Marcus Lattimore?

[grnvllbuck]

Round 4 at the earliest. Both knees were wrecked...badly. I don't see the Bengals drafting a RB early, BJGE IMO did pretty darn well when they kept feeding him the ball.

My RB pick is Kenjon Barner in round 4. Insane speed and quickness and the threat of him taking it to the house on any play will keep the defense honest.

[McC]

Originally Posted by grnvllbuck

Round 4 at the earliest. Both knees were wrecked...badly. I don't see the Bengals drafting a RB early, BJGE IMO did pretty darn well when they kept feeding him the ball.

My RB pick is Kenjon Barner in round 4. Insane speed and quickness and the threat of him taking it to the house on any play will keep the defense honest.

Only problem is Barner will be gone before the 4th.

[ibengals]

Originally Posted by McC

Only problem is Barner will be gone before the 4th.

Won't make it out of the 2nd round, watch.

[grnvllbuck]

Originally Posted by McC

Only problem is Barner will be gone before the 4th.

You are probably right. I haven't understood how he has been rated in round 4 by various NFL draft prospect sites.

[McC]

Originally Posted by grnvllbuck

You are probably right. I haven't understood how he has been rated in round 4 by various NFL draft prospect sites.

If I remember right, James was rated about a 4th rounder last year and didn't he go in the 2nd?

[hacker]

Originally Posted by Captain Happy Pants

First off, let me say being a Clemson fan, I hate everything Gamecocks...however..

Will this kid recover like All Day Adrian Peterson? Or is he done for? Huge gamble for any team. But as bad as we need a running back, it's worth taking a look at least

I want a RB in roiund 1 or 2, but if he falls to round 4-5 area, I would think about also grabbing him.

[OchoCincos]

I would say no simply because he does not complement BJGE well. Gruden has stated that he wants to find a RB that can both complement BJGE well (mainly looking for receiving skills and speed/agility), but could also carry most of the load of BJGE went down (durability, running between tackles, short yardage/goal line). Lattimore is like a slower version of Richardson, but with a big injury that may hinder his performance, at least for this coming year.

I would love to see Lattimore do well as a primary RB for someone, but I also agree that it shouldn't be our risk. I see us more going for someone like Franklin, Barner, Michael, or Bernard. Bernard isn't a blazer with straight line speed, but he's quick and shifty to get into the open field, which is what BJGE lacks unless a hole is given to him.

[Since82]

Originally Posted by bradfritz21

I only counted two ifs (unless you count when you said it), but I have a traumatic brain injury, so I might have missed a few.

If he blows up the combine and is ok medically, he won't make it that far an I think that's what people don't understand.

I should have said those are big ifs...

Competing in 40 yard dash, vertical jump, pro agility drill, and broad jump four months after that injury would make him another freak like AP. I would be amazed if he could just run the forty.

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[BengalTrucker]

If he is healthy I take him in the first round, or at 2a.
He will not last to 2b.

He is the best back since AP if healthy, and has better hands than AP.

The up side is worth the risk, because the upside is giving Dalton a AP type back, with a Green type WR on the same team, that makes for an unstoppable offense.

Put that with this defense and they need to start getting ring sizes.

[BengaliJack]

Originally Posted by McC

If I remember right, James was rated about a 4th rounder last year and didn't he go in the 2nd?

And the niners are running the dog poop out of this kid.

[ExtraNirvana]

Originally Posted by bradfritz21

An explosive running back is one of the few pieces this team needs, but do we want to risk having a Chris Perry 2.0?

Especially with our caveman medical staff and facilities, I don't know that I'm ready to take that big of a risk.

Tell me more about the medical facilities for the Bengals for I am just a fan and have never had any first hand experiences to fairly judge them on.

[BobJones4980]

Originally Posted by McC

If I remember right, James was rated about a 4th rounder last year and didn't he go in the 2nd?

Was he? I could have sworn he was rated as 2-3 guy but I may be wrong. I thought he went a little early but I think at worst he was rated a 3rd round guy.

[McC]

Originally Posted by BobJones4980

Was he? I could have sworn he was rated as 2-3 guy but I may be wrong. I thought he went a little early but I think at worst he was rated a 3rd round guy.

I was probably going by what I saw around here, based on mocks and threads.

[Luvnit2]

Originally Posted by BengalTrucker

If he is healthy I take him in the first round, or at 2a.
He will not last to 2b.

He is the best back since AP if healthy, and has better hands than AP.

The up side is worth the risk, because the upside is giving Dalton a AP type back, with a Green type WR on the same team, that makes for an unstoppable offense.

Put that with this defense and they need to start getting ring sizes.

The key you stated was "if he is healthy". Today's medical science is so far advanced versus even for or 5 years ago. They can look at the injury through an MRI prior to surgery and then have him do another MRI now to insure the knee is sound structually (actaully both knees). This in addition of course to exams and workouts to see hpoe the knee responds.

I agree on pick 2A if he passes all tests, but honestly, he may not last that long if healthy. I could see a team like the Colts take him with pick 23 or 24.

[D's Nuts and Bolts]

Originally Posted by Luvnit2

The key you stated was "if he is healthy". Today's medical science is so far advanced versus even for or 5 years ago. They can look at the injury through an MRI prior to surgery and then have him do another MRI now to insure the knee is sound structually (actaully both knees). This in addition of course to exams and workouts to see hpoe the knee responds.

I agree on pick 2A if he passes all tests, but honestly, he may not last that long if healthy. I could see a team like the Colts take him with pick 23 or 24.

http://www.rotoworld.com/sports/cfb/nfl-draft
South Carolina RB Marcus Lattimore (knee) plans to conduct a "limited" pre-draft workout in early April in an effort to show NFL teams that his recovery is on schedule.

After tearing his left ACL as a sophomore, Lattimore returned as a junior to tear ligaments in his right knee along with a dislocated kneecap. He's already distributed to teams a video of himself running in a pool. Lattimore hopes to follow in the footsteps of Willis McGahee, who similarly suffered a devastating knee injury but was still drafted late in the first round in 2003. "If we took him, I doubt we’d play him," one NFL GM said of Lattimore. "He’s a guy who needs to sit a year and get past that."

I wonder how much he would contribute at the start of the year? When he went down I remember thinking dang there goes our possible running back of the future.

[Carolinabengalfanguy]

Well I was a big fan of drafting him early before the knee injury. After seeing that gruesome hit I don't think I could look at him before the fourth round if his rehab continues successfully. I'd probably sit him for at least some of next season regardless because that was one of the all time horrible knee injuries.

You never know how a player will return from an injury, but he's done it before from a milder version of the injury and if anyone can come back from that I believe he could. It all depends on what we do before that fourth round I wouldn't want to count on Lattimore to resurrect our running game, but rather insert him into a committee where he can get moderate carries and extend his NFL life longer.

If we ended up with BJGE, Barner, and Lattimore that wouldn't be all that bad of a committee, but well just see.

Final word is that he's on my radar and I'm still insanely interested (even before progress report), but we have other pressing needs in the first three rounds (LB, S, safer RB prospects, DE depth, potentially OL and WR upgrades).