February 10, 2009
And with the 6th pick.......
I was talking to a buddy(NFL employee) today about a topic he heard on some local sportstalk shows here in Cincinnati. He was pretty irritated because fans here in Cincinnati were opposed to taking a WR with the 6th pick in the NFL Draft. We got into a pretty good debate about who we thought the team should take with the pick. In the middle of the conversation I said that I wished I had a recorder to put this on my website. It was pretty good. Anyway, I will bring you bits and pieces of the debate and you can chime in to let me know what you think. Today's debate is going to be the case of drafting an Offensive Tackle with the 6th pick.
My take? I'm not in favor of it. Here's why. As of right now, the Bengals would line up Anthony Collins at LT. Andrew Whitworth at LG. The center position is open and will be a position that gets upgraded. Bobbie Williams holds down the RG position, and the RT position is vacant due to the knee injury to Stacey Andrews. And he is a free agent so who knows if the Bengals will offer him a contract. So you have two spots open on the OL. I'm not in favor of filling either of those spots with the sixth pick in the draft. Why? Because if you are going to draft a RT in that spot, he better be good enough to start right away. And not only good enough to start, but be able to play in this division and block these 3-4 defenses. The 6th pick is just too high to pick someone based on need. So, assuming that RT is the position the Bengals are going to be looking for, then they should wait until after round one to find that guy. I believe Anthony Collins is good enough and hungry enough to be the guy at LT for the Bengals so I'm not so sure that they will be looking to replace him.
Looking at playoff teams Right Tackles and where they were drafted.
Ravens- Willie Anderson (1st-10th pick)
Steelers- Willie Colon (6th)
Colts- Ryan Diem (4th)
Titans- Dave Stewart (4th)
Chargers- Jeromy Clary (6th)
Dolphins- Vernon Carey (1st-19th pick)
Cardinals- Levi Brown (1st-5th pick)
Panthers- Jeff Otah (1st-19th pick)
Eagles- Jon Runyan (4th)
Giants- Kareem McKenzie (3rd)
Vikings- Ryan Cook (2nd)
Falcons- Tyson Clabo (undrafted)