How do the Bengals get a QB in this draft class if one isn’t taken at pick 4, and the other good ones may be taken by pick 35? Bengals.com writer Geoff Hobson put up an interesting article about the QB draft class, and how it’s going to be drafted.
The issue at hand is as I mentioned earlier is “If the Bengals don’t land Blaine Gabbert or Cam Newton, how can the Bengals still land a quarterback?” There’s only a short list of actual contributors in this draft class; ones that won’t be career bench warmers. Most “draft gurus” agree there could easily be 4 guys taken in the first round, if not more. Now when looking at this draft order It;s important to consider what teams are even in the hunt for a QB. The Panthers, Broncos, Bills, Bengals, Cardinals, 49ers, Titans, Redskins, Vikings, Dolphins, Jaguars and Seahawks have all been linked into taking a QB in the 34 picks before the Bengals at 35. Obviously not all these teams will draft their guy but, (that would make one crazy draft to say the least) but it’s not out of the question that by pick 35 4-5 of those teams will address the QB position.
"“It’s a tough call. Teams are going to be scrambling because they’re counting on getting a quarterback and there’s a lot of teams that want one that won’t get one in the first round,” said ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay in his conference call Thursday."
Now the next thing is when looking at this draft, if the Bengals wait to round 2; how much are the reaching exactly, and is this guy even going to be ready in the next season or two? That’s the big question many teams in QB need will be asking themselves. Out of the Quarterback class there’s really only 5-6 QB’s that are options for the Bengals in either round one or two. Those guys being in [My positional] order are: Blaine Gabbert of Missouri, Cam Newton Auburn, Jake Locker Washington, Andy Dalton TCU, Ryan Mallett Arkansas, Christian Ponder FSU. Now the dilemma is this: Gabbert and Newton may be gone before we draft at 4th, Locker is a mid-1st (somewhere in the teens), and Dalton, Mallett and Ponder all have enough promise to make teams like the Jaguars or Seahawks say this could be our guy. This of course is not mentioning the problem that if say Buffalo were to pass on Gabbert, they would have a shot at QB in the 2nd round right before the Bengals do. Or the even bigger issue, The Hoodie himself Bill Belichick, with the Patriots sitting on the 1st pick of the 2nd round, it’s almost a guarantee that it will be dealt for a QB needy team. So it begs the question, would the QB loving Mike Brown be willing to trade up for a QB, be it the 1st or 2nd round? Because nothing is worse then the feeling of the guy you’re targeting is snatched up the pick before you.