2012 NFL Mock Draft: Cincinnati Bengals Select...

By Joel Thorman@JoelThorman Apr 4, 2012, 12:42pm CDT

Representing the Cincinnati Bengals, KMillz2525 with the 17th pick in Arrowhead Pride's 2012 NFL mock draft...

I recently became a member of the Cincinnati Bengals SB Nation site Cincy Jungle to research what they want do with the 17th pick in the draft. They too are in love with David DeCastro, but we all know some crazy person picked him to go top five in the AP mock draft.

So then I had to look deeper. They have some injuries in their linebacker corps and they all thought a guy like Luke Kuechly would give them a rare talent at MLB for their already solid defense. But with certain re-signings, and Kuechly being off the board, I again had to dig deeper.

This time I came up with a cornerback. Even with more first round picks devoted to their secondary than the Chiefs front seven, they still need another starting CB to pair with their already proven stud. I looked long and hard at the secondary players available and came to the conclusion that the only ones worth taking will fall to the second round, or at least until Cincinnati's second first round pick. So I scratched that position off till later. '

So again I had to brainstorm and then draw a name out of a hat because I really don't care who Cincinnati drafts because it isn't the Chiefs....OK, I'm kidding. I actually did more research and looked at the depth chart and read multiple FanPosts on Cincy Jungle that talk about what Cincinnati really needs.

So after much debate and research I finally narrowed it down to a few select players on the board. I had to make a choice based on the strengths of this team and where I see them going in future years. The name that will be called when Cincinnati turns in their first pick will be none other than Brodie Croyle....Wait. Sorry. That was my nightmare for the Chiefs draft.

The Bengals pick will instead be Michael Floyd, WR out of Notre Dame.

Now I know you all are saying they just drafted a receiver ast year and A.J. Green was AMAZING. But a lot of Cincinnati fans saw what I saw watching them play last year and that is the exact same thing we saw when the Chiefs only had Dwayne Bowe -- one guy getting all the catches because no one else is there to help.

So when a defense shuts that down, it kills the offense. Now, Cincinnati didn't really run into it like the Chiefs did against Baltimore in the playoff game but they will eventually.

Also, what way to help an emerging star at QB like Andy Dalton than to surround him with weapons. With their offensive line set other than one guard spot, which would be a reach at this pick, why not get another great WR?

So there you have it a bit of a wow pick, but I truly believe we could see a similar Manning with Wayne and Harrison type of combo in Cincinnati.

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Previously (with approval results)...

1. Indianapolis Colts - Baylor QB Robert Griffin III (42%)

2. Washington Redskins - Stanford QB Andrew Luck (72%)

3. Minnesota Vikings - USC OT Matt Kalil (89%)

4. Cleveland Browns - Alabama RB Trent Richardson (70%)

5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - LSU CB Morris Claiborne (84%)

6. St. Louis Rams - Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon (91%)

7. Jacksonville Jaguars - Stanford G David DeCastro (33%)

8. Miami Dolphins - Texas A&M QB Ryan Tannehill (73%)

9. Carolina Panthers - South Carolina LB/DE Melvin Ingram (Forgot to do a poll)

10. Buffalo Bills - Stanford OT Jonathan Martin (73%)