Their 2019 NFL Draft class
The Bengals draft picks:
1st round (11th pick) Jonah Williams, OT, Alabama
2nd round (52nd pick) Drew Sample, TE, Washington
3rd round (72nd pick) Germaine Pratt, LB, NC State
4th round (104th pick) Ryan Finley, QB, NC State
4th round (125th pick) Renell Wren, DT, Arizona State
4th round (136th pick) Michael Jordan, OG, Ohio State
6th round (182nd pick) Trayveon Williams, RB, Texas A&M
6th round (210th pick) Deshaun Davis, LB, Auburn
6th round (211th pick) Rodney Anderson, RB, Oklahoma
7th round (223rd pick) Jordan Brown, CB, South Dakota State
They address the offensive line drafting Williams and Jordan respectively, but in drafting Williams they passed on Dwayne Haskins so we will have to keep an eye on how those comparisons line up. They traded back to get Sample while Drew Lock was still on the board, Lock ended up being picked by the Denver Broncos. Hopefully Pratt and Brown make an immediate impact, but that room is pretty bare currently. They drafted Finley who as of right now can be seen as a taller Andy Dalton will he do enough to demand change? The biggest omission I see is no safeties drafted, you like they could use an upgrade over Shawn Williams? They drafted two running backs, I know Gio Bernard is on his last year of his deal and Mark Walton keeps getting in trouble, but I don’t see the need to draft two when you have Joe Mixon in the fold.
They drafted for some needs, but I don’t see this as a franchise changing draft which is why the experts haven’t changed their opinion on the franchise.
Andy Dalton is still Andy Dalton
They had a chance to draft Haskins or Lock, trade for Josh Rosen and ended up with Finley. With how the cookie crumbles they still had Dalton. He is a solid quarterback, but not great and for the Bengals to have postseason success everything has to go perfect and with his limitations he prevents consistent big play ability because of the lack of a deep ball. Now he will throw it, but most of the time the receivers I.e. A.J. Green has to wait on it and make an amazing play.
He does have two years at a total of $33.5 million left on his deal which is very cap friendly. None of the money is guaranteed so the Bengals can cut bait anytime. The franchise also hasn’t had to shell out top tier money yet, but not having a top tier quarterback leaves you with an 0-5 record in the playoffs which Dalton sports.
