I can't believe the so-called "experts" on this board who do nothing more than parrot what the ESPN talking heads say.  For those of you who automatically trash Mike Brown, consider this: Levi Jones was a Dick LeBeau pick, not Mike Brown.  He has LeBeau written all over him: blue-collar, nasty, athletic, smart (went to Arizona State on an academic scholarship), and no character flaws.  He's also a tremendous run blocker, which should make Corey Dillon an even more explosive force.  I think in two to three years, Levi Jones will be the cornerstone of the offensive line, and Mel Kiper and the rest of the ESPN idiots will be proven wrong ... again!
--Roland in Cincinnati

Mike Brown  passed up an opportunity to sell out a stadium bearing his dad's name by doing what was very obvious to fans and experts: Get Bledsoe, draft a TE and a CB.  We were very close to turning the laughingstock of the NFL around into something special.  I am cheated as a fan.  Most of all I have deep sympathy for the players, who are expected to go out and give it their all and have Brown keep slapping them in the face.  You have to spend $ to make $. I hope every Bengal fan boycotts.   
--Joe in Cincinnati

                                                                                                         For all the Bengal naysayers, Levi Jones would not have been there if the trade was made with the Giants.  Likewise, Levi Jones would not have been available if the trade was made with Washington.  The Browns desperately need a left tackle and Levi Jones was on their board.  All this whining about the pick is unbelievable.  They got the guy probably four picks early.  Big deal, it is not that big of a reach.  I have been wanting this team to draft a left tackle for years in the first round.  Finally, they have address a glaring need.  This was a very good draft.
--Matt in Madison, Ohio

  Well, they managed to do it again.  They've passed on Champ Bailey in the past and now Philip Buchanon.  Was a tackle really a desperate need?  The Bengals should have a better record this year and will have a higher pick next year and I guarantee there will be a tackle available.  Jeff Burris is a solid player,  but I don't think he is a long-term solution.   I don't think Artrell Hawkins, would start for most teams.    If you ask me, Philip Buchanon would have added that extra dimension a certain swagger.  He could have turned a 9th ranked defense into a top 5.
--Mike in Hamilton

It was funny to hear one of the ESPN commentators at the time of the pick (perhaps Chris Mortensen) yell "it's the Bengals" with obvious derision. Hey, ESPN, go jump on someone else's back. Arizona pops to mind. I am sick of the constant derision and the Bengals are finally headed in the right direction.
---Keith in Dayton

  You can never go wrong drafting offensive linemen, particularly when Corey Dillon is your strength.  3.8 stars
--Larry in Cincinnati

Thank you, Bengals.  I grew up a Bengals fan and I continued to be a fan of the team after I moved out of the area.  Then they drafted Akili Smith instead of making the trade with New Orleans.  I could not take it any more.  I am a Titans fan now and smiled when the Bengals drafted Levi Jones.  That is exactly what we needed to happen to be in the position to get our guy.   Albert Haynesworth was a steal and we received a 4th round pick, also.   Thanks again.
  --Eric in Tennessee

I've been disappointed in past draft selections, but I see promise in the 10th selection. We need help on the offense that can protect our quarterback - whoever that may be :-) I think Dick LeBeau is making strides in the picks he's made since he's been coach. If Levi makes as much progress as Justin did last year, Bengal fans should begin to have something to cheer about in the near future.
  --SCBengal in Fort Mill, SC

As a football coach and a Bengals fan, I think the draft this year will prove to be one of the Bengals' best. Round One: The glaring weakness on this team was offense in 2001. If you have a talent like Corey Dillon, as Paul Alexander says, "Draft linemen!" Jones is athletic and smart, will learn fast. Likely 2002 starter at some point. Webb and Jackson will be great mentors for the rookie. Round Two: Great Pick: Perhaps the best free safety in the draft. Bengal fans will love this kid. Great ball skills. Round Three: Ask the Detroit Lions if this was a poor selection. Schobel is an ex-QB - nice athlete, big, soft hands, better than average speed. If he's healthy, excellent chance to fill a big need as a starter. Round Four: I saw this young man against UC - very versatile kicker. He is an NFL-caliber punter as well. Janikowski was drafted in the FIRST round. Adios and good luck, Mr. Rackers. Round Six: Big area of need was safety. This pick may allow Cory Hall to stay at FS, while providing JoJuan Armour with help at the SS spot. Was much higher rated than he was drafted. Nice value pick at an area of team need. Round 7: Developmental Team Player. W e'll see. No QB - Good. Bledsoe is NOT the guy. No CB - Sure, Phillip Buchanon is a great player, but this team needed offense. June 1st is coming. The novel isn't finished.
--Peter in Cincinnati

You asked "What do I think" about the Bengal's draft choices? Easy. It reinforces the fact I was right to move out of Hamilton County and relocate my business. Not one dime of my tax money, from either my income, my employees' income, or my company's income, will ever be used to support the man, Mike Brown, that holds the record for NFL futility as a General Manager. Wake up Bengal fans. It's been over a decade, and Brown's track record speaks for itself. No amount of bashing ESPN's response will change the fact that Mike Brown is, beyond a shadow of doubt, the worst GM in NFL history. The only thing continued fan support of the Bengals franchise shows is that PT Barnum was right.
--Rick in Georgetown

The Bengals are finally sending a message to those who have not been productive in past seasons. Specifically: Tight end, kicker, and safety. They are addressing vital parts of the team needed for real improvement. Sure, we could use a quarterback, but what good is it if he spends the whole season lying on his back? Give Kitna a half second more per snap and he'll complete more passes. No lineman and you wind up with an beat-up or injured QB like Smith. I observed in the 2000 season that when John Jackson went out with an injury, Corey Dillon's gains went to zero. Jackson didn't play last year and it was obvious that Richmond Webb wasn't getting the job done in the running game. Levi Jones just may enable that big year for Corey Dillion. If the Bengals can sign a couple free agents, I think they may have a shot at a winning season. Next year they can add the remaining parts needed to really contend.
--Greg in Dayton

For once in my miserable Bungle-paraphenalia infested life I would like Mike Brown to take a day or two off work. Preferably Draft Days 1 and 2. I can only imagine the 10th-ranked defense only elevating to top-five status with a proven shutdown corner lurking behind Justin Smith and those awesome linebackers. For someone who was known as a defensive guru, Coach LeBeau, why couldn't you find the time to stand up and just say no? Philip Buchanon was the player we needed and no matter what you say about the O-line, it was a need that could have been filled later.  Jones doesn't start this year barring injury. Buchanon is playing from day 1. I don't hate the pick, it's the timing. Once again the Bungles are "building" toward a great team in the next few years .... for how long, MB? I am only getting older and my wallet strings are getting tighter with age.  Get a General Manager to take this very important task out of your hands.
 --Ryan in West Carrollton

This is to those Bengal Bashers who cry enough to make the Ohio River spill its banks.  You cried last year when we didn't draft a left tackle and now you're crying because we did.  Last season we found an aging former all pro to fill a spot in the o-line. Levi Jones now has one year to develop into what Richmond Webb once was. I don't seem to remember our 9th ranked defense getting passed on all the time as the reason for all our losses.  It was our offense and its inability to hold on to the ball and put it in the end zone.  Put in a tough run-blocking left tackle and play to the strength of our offense, which is our running game, while  giving our quaterbac ktime to find a great group of recevers ...  Now that sounds like a good way to hold the ball and score points.  Group that with Jeff Burris and the entire returnring defense and we could get some wins.  Now, remind me why we needed a cornerback so bad?
--Adam in Cincinnnati

We needed a shutdown corner and a quarterback to be strong enough to make the playoffs for the first time since 1990. The Bengals dropped the ball again. Phillip Bucannon was the shutdown cornerback and Drew Bledsoe was the quarterback we should have traded for. Mike Brown and the Bengals made Cincinnati look like a bunch of fools by not getting good value at this top 10 draft position. I just hope Buffalo doesn't make it to the Super Bowl this year; because, if they do, the outcry for Mike's job will be deafing.
--Dan in Beffefontaine, Ohio

The Bengals should have accepted the Redskins' offer of first and second round picks on Friday, then traded those picks for Bledsoe, saving the money from paying 2 unproven players to afford a proven quality player. But that would make sense. If they were wiser than the experts, we wouldn't have the top 10 pick every year.
--Tom in Cincinnati

I think taking a tackle was a great move. The days of a superstar QB are over in the NFL. If you take an above average QB and give him some time and good people to throw to, you will be better off. Look at how many 1st round QB's are playing and how many 3-5th rounders are now the starters!   Also, giving Rackers the boot will be a breath of fresh air!   Way to go, Mike Brown. At least we fans have a little hope starting this season.
--Gary in Columbus

Mike Brown is the least creative and daring man in football. Instead of trading for Drew Bledsoe, he uses the salary cap as the reason that trade couldn't happen. Doesn't he realize that he now has to pay Levi Jones like a top 10 pick? Mike Brown has just doubled his salary. With this pick, I doubt that John Jackson will make the opening day roster. He shouldn't. That saves about 450K on this year's salary cap. Richard Webb was signed to a three-year deal last offseason. He will probably be cut before next year, so there is a one-year strangle hold on our salary cap. That will probably be a million or two cap hit. I also don't expect Darnay Scott and Tony McGee to be re-signed after this season. That alone is enough to sign Simmons and Spikes, about 5 million. Letting McGee go after this next season makes sense. Drafting Schobel in the third round that makes him expendable. I hope Dorsch beats out Rackers. If he can't then we wasted a fourth rounder. I don't believe that a kicker or punter should ever be drafted! I like the safeties we drafted. Overall I give the Bengals a C. It all depends on how Jones turns out.
--Roger in Cincinnati

Great draft! I was surprised by the first round pick at first, too. But to find out that Mel Kiper had Levi going to Jax at # 9 two weeks ago lent a lot of credibility to this kid. That's why the people bashing this pick are not NFL coaches or front office execs. You know what the media tells you about these players and as soon as the Bengals veer away from the expected, everyone is quick to jump as say they're idiots. Dick LeBeau doesn't show up at your job and critique the way you surf the web all day, let him do his job.
--Kevin in Bowling Green

Tackles are more important to the success of a team than a quarterback! Bledsoe (if some tackle doesn't kill him) will not lead Buffalo to anything other than the poor house. If the Bengals are to amount to anything in the next several years, they need a solid front line on both sides of the ball. If the tackles and guards do their job, a mediocre quarterback (read Kurt Warner) can look like a world beater.
--Jack in Cincinnati

As a Browns fan I know about draft day disaster.  What is going on down there?!
--William in Columbus

It doesn't matter if they just drafted Red Grange.  Once a player, world-beater or not, becomes a Bengal,  90% of the time he becomes slower, dumber, and ulitmately a loser.  A player drafted by the Bengals is at the beginning of the end.  He has probably experienced a great deal of success in the college game and now those successes will become a distant memory.  The Cincinnati Bengals organization is a graveyard for football players.  For every Takeo Spikes, there are 5 David Klinglers.  It makes no difference who they got at what pick or if they could have traded, etc.  The fact is they are the most inept front office in all of professional sports and these poor guys have entered the twilight zone of the NFL. 
--Ryan in Cincinnati

 As many times as the intelligence of Mike Brown is in question, Bengals¹ fans should look in the mirror.  Anyone who now honestly thinks that Cincinnati could have traded for Drew Bledsoe needs to move to Cleveland.  Those are the same fans that booed Boomer out of Riverfront now expecting Bledsoe¹s .500 record to push the Bengals into the Super Bowl.  Please.  We¹ve tried the ³experienced QB² thing again and again.  Read it here first: the Bengals will have a better record without him than the Bills will with him.  Year after year Brown failed to draft an offensive lineman and now that he does, he¹s wrong?  I now realize that most fans just like to cry.  It¹s like we¹re the only fans in sports that sees losing teams.  We¹re not, but we¹re largely the most critical, ungrateful, hateful people that football has ever seen.  Don¹t we all have happy, well-adjusted families and successful careers?  If not, we shouldn¹t be spending time on weekends complaining about football.  Bottom line: enjoy the season and don¹t repeat everything you hear on TV. 
--Rob in Florence, KY

Just when you think the organization has dropped to its lowest level, they surprise you with a new twist.  This time, they passed on trading a draft pick (which everyone knew the organization would blow anyway) for a premier quarterback (Bledsoe).  If the Bengals make that deal, they are a contender.  They have a strong defense and an offense that is one ringmaster away from being just as solid.  Instead, we draft a lineman.  It doesn't matter if Levi Jones is the next Anthony Munoz.  If he is, the Bengals will still be 5-11 because they don't have anyone to throw the football.  The Bengals need a quarterback.  It is time to realize Akili Smith was a huge mistake and Jon Kitna, even with an abundance of talent around him, is below average.  
--Rob in Florence, KY

As a Pats fan I thought Cincy made a mistake by not trading the 10th pick for Bledsoe, but after watching you guys butcher yet another 1st round pick, I was angry, and I'm sitting in Boston! If I was in Cincinnati, I don't know what I would do. You guys are a quarterback and a corner away from being a serious contender and you drafted a tackle and a safety! Good Luck!  
--Brian in Swampscott, MA

I think the national media is ignorant in regards to the Bengals' situation at left tackle.  With John Jackson most likely retiring and with Richmond Webb's 2003 cap hit at $4,000,000, coupled with the team's need for salary cap room to re-sign young start linebackers Takeo Spikes and Brian Simmons, I think the Levi Jones pick makes excellent sense.  Another advantage is that Jones will have at least one year of tutelage under veterans Webb and Jackson before he has to mann the position fulltime.  As someone who religiously follows the draft, I can also tell you that the 2003 NFL Draft will have next to no good left tackle prospects as it stands now.  Mike Brown receives a lot of criticism, and some of it is very justifiable, but if he didn't address the left tackle position this year, likely he would have had to wait till the 2004 Draft.  In my opinion, the Bengals' window of opportunity is fast approaching.  It would have been an absolute shame if this team was ready to be serious playoff contender but the left tackle spot held us from that possibility, as that critical position can do.  Look at the success of the St. Louis Rams after the selection of Orlando Pace.  Look at the success of the Baltimore Ravens after the selection of Jonathan Ogden.  Look at our own Bengals with Anthony Munoz.  I think after experiencing the Kevin Sargent and Rod Jones eras at left tackle, I'm one Bengals fan who is not dissapointed with the selection of Levi Jones.
--Paul in Columbus

  As for all of the smack-talking posts coming in from New York, remember this:   The 2002 season begins and ends with the Bledsoe-led Bills hosting the Bengals.  Bledsoe gets to find out what dissing the Bengals means to Takeo Spikes when Spikes hosts his own private "sack party." Hey, Chris Berman, your mighty Bills will get a double dose of the Bengals' wrath this year.  Here's a new moniker for your newly crowned QB:  Drew "Oh How He Bled So."   And wouldn't it be something if new Bengals TE, Matt Schobel, runs around, over and through his brother, Aaron (DE for the Bills), on his way to scoring the winning touchdown in the season finale, sending the Bengals to the postseason, while the Bills get another long, cold winter's nap.
--Kurt in Iowa

  Did Richmond Webb have an unannounced heart attack Saturday morning for the Bengals to draft Levi Jones?  If Jones was the best selection, why not trade down to 15 with the Giants (they would have gladly traded up to get Shockey at 10) and pick up an extra pick or two?  Its apparent why no free agent wants to play here when you dont even try to win.  I'm looking forward to another 4-12 season and I hope the fans of Cincinnati are, as well.
--Terry in Akron

The pluses:
1)      They needed an OT. In fact, they addressed a number of needs - S, K & TE.
2)      They drafted athletes with character.
3)      Thompson should help right away and Jones at some point during the season.
4)      The Cowboys and the Lions wanted Schobel.
The minuses:
1)      They paid too high a price for Jones.
2)      The Bengals' doctors have stated that Thompson's neck is fine, but the bottom line is his health is still a question mark.
3)      Isn't Schobel injury prone (he missed a lot games) and inexperienced (he only caught 29 balls in college)? Will he be sitting next to Sean Brewer on IL this season?
4)      Another Kicker? Why not sign a free agent K that can do the job?
5)      Why didn't the Bengals trade for Bledsoe?
--Larry in Dallas

I agree with another poster that we should all wait to see how Levi Jones pans out. Let's welcome him to the city and support him rather than criticize him before he's ever put a striped helmet on. I can't wait to see all of his critics wearing a replica jersey on Sundays.
--Paul in Indiana, PA

The Bengals' gloomy falls can usually be traced, directly, to their idiotic April moves. This is no exception.
--Milton in Los Angeles

The only two quarterbacks worth drafting were Carr and Harrington.  Kittner equals Kitna.  I'm glad to see that Mike Brown did not gamble and did not waste any of his picks on a high profile bust.  Levi Jones will solidify the offensive line and allow the league to witness the best  true running back in Corey Dillon.  By drafting Lamont Thompson and acquiring Jeff Burris in free agency, the Bengals took care of their needs in the secondary.  Drew Bledsoe will wish he was playing for Cincinnati come late December. Ask Elvis.  I'm not sure I would have gone with a kicker in the fourth round, but at least we won't have to hold our breath for Neil next year.  And has anyone forgotten how many talented players John Cooper has put in the NFL?  All we need is someone to play the Trent Dilfer role and we will be fine.  All you pessimists need to step back and take a better look at the past two years.  I know it's hard, but we have improved, we will get better, and we will be playing in January.   
--Daniel in Cincinnati

What used to be the best day of the season for the Bungles has now turned them into a laughingstock all over the country. As much as I can't stand the Mel Kipers of the draft, they have no reservations in beating a dead horse and apparently with good reason, judging by this debacle. It is bad enough we have to pay to see the shiver on the river for 16 games; now we have become the draft goat. Maybe it is really time to dump my tickets. Draft day 2002 is a dump!
--Peter in Cincinnati

I think the Bengals did an awesome job. When the Cowboys took Roy Williams with the 8th pick, I orginally thought the Bengals should trade down to get more picks. I agree with Mr. Brown in that they didn't need another cornerback since they signed two very good ones this offseason. Taking a left tackle was a good idea since the two they have now are old as dirt.
--Trenice in Houston

You're all a bunch of idiots if you don't think this was a good pick! Go with Buchanon and see who protects our QB next year!!! Trade down??? With who??? The Giants, when you got two teams in between ready to jump on our new LT?? Get Drew "I don't want to play for Cincy" Bledsoe?? Good job to the Bengals front office. Been a Bengals fan for 30 years and will die a fan!
--J. in San Diego

You have got to be kidding. If you think your first-round pick was better used on the player you got than trading for Bledsoe, that is why you end up where you always do.
--Rick in Massachusetts

"B" as in BUST.   Where's the cornerback?   Where's the quarterback?   The reason the Bengals wouldn't give up a #1 draft pick in 2003 for Drew Bledsoe is because they already know that will be a very high pick, what with another losing season on the horizon!
--Dave in Cincinnati

More of your comments on the Bengals' draft

Bengals Stories

Good draft can help Bengals right away New kicker should give Rackers the boot What do you think of the Bengals' picks With Bledsoe on Bills, Bengals need backup QB Bengals foes reload in draft Draft Notebook: Jones gets first lesson Surprise, Bengals take tackle Experts rip Bengals pick DAUGHERTY: Bengals spoil the party again SULLIVAN: Bengals' timing might be right Jones combines brains and brawn Nose for ball Thompson's key strength Trade yields TE Schobel 6th: Marquand Manuel 7th: Joey Evans Draft picks by team Draft picks by number First round goes to linemen Harrington surprised by Detroit

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