It’s so unfortunate that our defense is so horrendous because Lemon and Jayden would be ELITE for 10+ years

23 comments

1. I could say the same thing for drafting Jeremiyah Love, but our defense was horrendous and needs to be addressed.

2. No one knows what the future holds. Our defense was doo doo in 2024 and we still performed exceptionally well.

3. You never know. Adam Peter can go full ham in free agency and sign a bunch of defensive studs.

4. How has it turned out for the Bengals to prioritize the WR position instead of the obvious holes in their roster?

5. I’m holding out for lime.

6. I don’t think they’ll draft a defensive player if they have Lemon, Love, Tate, Tyson, Sadiq etc higher on their board. I think they’ll just pick the guy they like the most as evidenced by the Conerly pick. I would like Downs to be the pick but as long as they get someone very talented that helps the team I will be happy.

7. Would never draft a slot WR in the 1st round, much less in the top 10.

   Quality WRs can be found throughout the draft and 1st round WRs bust more than they hit. Gotta go with a premium position in the top half of round 1 unless you see an All-Pro level talent – like Downs.

8. Kevin Sheehan talked the other day on his pod about the importance of drafting an “A+” impact player at 7, regardless their position. He acknowledged the needs on defense, but wasn’t bothered by the idea of drafting offense with the first pick if they were the highest on their board. We need more playmakers.

9. The team should draft the best player. Period. I don’t care about offense or defense. Good teams don’t either.

   How many times did we see Philly draft D when they needed O help?

   Our whole team needs help.

10. I don’t understand the Lemon hype. If we’re going to fantasize about drafting an offensive weapon (we’re not) let’s at least post about Love. Love is arguably a top 3 RB prospect over the last 10 years; Lemon is like WR25.

11. We have to “complete” our offense as much as we have to restore the defense. So many posts are about getting everything done this year, whether they realize it or not. This team won’t be properly and fully built, i.e. truly competitive, until 2027 at the earliest. We desperately need 2 good wideouts to complement Terry, and a better-than-mid RB would really help too (same for a better-than-mid TE). So I have no problem at all if they draft a WR or Love at #7. HTTC

12. We may draft a WR. I think if a LB/DE we love isn’t there and we don’t think Downs is worth a top 10 pick.

13. I mean we also need a wr. I wouldn’t be mad with Lemon at all. I don’t know better anyway.

14. Easier to pickup solid D in free agency. I’d be fine with a WR in round one. There’s no easy fix anyway and probably will end up with a losing record next year because of how many holes.

    BPA every time.

15. We should absolutely be open to the possibility of taking WR at #7. Personally, I like Tate, but the point is that we shouldn’t be tunnel-visioned towards defense. BPA always.

16. You never know, they might draft him. I’m honestly more and more hyped to regardless of the state of our defense. I’m just a big Lemon fan though so ignore my bias.

17. 🎶Lemons on the chain with the v cuts🎶

18. It’s about acquiring talent. The draft is one way to do that, so is FA, and also trades. I don’t know how you look at APs drafts and think he drafts to fill holes. At least not in the first round. He drafts who he thinks the best players are, imo. Our team is so devoid of talent in so many position groups, or we have an old player as a starter, I think he’d take any position besides QB or the obviously devalued positions.

    But I also don’t know what positions he values. Maybe he does not think Safety or off-ball LB are worth a first, or maybe he is fine with taking a RB high.

19. This team needs talent at every position minus QB and OL. If Lemon, who I believe is WR1 in this class, is there and he’s the best player on their board, you take him no matter what. We have FA to pick up defensive players.

    Also, if we’re switching to this 3-4 base (nickel base) that Flores ran, we may not need as many players as we anticipated.
    3tech: Newton can play the 3tech in both the 34 and nickel packages.
    0/1 Tech: FA, you can find one. (Reader, Tonga, etc)
    5Tech: Kinlaw or Payne, if they keep him which I’m against.
    LB you have Magee at one inside spot, you need another. Eric Wilson? He’s old but he played well last year in this system, stop gap? Or pay big for Lloyd, Quay, or decent for Bush.
    Edge: Luvu will play the AVG role where he can either drop or rush. Yes he struggled last year but he was a FT edge or the main coverage LB until Magee took over. In a zone, he has a 5-7yard range to cover and I’m confident he can look better covering in a spot versus in man. DA, once healthy will be our Greenard where he will MAINLY rushes opposite of Luvu.

    CB: Amos, Mikey, spend big on Riq? He’s a zone corner and we need these! Or Dean, McCreary, Alontae Taylor would make sense.

    Safety: BIG NEED. Will Harris should be our S3, we need a free and strong starter(s).
    I can see Bishop Fitzgerald in the middle rounds as a FS option, while Blankenship may not be kept in Philly or Alohi in Baltimore. Do they trust in Quan and Harris to be 2 of the 3? I don’t, sounds gross to me. I’d go Gilman at Strong/box with Harris backing him up and Fitzgerald at FS battling with Quan to start. If they want to spend twice on safety, then get Reed Blankenship as well.

    This puts you in a BPA situation, and if that’s Lemon, I’m going for it.

20. Our defense talent isn’t that bad, people are just underselling how bad Witt was. Witt could turn a defense full of all pros to a bottom 5 defense. Thats how bad Witt is. People will be pleasantly surprised over how much the D improves just by getting a competent defensive coordinator and play caller

21. Heres the way i see it….
    I want Caleb Downs. Badly.

    But this team would benefit more in the immeadiate and long term by getting a WR.

    Terrys days as a #1 are dwindling. We need a #2 as well. We WILL NOT be able to get a #1 type in free agency. Just wont happen. BUT, we can draft one. As the young guy serves as our #2 until his natural talent (and terrys mentorship) takes him into the #1 role, we will also give Jayden his running mate.

    While on defense yes, we need improvements all over. Some of these improvements can simply be serviceable free agents. We can improve our secondary drastically just by signing mid tier FAs. We cant get jayden his running mate by signing a mid tier WR.

    A top 10 pick on defense isnt going to take the defense to the next level on its own. But a top 10 wr could take our offense to the next level.

    All of this is moot until we see what happens in FA, but im going to be spoiler for you all, we WILL NOT be big spenders in free agency. We will sign maybe 2 kinlaw/luvu sized deals. We are NOT going to get pitts (maybe likely), we are NOT going to get Alec Pierce. Just accept these.

22. We will be bad one more year just draft the best player available

23. Plus everyone needs to remember even in college he had a sophomore slump. Once he got to LSU he played lights out again. I’m not worried.