The Bengals did well under the circumstances, but they didn't get the defensive tackle (Sedrick Ellis) they coveted. Cincinnati tried all offseason to get a defensive tackle, but trades for Shaun Rogers and Dewayne Robertson fell through, and Ellis went to the New Orleans Saints when they traded up to No. 9. Cincinnati got a break when the Patriots traded down and didn't take linebacker Keith Rivers, who was a great choice for the Bengals. But they needed a defensive tackle.
I like Keith as the pick in the first round. I understand that everyone wanted Ellis, but he was gone before their pick. I do see the reasoning to be angry since the Bengals just couldn't do that little extra to deal up to get Ellis ... or finish off those trades for Rogers or Robertson. I still doubt that it makes the Bengals draft a bad one.
I do feel that this put them over the top. They really, really reached on WR Jerome Simpson. With the kind of names left on the board and the fact that no one valued him that high, using a 2nd rounder on Simpson was bad.
When looking at Clayton's Day 1 losers, most are because of deals they didn't make and not an indictment on who the teams actually selected.
USC defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis is known as a great athlete and a guy with the character that makes him too good a person to be a Bengal, so it's a good thing that the New Orleans Saints traded up and took Ellis before the Bengals could get their filthy paws on him.
NFL teams have said Ellis will play defensive tackle, and that's where he should play for the Saints, but I could easily see him moving to end if that's what they need down the road. He's versatile enough to play anywhere on the line.
The Saints made clear that they were willing to pay a big price to get better on the defensive line. They traded up to get Ellis, and they got better on the defensive line.
There are six players invited to take the stage at Radio City Music Hall for the NFL draft, and most mock drafts show those six players as the first six off the board.
So that means it's the Patriots, owners of the seventh pick, who could make things interesting. What will they do? Almost everyone thinks they'll take one of USC's defensive players, Sedrick Ellis or Keith Rivers. These are the betting odds at Bodog, and yes, you can bet on the NFL draft:
Who will the New England Patriots select with the #7 pick in the NFL Draft?
Keith Rivers 9/5
Sedrick Ellis 5/2
Leodis McKelvin 4/1
Branden Albert 3/1
Ryan Clady 7/1
Other 9/5
In my own mock draft I say the Patriots will take Ellis but should take Rivers, but I also wouldn't rule out one of those invited players, maybe Chris Long or Vernon Gholston, falling to No. 7. The truth is we just don't know, and that's why the draft is so fun.
At least it wasn't Lee Corso, I guess. In today's Dayton Daily News, the very handsome Kirk Herbstreit unloaded on the Bengals for any number of reasons, all in an effort to make the point that USC's Sedrick Ellis wouldn't be a good fit in Cincinnati because he has great character.
"I don't know if he fits in Cincinnati because he's too good a character. And yet, is he going to fall into the great abyss of the Cincinnati Bengals or is he going to be able to overcome that?"
Herbstreit was just getting started, apparently. He also had some choice nuggets for how the team has handled the Ocho Cinco fiasco:
"It's an embarrassment to this point ... I've been a Bengals fan my entire life, and I really feel at this point - I'm a big Marvin Lewis supporter and fan - but I think he and the staff have created the situation that they're in with Chad Johnson.
"I don't feel pity. I don't feel sorry for them. They kind of had rules for the team and then rules for Chad. This is where you are. Everybody has to be treated the same. In my opinion, this team is back to where we were four or five years ago."
Now all that's left to do is hire Dick LeBeau, trade for Jon Kitna, and get Corey Dillon out of retirement. Commence slow-motion train wreck.
The Bengals really need a defensive lineman. In fact, that's pretty much been the case since head coach Marvin Lewis arrive in 2003. And even though the team is in position to finally make that happen -- they're picking ninth in Saturday's NFL draft -- mitigating circumstances might dictate otherwise.
And, yes, "mitigating circumstances" does, in fact, have everything to do with Chris Henry, and to a lesser extent Chad Johnson. Henry's NFL career is likely over after his latest po-po-related incident, and Johnson is currently in the process of whining his way out of town. Even if the latter doesn't happen, who knows what to expect from him if he's forced to play in Cincinnati next season.
Of the top five-rated receivers available in the draft, only California's DeSean Jackson is regarded as having top-end speed. He also is a talented punt return man with six career returns for touchdowns...
Texas' Limas Sweed also has good vertical speed and is praised for his humility and work ethic in the era of me-first diva receivers. ... Another receiver the Bengals have looked at is Oklahoma's Malcolm Kelly, but like Michigan State's Devin Thomas, Kelly is not considered to be a burner. Houston's Donnie Avery has great speed and could be worth a shot in the second round.
So, basically, Cincy is looking at everybody. The obvious choice is Sweed if for no other reason than he's the anti-Chad Henry. Of course, if Johnson wasn't being such a d-bag about his current "plight", the Bengals could concentrate on the important stuff. Like, say, drafting Sedrick Ellis. Maybe next year.
Today Bill Belichick's name evokes the whole sordid Spygate silliness, but before Eric Mangini ratted out his former boss, Belichick's name was synonymous with successfully running an NFL team, from on-field strategy to personnel decisions in the salary-cap era.
Under Belichick and general manager Scott Pioli, the Patriots have become adept at keeping the payroll manageable, not investing too much money in marquee players, and finding warm bodies at discount prices to fill in the gaps.
Thanks to a 2007 draft-day trade, New England has the seventh-overall pick this weekend, and they could take ... well, anybody. For a team with apparently very few needs, the Patriots might be in the market for an offensive lineman, cornerback or linebacker.
Or, looking to the future, they could draft a defensive lineman. Seems like an odd suggestion, what with Richard Seymour, Vince Wilfork and Ty Warren currently wreaking havoc along the line of scrimmage, but that could all change in two years.
With less than a week to go before the NFL draft, everything you hear out of every team's headquarters has to be taken with a grain of salt. But all indications are that the Baltimore Ravens, who pick eighth, and the Cincinnati Bengals, who pick ninth, are both interested in drafting USC defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis.
"In another draft, I think this would be a guy who would be a top-three pick. But because of this unique draft, where you have Chris Long and Glenn Dorsey and [Vernon] Gholston, the picks in the latter half of the top 10 are going to have a good chance of getting Sedrick Ellis. I think he is one of the best players at his position to come out of the draft in a long time."
And Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer said of Ellis, "When you're picking ninth, you need that impact type of guy." So if the Bengals like Ellis, and the Ravens like him too, does that mean the Bengals will have to trade up to get him?
My best guess is that Ellis will still be there when the Bengals' pick comes up, and they won't need to move up to take him. But there's a feeling that he's moving up draft boards, and the Bengals might get an itch to make a trade to ensure that he won't be taken in the Top 8.
Even before Chris Henry's po-po meter reached double digits, the Bengals were interested in giving quarterback Carson Palmer another offensive weapon. In addition to wide receivers Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh (not to mention Henry because, well, he's since been released), and running back Rudi Johnson, the team had hinted at adding a pass-catching tight end.
They signed the Colts' Ben Utecht a few weeks ago, but was never more than "the guy behind Dallas Clark" in Indianapolis. That's not entirely his fault -- Clark's pretty good -- but the Bengals are still open to adding another tight end, depending on how the draft unfolds.
Obviously, Cincinnati hopes to address the defensive line with their first-round pick (ninth overall), but Round 2 could be an option:
... [I]f one of those top tight ends in the NFL Draft falls at some point, [Cincinnati] seem ready to pounce. ...
The Trojans' Fred Davis still looks to be the consensus top pick at that spot at the bottom of the first round or early in the second despite a late move by Texas A&M's Martellus Bennett. Notre Dame's John Carlson remains solidly a second-rounder.
More than a month after the NFL Combine and just a few weeks from the draft, UNC defensive tackle Kentwan Balmer is still an enigma. FanHouse's Michael David Smith reported that Balmer used the Combine to improve his stock, particularly since Glenn Dorsey didn't participate.
But after his Pro Day earlier this week, Balmer's draft status is more unclear than ever. At least to hear ProFootballWeekly.com's Nolan Nawrocki explain it:
Disheartening to scouts who watched him clock a good time [in the 40-yard dash] was the way Balmer reacted, claiming that he tweaked his hamstring and could not run a second time. Despite the so-called injury, the career underachiever was able to go through a full positional workout, leaving scouts feeling like they had just been misled about an injury.
"He has no career production," one evaluator said. "He's got excuses for everything, and he did the same thing (Tuesday) when he pulled himself out of the workout. I would be surprised if he gets drafted in the first round."
Wow, way to hold back, Nolan. Interestingly, I came away feeling exactly the opposite about Balmer after reading MDS' report. Maybe Nolan's source is just really down on Balmer, or maybe something's changed in the last six weeks. Whatever, Balmer's still the third-best defensive tackle in the draft behind Dorsey and Sedrick Ellis. And as has been the case all off-season, the only question is when he'll get drafted.
Despite Nawrocki's doubts, he admits that the Packers and Giants, two teams picking late in the first round, are interested. And there's never been a first-round pick who proved to be a shiftless layabout, so it can't be as bad as all that.*
* This does not include Lawrence Phillips, Charles Rogers, Mike Williams, Ryan Leaf and countless others.
Sedrick Ellis is a guy they can feel good about. He's one of those rare guys that is a playmaker at the defensive tackle spot. He's also a prime guy to play the nose guard position if Cincinnati does decide to transition to a 3-4 defense.
Ellis brings something that the Bengals don't have ... a pass rushing defensive tackle. This alone will help the entire defense so much. Sure, the defense isn't very good, but they are talented and very, very young. Adding a guy who can get pressure up the middle helps the coverage teams and makes the secondaries job so much easier (the Bengals were starting three rookies and a 2nd-year guy in the secondary at the end of last year).
During the NFL Draft, there are winners and there are losers. Somebody has to have to worst draft ... according to the experts. 
The Bengals really need a defensive lineman. In fact, that's pretty much been the case since head coach Marvin Lewis arrive in 2003. And even though the team is in position to finally make that happen -- they're picking ninth in Saturday's NFL draft -- mitigating circumstances might dictate otherwise. 
Even before 
With each pick of the 
