Hot Irons in Round 2

Ok, you're sitting on your couch last Saturday and you have already endured the longest first round in NFL Draft history. Instead of doing something else, you keep watching because you know the draft doesn't end after pick 32. You are waiting to see the Bengal's last pick of the day, the 49th overall selection in the second round.

I commend those of you who made it the full first day because it takes a lot to sit and watch Mel Kiper for ten hours (this man must own stock in hair gel). However, you stuck out Mel's do because you wanted to see which defender the Bengals had their sights set on. They obviously needed one and would select one no matter what. Right?

Wrong. The Bengals pulled the trigger on the Auburn stud running back, Kenny Irons, and a lot of fans and analysts were left wondering why.

The Bengals were intent on drafting one of the two defensive prospects left from the 2006 Michigan Wolverine squad in David Harris and LaMarr Woodley, but that rug was pulled out from under them. The New York Jets traded up to snatch up Harris and the Pittsburgh Steelers usurped Woodley before the Bengals could do anything about it.

The Jets must have been intent on stealing prospects from the Bengals because they also traded up in round 1 to nab Darrelle Revis before anyone else could lay a hand on him.

Back to round 2. So now you are Marvin Lewis and you just saw the two guys you have your sights on disappear right before your eyes. You take a quick glance at your board and realize there are no more defensive players that are worth taking the risk on with the 49th pick. So what do you do? You accelerate your plans to get a "home run hitter" running back.

Personally, I was not surprised by this pick and I even said out loud after Woodley and Harris left the board that they are going to pick a running back (although I thought it would be Antonio Pittman from Ohio State). I knew the Bengals were looking for one to be the lightning to Rudi Johnson's thunder and there were good reasons for them to be looking.

Consider this: all though Rudi Johnson had another 1,200 yard plus season, the entire team only ended up with 1,637 yards for the season. That is good enough to rank 26th in the entire league for rushing offense. Even worse, the average yards per carry was 3.7, which ties them with Detroit, New Orleans, and Buffalo for the 25th ranking. Also, the Bengals only had 5 runs of over 20 yards. To put this in perspective, Atlanta had 23 and San Diego had 20.

So what does this say? Well first of all it says Rudi Johnson is a hoss for accounting for that much of the yardage. Second (and more importantly), it says that the offense is in need of a running back that could threaten six points every time he touches the rock, almost as much as the defense needs an identity. Since, there was no one on the board that could help the defense at 49, Marvin Lewis made the right choice by addressing their second biggest need in the draft. This is a much better option than reaching for a linebacker and not getting much out of him.

Just because Rudi Johnson is a plow horse back with Pro-Bowl potential, don't let it blind you to the fact that the rest of the offense is lacking in the running game. If it gets going this season, it could even help the defense by keeping opposing offenses off the field by burning the clock. So perhaps the defense was addressed with the 49th pick in an odd sort of indirect way.