Bengals Draft: Rumor mill isn't too kind to OT prospect Dawand Jones
It's the middle of the third round of the NFL Draft, and the "Best Players Available" banner scrolls across the bottom of the TV. You notice one name that stands out and say out loud, "he's still on the board!?" It happens every year. At least one player will last longer than the consensus believes. […]
It's the middle of the third round of the NFL Draft, and the "Best Players Available" banner scrolls across the bottom of the TV. You notice one name that stands out and say out loud, "he's still on the board!?" It happens every year. At least one player will last longer than the consensus believes.
When it comes to Ohio State offensive lineman Dawand Jones, no one seems to know when he'll come off the board. If his range is the tail end of the first round to anywhere on Day 2, predicting a landing spot is as difficult finding an electron in an atom.
The Cincinnati Bengals look like a good fit at the end of the second round, and it's looking far more likely Jones will be available at that juncture.
In his yearly NFL Draft series of notes from NFL personnel, Bob McGinn rounded up notable quotes regarding this year's class of offensive lineman, and the buzz wasn't too strong about Jones.
“After the first day of the Senior Bowl, when he was the talk of the town, he completely f—ed this whole thing up,” an evaluator told McGinn. “He had one good day of practice and then basically shut himself down. He’s killed himself in the process.”
Not what you want to hear, but the evidence is there. Jones didn't partake for most of the Senior Bowl, only ran the 40-yard dash as the NFL Scouting Combine, and didn't workout at his pro day, where he weighed in at over 370 pounds.
McGinn also ran a survey and asked 16 scouts to vote on which top offensive linemen was most likely to bust. Jones came away with seven votes, the resounding winner, or loser, of the poll. But what may help Jones' draft positioning is the overall quality of the o-line class.
“It’s so bad,” the same evaluator told McGinn. “There’s going to be some reaches on offensive linemen in this draft. I think every lineman in the top 100 overall will go a half-round to a full round, if not two rounds, higher than they normally would in a given year.”
The Bengals currently have picks 60 and 92 in the second and third rounds, respectively. They might be able to get Jones at either pick in a week's time, or a more creative solution could occur.
Jonah Williams has not yet rescinded his trade request, so the team will surely be handed offers during the draft for the veteran tackle. If the Bengals can net a pick in rounds two or three, they could select Jones as his replacement at right tackle, and still have seven picks to spare.
We'll see just how much the Bengals like or dislike adding Jones to their offensive line when the draft begins next week. ESPN's Draft Day Predictor tool gives Jones approximately a 64% chance of dropping into the third round.
