It’s hard to fault the Bengals for recognizing a need at tight end and addressing it with Oklahoma tight end Jermaine Gresham, but this was definitely a reach.
This is how teams get in trouble when they simply draft the best player available at a position they need, rather than the overall best player available. Dez Bryant was still on the board when the Bengals drafted Gresham, and that could be a pick they live to regret.
For the Bengals’ sake, they had better hope Gresham is one day comparable to Tony Gonzalez and Antonio Gates, or we will be talking about this pick for years as a huge miss. There are likely to be several very good players taken behind Gresham, and I’m just not sold that he’s the play-maker the Bengals think he is.
- St. Louis Rams – Sam Bradford | QB | Oklahoma
- Detroit Lions – Ndamukong Suh | DT | Nebraska
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Gerald McCoy | DT | Oklahoma
- Washington Redskins – Trent Williams | OT | Oklahoma
- Kansas City Chiefs – Eric Berry | S | Tennessee
- Seattle Seahawks – Russell Okung | OT | Oklahoma State
- Cleveland Browns – Joe Haden | CB | Florida
- Oakland Raiders – Rolando McClain | LB | Alabama
- Buffalo Bills – C.J. Spiller | RB | Clemson
- Jacksonville Jaguars – Tyson Alualu | DT | California
- San Francisco 49ers – Anthony Davis | OT | Rutgers
- San Diego Chargers – Ryan Matthews | RB | Fresno
- Philadelphia Eagles – Brandon Graham | DE | Michigan
- Seattle Seahawks – Earl Thomas | S | Texas
- New York Giants – Jason Pierre-Paul | DE | USF
- Tennessee Titans – Derrick Morgan | DE | Georgia Tech
- San Francisco 49ers – Mike Iupati | OL | Idaho
- Pittsburgh Steelers – Maurkice Pouncey | OL | Florida
- Atlanta Falcons – Sean Weatherspoon | LB | Missouri
- Houston Texans – Kareem Jackson | CB | Alabama