready for the season or hurts himself again.

Veteran cornerback Terrence Newman signed with the Minnesota Vikings in the offseason, meaning Dre Kirkpatrick will finally take over as the starter. As a result, the Bengals drafted Josh Shaw with their first pick in the fourth round. Shaw is a cornerback out of the University of Southern California and will probably be used as a backup cornerback or perhaps even a gunner on special teams much like Darqueze Dennard was last year.

The Bengals used their second pick in the fourth round to draft Marcus Hardison out of Arizona State in order to help bolster their defensive line. With the pass rush being almost nonexistent last season, this team is in desperate need of a player to help the defense put some pressure on the quarterback. Hardison could be that guy, and with Pro Football Focus ranking fan favorite and veteran Bengal Domata Peko as the worst defensive tackle in the NFL last year, it would not be surprising to see Hardison take Peko’s spot.

Derron Smith was drafted by the team in the sixth round. He is a free safety out of Fresno State. He could possibly take the place of George Iloka or Reggie Nelson after the 2015 season should the Bengals not be able to resign them.

Last but not least is Mario Alford, a wide receiver out of the University of West Virginia. With this season being the last on the contracts of A.J. Green, Marvin Jones, Mo Sanu and a few other receivers, Alford was probably selected to take the spot of a receiver who does not return to the team.

Overall, I think the picks of the Bengals make a lot of sense and should be beneficial to the team. They appear to be addressing some of the areas on the team that need to be strengthened and hopefully the newest batch of Bengals will be able to do just that. It will be interesting to see where they fit in with the team as the Bengals look to finally capture that elusive Super Bowl championship.

Who Dey!