Cincinnati Bengal's 2007 draft wrap up

The Cincinnati Bengals draft, in my opinion, was decent. I love the first round choice in Leon Hall, I think he along with Johnathan Joseph will be a terrific duo and will help what was one of the worst at defending the pass last season. I like the fact that we got Kenny Irons, he could be a hit or miss though, and although I would've rather seen us go defense here, but you can't really complain with having two solid runningbacks now. I was a little taken back by our 4th round pick but now i'm coming along to it, Marvin White could turn into a Sean Taylor type player(for the record i'm not saying he will be the next Taylor, just a similar type player, big-hitter, playmaker, etc...). I also really love our 7th round pick, Dan Santucci, he reminds me a lot of Eric Steinbach in the sense that he can play both guard and center, he has a lot of potential that he hasn't reached yet and has all the physical tools to be a starter very soon.

Now onto the guys I don't like. First of all, Jeff Rowe, the quarterback out of Nevada. I don't know why we chose him with our 5th round pick, we could have used a back up but Rowe wasn't expected to go until the 7th or undrafted, why wasted the 151st overall pick on him? We could've upgraded our defensive line or linebacking corps or shit, even go with another receiver seeing as how Chris Henry is going to miss half of the season and Kelly Washington is in New England but no, we go with Jeff fucking Rowe. Rowe was projected to be a career back up(which he will) and he played in a horrible scheme at Nevada(at least for quarterback). It was a shallow shotgun/I formation type thing called the Bullet or something like that. Basically he played quarterback normally where the fullback would be positioned in an I-formation scheme. But with that aside I also wish we would've drafted Ben Patrick, the tight end out of Delaware. He was projected to be a 2nd/3rd round pick and didn't go to the 7th. I think he has all the tools to be a great tight end in the NFL and I think he can be the next Alge Crumpler, Arizona should be very proud of themselves...lucky bastards.

1st Round(18th overall):

Leon Hall, Cornerback (MICH)

Height: 5-11
Weight: 194
Born: December 9th, 1984

Leon Hall is regarded as one of the premier coverage cornerbacks in this years rookie class. He had a great career at Michigan, finishing with the teams record in pass deflections with 43 and he was the 2006 finalist for the Thorpe Award (top defensive back) and Bronko Nagurski Award (top defensive player). He played in 50 career games and made 37 career starts at Michigan, so you know he's reliable and has a lot of experience.

Hall is compared to former Wolverine, Ty Law, because he has very good size, a smooth athlete with great quickness and fluid hips. He's very tough and aggressive with receivers, he is also does a great job in run support because he is such a sure tackler. He has good hands and is able to make big plays, he's very smart with excellent instincts and awareness and is very versatile, with experience at safety. The only real knock on Hall was his speed, and he answered that at the NFL's combine when he ran a 4.39(official time) in the 4o-yard dash. He was a team leader at Michigan and is a real character guy, something that the Bengals were desperately in search of.

NFL.com is comparing him to future Hall of Famer, Ronde Barber of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, i'd be thrilled if he turned out to be anywhere near the player Ronde is. Also look for Hall to help out in the Bengal's return game, preferably as the punt returner. We've already lost Tory James to the Patriots and it appears as though we may be releasing or trading Delta O'Neal soon, so taking Hall was absolutely the best pick for us. A duo of Leon Hall and Johnathan Joseph will be great for a very long time.

2nd Round(49th overall):

Kenny Irons, Running Back (AUB)

Height: 5-11
Weight: 210
Born: September 15th, 1983

He played at South Carolina his first two years before transferring to Auburn in 2004, and didn't get his first chance to start until 2005, right after the two top 5 picks, Cadillac Williams and Ronnie Brown were taken in the draft. He had an amazing start to his career gaining 1,293 yards, 13 touchdowns and an average of 5.1 per carry in 12 games but in 2006, as a senior and a possible Heisman candidate, he struggled with nagging injuries and only rushed for 893 yards, 4 touchdowns and an average of 4.5 per carry, which is still very good. The average that is. He played most of his senior year at less than 100 percent due to turf toe, a groin pull, a high ankle sprain and a bruised fibula. Through all that he still managed to pick up All-SEC first-team honors from the league's coaches.

He displays very good vision and instincts and is a natural runner, he is more quick than fast but is very patient and will explode through holes when as soon as they open. He runs very strong and with authority and really plays much bigger than you would expect from a 5-11 210(soaking wet) back would. He is very athletic and has the agility to change directions in a snap. Although he may not be one of the fastest backs, he does have great break-away speed. And he doesn't have a lot of mileage so you know when he gets into camp, he's going to be fresh.

It isn't known right now if he can be a feature back in the NFL, but with getting drafted to the Bengal's who already have a proven starter in Rudi Johnson, he won't have to worry about trying to be "the man". He will most likely take over the third down and change of pace back duties from Kenny Watson this season.

4th Round(114th overall):

Marvin White, Safety (TCU)

Height: 6-1
Weight: 199
Born: December 15th, 1983

Marvin White is an unheralded talent who didn't get the media attention he rightly deserved as the leader of the secondary unit at Texas Christian. The defense ranked 21st in the nation against the pass compared to 63rd the previous season, as White and his teammates allowed just 174.08 passing yards per game in 2006, compared to 221.17 in 2005. The entire unit seemed to jell around White, as the Horned Frogs ranked second nationally, allowing opponents only 234.92 yards per game in the safety's final season at Texas Christian. In his senior season, Marvin White racked up 86 tackles, 3 deflected passes and 4 interceptions.

Like I mentioned earlier, he is a very underrated prospect but he has all the tools and potential to turn into one of the biggest steals of draft. He has good size, he's extremely tough and physical and he is truly a big hitter. His timed speed at his pro day was good, he ran a 4.43 in the forty, he's very athletic and is very quick. He has terrific ball skills and is a hard worker that has a motor that doesn't stop. He has a lot of potential and will improve drastically in the coming years.

At first, like I said, I wasn't too sure about this pick, that is until I did some research. I feel completely differently now and along side Madieu Williams and with our pair of young corners we now have I feel our secondary will be much better this year and many years to come. And as far as I know, he's a character guy. Which is what we need.

5th Round(151st overall):

Jeff Rowe, Quarterback (NEV)

Height: 6-5
Weight: 226
Born: March 21st, 1984

Jeff Rowe struggled mightedly for three seasons of trying to move up the Wolf Pack's depth chart, Rowe took over the starting job as a junior. He struggled as the starter and he was replaced in each of the first six games of the 2004 season before settling in comfortably behind center. He now ranks fifth in school history in passing yardage (7,862), seventh in touchdown passes (55), second in pass completions (682) and pass attempts (1,122), and fourth in total offense yardage (8,413). Rowe started in 38 out of his 45 games for Nevada. He hit on 682 of 1,122 pass attempts (60.8 percent) for 7,862 yards, 55 touchdowns and 33 interceptions. He carried 317 times for 561 yards (1.8 avg.) and 13 scores. In 1,439 plays, Rowe amassed 8,413 yards in total offense. He also recorded five solo tackles.

Jeff Rowe looks exactly what you would expect an NFL quarterback to look like with his great size at 6-5 226 lb. He moves well in and out of the pocket and has a nice touch on his passes. He is a very good leader, a character guy and is a hard worker. But Rowe doesn't have the tools to be a full-time starter in the NFL, his arm strength is mediocre at best, he has to adjust to pro game as he spent the last few seasons in that "Bullet" offense and is really only effective in the short passing game. He has a long slow release and will make a lot of mistakes.

Out of all of our picks, this is the one that I have a major problem with. I know we really don't have a solid back up quarterback and I was fine with drafting one, but Jeff Rowe? He has little to no potential to be a good player, he wasn't projected to be picked until the 7th round or even could've gone undrafted, but yet we used our 151st overall pick on him when we could've addressed the defense again or pick up a solid replacement for Chris Henry(while he's suspended) and full-time for Kelly Washington (who signed with New England).

6th Round(187th overall):

Matt Toeaina, Defensive Tackle (ORE)

Height: 6-2
Weight: 307
Born: October 9th, 1982

At Matt Toeaina's tenure at Oregon he spent a lot of time behind players that are already in the NFL, like Baltimore's Halati Ngati. He finally got a chance to start, but still didn't take advantage of it making only 36 tackles, 0 sacks and only 3.0 tackles for loss in 2006. It also should be mentioned that he played in all 13 games for the Ducks. In 2005 he also had only 36 tackles but he was able to get 3.0 sacks and 6.0 tackles for loss.

Toeaina struggled with consistency throughout his career at Oregon but has strength and ability to stop the run. Toeaina is particularly attractive in the later rounds due to his versatility as teams featuring the 4-3 and 3-4 defense will be looking for a bargain developmental prospect. He is intense, very competitive and is tough and physical. He is a solid tackler and gets a great push on the offensive line and is versaitile because he can play both defensive tackle and defensive end. And of course, he's a character guy.

I was and still am a little bit weary about this pick. He seems like he doesn't have much room to grow and lacks potential to be a top-notch player. He is probably going to be more of a backup but hopefully will fill that spot nicely and be a solid contributor off the the bench. What can I say, we needed help stopping the run, and Toeanina is a run stopper, at worst he's a backup at best he's a starter.

7th Round(230th overall):

Dan Santucci, Offensive Guard (ND)

Height: 6-3
Weight: 296
Born: September 9th, 1985

[this comes from from NFL.com]

Santucci has made the rounds on the Irish front walls since enrolling at the school. He began his Notre Dame career as a defensive end on the scout team, shifting to defensive tackle as a redshirt freshman. He then moved to the offensive line as a sophomore, starting one game at left guard. He earned a full-time job as a junior, taking over left guard duties and closing out his career with 26 consecutive starts at that position. One of the team's top scholar-athletes, Santucci again manned left guard for the Irish in 2006. He totaled 325 minutes of playing time, allowing four of the team's 31 quarterback sacks. He provided solid pass protection as the team ranked No. 13 nationally, averaging 264.08 yards per game passing. He closed out his career starting 26 of 48 games, seeing action for more than 696 minutes.

Dan Santucci is a very good athlete that is quick and agile. He has good size but he could stand to gain some weight. He's very physical and is very effective as both a run and pass blocker. He's a tough hard worker that is very smart and always knows whats going on on the field. He has a lot of upside and can play both guard and center at the NFL level. And he always plays with a nasty demeanor.

I love this pick, he reminds me a lot of Eric Steinbach, who was a rising star with us until he opted to sign with Cleveland as a free-agent. Much like Steinbach, he can play just about everywhere on the offensive line and play them all extremely well. He is under 300 pounds which is a little odd to see, and could use some more upper body strenght, but all that can be worked out in the weight room. I beleive he is a 100% steal in the 7th round if he develops the way he's on track to.

7th Round(253rd overall):

Chinedum Ndukwe, Safety (ND)

Height: 6-1
Weight: 206
Born: March 4th, 1985

Chinedum "Nedu" Ndukew was a two-year starter along side with Tom Zbikowski and gave the Irish one of the top zone coverage safety tandems in college football. Ndukwe played in 45 games at Notre Dame, starting in 25 of them. He finished his career with 175 tackes, 5.5 tackles for loss and 4 career interceptions. In fact in his senior season he had by far his best year. He had 98 tackles, 6 passes defended and 2 interceptions. He's played a lot of positions while at Notre Dame, he came in as an accomplished wide receiver, he then switched to strong safety, which is where he eventually started for the remained of his career. He also lined up as the rover, apache linebacker and free safety.

Ndukew has great size and bulk and is a great natural athlete. He had a pretty good timed speed and has shown that he has good hands and ball skills. He is solid versus the run and has shown some playmaking ability against the passing game. He still has a lot of potential and has terrific special teams potential. He is a very hard hitter as well.

I like him as a back up to Madieu Williams and maybe our new punt and kick returner. It was a decent pick in the 7th round to help sure up our lackluster secondary. And here is a video of Ndukew destroying second overall pick, Calvin Johnson. This video comes via the NFLFanhouse.