The season is over for the Cincinnati Bengals and most of the other teams in the NFL. That means it's time to look back and reflect on the season, in particular the youngest members of the team. The Bengals had a good season and they owe a lot of thanks to the rookies who aren't necessarily rookies anymore. Guys like A.J. Green and Andy Dalton helped propel this team into the playoffs, which would make anybody think that the Bengals had one of the best drafts in 2011.
Now that the season is over, ESPN's Mel Kiper went back and regraded every team's 2011 draft. Before the season started, he gave the Bengals an A-, which was the highest grade in the AFC North. That grade has now been upgraded to an A+.
Summary: All right, throw me a bone here. I get a lot of stuff wrong, but this tied for the best draft grade, and, honestly, could it have turned out much better? The Bengals got A.J. Green at No. 4, stayed out of the mad rush for quarterbacks that Tennessee, Jacksonville and Minnesota all got involved in, then got Andy Dalton 23 picks after the Vikings got Christian Ponder. So you get 16 starts out of Dalton and Pro Bowl-caliber play out of Green (even as he fought through a shoulder injury), and Dalton's presence allows you to ship Carson Palmer to Oakland for what will end up as a No. 1 and a No. 2 pick. That's a pretty massive haul, and we didn't even mention a playoff run yet. No wonder Mike Brown was pegged as the executive of the year. That said, there isn't a ton of production after the top two picks. Dontay Moch could be a very good pass-rusher but got hurt; Clint Boling gave the Bengals some starts at guard but also was dinged up. Still, when you factor in the added value of future picks, this was a home run. Again, we don't know what Dalton's ceiling is, but we're grading on where this draft class is now, just as we graded it on potential and value back in April.
The Bengals not only drafted Green and Dalton, but they selected linebacker Dontay Moch, guard Clint Boling, safety Robert Sands, wide receiver Ryan Whalen, cornerback Korey Lindsey and running back Jay Finley. Neither Finley nor Lindsey ended up making the team, but all the others did. Moch was hindered by a health issue throughout the majority of the season, Clint Boling started the first couple games of the season but was eventually benched, Ryan Whalen produced through the last few games of the regular season and Sands was inactive throughout the majority of the season. The two biggest players were Dalton and Green, but those two produced the majority of the Bengals' offense and Dalton's success was largely responsible for Mike Brown feeling comfortable enough to trade away Carson Palmer.
So, if I had to re-grade the Bengals 2011 draft, I'd have to go with an A+ as well. What would you give them?
0 recs | 38 comments
nothing higher than an A+, so A+
joeb69 - January 11, 2012
A ++
You can’t control the injury to Moch, but any time you get 2 starters (much less pro bowl talent) then its a very good draft class. Boling didn’t look good, but he may develop into a starter.
redrifle14 - January 11, 2012
A++ ???
what is this – insurance ratings and bond ratings? :-)
ephram - January 11, 2012
lol
joeb69 - January 11, 2012
would be a a grade of AA
if we were using eggs as the measure
palewook - January 11, 2012
i think they would be FREE RANGE eggs, becuase Mikey is too cheap to buy them an indoor facility
ephram - January 11, 2012
I was thinking DD...
DDs are way better than As
DrainBamage - January 11, 2012
2 starters is not automagically great
That takes 11 years to build a team with no free agents and seven to build a team with the Packers rate of drafted starters.
Also if your starters are the quality of say Keith Rivers and Jerome Simpson and that’s all you got from a draft that would actually be a bad draft.
occams_tiger_teeth - January 11, 2012 via mobile
to productive rookie starters is...
Bengalsfan024 - January 12, 2012
i wonder how much Moch was injured, since he did practice throughout the season. i’m guessing it may have been more a move to keep him w/o playing him than an actual “injury” per se.
ephram - January 11, 2012
injured might be misleading yet accurate
migraines, didn’t practice, didn’t play, etc
palewook - January 11, 2012
WOW
Touhue Cha - January 11, 2012
A+
BeWarned - January 11, 2012
sb fins site
took the time to post a zimmer profile since he’s a HC candidate for the fins
http://www.thephinsider.com/2012/1/11/2699165/miami-dolphins-head-coach-candidates-mike-zimmer#storyjump
palewook - January 11, 2012
Miami would be lucky to land Zim.
I really like the guy and don’t want to lose him, but if he does go to Miami, then I hope he buries Rex Ryan twice a yr…..
redrifle14 - January 11, 2012
and hoodie.
supergrover - January 12, 2012
The vote (only 8 have voted)
is 6 votes to 2 for them not wanting him
Helmsy - January 11, 2012
they want fisher badly
palewook - January 11, 2012
I know
I was reading there open thread. Schefter said Miami was offering BIG bucks to get him
Helmsy - January 11, 2012
been paying close attention myself...and hope they get him ;)
joeb69 - January 11, 2012
Well poo
For some reason I couldn’t get the article to show. Then I realized it was an Insider article. Oh well….you brought up the only part that mattered!
spif - January 11, 2012
its not espn insider
its the dolphins sbnation site
palewook - January 11, 2012
Not dat one...dat one!
I was referring to the Mel Kiper article about the draft.
spif - January 11, 2012
lol
AMAS85 - January 11, 2012
Turning Heads
Mike Brown Has!? Nice Job GM! I only hate one guy. That is Chris Berman who calls us the BUNGLES. Thanks for shuting up this GUY GM !!! Go Bengals!!!
Chili Dog - January 11, 2012
I HATE CHRIS BERMAN!!!
I hate his stupid little sound for jukes and misses. And everytime he talks, I feel like he’s going to pass out from losing his breath and lack of oxygen to his brain…And sometime I wish he would, so I wouldnt have to hear his ass speal!
There I’m done. Man I needed that.
NCWhoDey1987 - January 11, 2012
+1
Craig Da Dread - January 12, 2012
We had a very good draft and the wildcard is Dontay Moch who was the fastest LB in the draft.
lightskin350 - January 11, 2012
I'd give us a B
Obviously, Green and Dalton merit an A+, but there’s a cliff after that. I know that third- and fourth-rounders rarely become immediate starters, but I expected more production out of them, especially since they were positions where we needed help (pass-rushing LB, OL, secondary).
A rock-solid team can get away with a draft like that. But for a team that has lots of holes, and isn’t usually active in FA…well, we need more production out of our mid-round picks. Hopefully Moch, Boling, and Sands will provide it this coming season.
Big Sky Bengal - January 11, 2012
Ryan Whalen could be huge next year. Came on strong at the end. Was in the right spots, caught the ball cleanly.
Grizzlyfox - January 11, 2012
this
I really liked what I saw from Whalen. He went up and got the ball, instead of standing around waiting for it like we’re used to seeing from Simpson & Caldwell. Am I dreaming in hoping he could be a #2? We don’t need him to do much in that role, just make the tough catch in traffic on mostly short routes. I think with Green, Gresham, and Shipley/Hawkins, we can take a risk on Whalen at the 2 slot and see how it goes.
indesignkat - January 11, 2012
We got him in the same round as Housh, so it's not unprecedented, even in our own organization,
for a 6th round WR to come up big.
Grizzlyfox - January 11, 2012
Agreed!
Whalen seemed like he ran good routes, made good catches, waited to turn until the ball was in his hands…all good schtuffs! Doesn’t have huge leaping ability or blazing speed, but he’s a solid player who you can count on. I said in another post he reminds of me a WR version of Brian Leonard.
spif - January 12, 2012
I can't get past the fact that basically no one outside of Dalton and Green contributed in any way
Aside from Whalen, no one even dressed on game day (except for a few garbage starts from Boling, who was eventually deemed not even as good as Mike McGlynn.) I feel like the whole Moch “health issues” were a result of poor scouting. He seemed like a reach at the time, and if this is something chronic then you have to wonder how valuable he coudl ever be to the team. A third round pick is pretty valuable.
But it’s pretty hard to argue with ANY draft that gives you 2 Pro Bowl starters in their rookie years…at skill positions, no less. If we had drafted one Pro Bowl rookie you’d have to give us an A, so two with one being a franchise QB…yeah. I’ll give it an A+.
eric nyc - January 11, 2012
I honestly wonder
If Moch’s migraines have anything to do with the weather here in Ohio. Coming from a Nevada climate to this, some people have a lot of trouble.
Ben-GAL - January 12, 2012
I've been wondering the same thing
The Ohio Valley area is one of the worst in the entire country for allergies. The Nevada-Arizona area is one of the best. If a simple allergy pill can get him back in the line, that would be nice!
spif - January 12, 2012
Moch, Boling and Sands
Were all considered either steals (especially Boling in the 4th) to very solid picks for their draft spots. I am still holding out hope for them. If that group could add one starter and at least a couple of heavy rotation bench players, that would have to be considered a phenomenal draft and one that could be the begining of a marked shift in the history of the Bengals franchise.
einman77 - January 12, 2012
I think this draft can go either way in the grading department over the next few years
Right now we’re grading it high b/c it produced 1 pro-bowl WR and 1 pro-bowl alternate QB. That is probably spot on. As was commented above, it is rare to get 2 rookie pro-bowl players out of the draft; however, the true grade for this draft hinges on the middle to late round picks. You have to grade it from top to bottom and here is what we have after Green and Dalton.
Moch – A guy with huge potential who has an issue with migraines. Migraines can be tricky. Either they find the cause and he is fine or they never find the trigger, in which case he never sees the field.
Boling – Another guy with huge potential but in Bolings case he failed to show it when given the opportunity to start. He fell back on the depth chart and couldn’t even suit up on game days. You have to wonder if he hit his ceiling in college or is there room for improvement. Again, a question mark.
Sands – Again, the Bengals draft an athletic guy with huge potential but he never saw the field. I like to think this is a product of learning Zimmer’s system and how Zimmer expects you to play. With Crocker leaving, we should find out the future of Sands in 2012.
Whalen – Finally made the field at the end of the year. Was Andrew Luck’s #1 target in college. Not fast and doesn’t have a huge vertical, but he runs crisp, precise routes, reads the defense well and catches everything thrown to him. Whalen may be the answer at #2. I think 2012 will tell us a lot.
Finley – I think Finley is the wildcard. He was a stud at Baylor and really took that team on his shoulders after RG III injured his knee. Finley showed signs in practice of being that game breaker the Bengals need but it didn’t translate to the field in preseason. Finley may simply have been a victim of the numbers game at RB. In 2012 with Ced gone and Scott’s future in doubt it is time for Finley to shine. I really don’t think we can discount the fact that our future RB may have been on the PS all year.
You wonder about the future of many draft classes, but I think the Bengals 2011 draft will have a clear future during the 2012 season. Either these guys will be on the team and contributing or they’ll be gone.
WOOD98 - January 12, 2012
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