If I was Marvin Lewis (or the Cincy GM), here's what I'd do:
It's looking likely that I won't be able to trade down in the draft. There's just not that one player out there that a bunch of GMs are salivating over. Still, I make every attempt to trade down.
BUT considering the fact that I won't be able to move down, I select CHARLES ROGERS, WR, MSU at #1 overall.
I haven't seen this projected in many (if any) mocks, but it makes perfect sense to me.
If I'm Cincy, I'm wary of taking another QB at #1. Jon Kitna played adequately at that position last year as well.
So I take the one player who I think will have the biggest impact in his rookie year. Unlike most WRs, I think Rogers will be great from the get-go. So I'm going for immediate production.
The next part of my strategy is to take a QB with my second pick. This draft is DEEP in QBs, so this move allows me to draft a QB of the future while improving the team immediately with an impact WR AND not risking a #1 and a whole boatload of money on a potential QB bust.
If Cincy DOES draft like this, it will make their offense incredibly potent.
QB - Kitna
WR - Charles Johnson, Charles Rogers
RB - Corey Dillon
With the solid signings they've already made on Defense, following the draft strategy I just laid out could turn Cincy into a contender. But then again, this is Cincinatti we're talking about.
4:36 PT: Updating previous reports, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports Michigan State WR Charles Rogers said he will not visit with the Cincinnati Bengals before the NFL Draft. “I’m not worried about the Bengals taking me at all,” Rogers told the Houston Chronicle last weekend. “I’m not taking a visit to Cincinnati, so I don’t see Cincinnati taking me.”
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) I can't pass up Palmer.
