clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

2017 NFL Mock Draft: Cincinnati Bengals Select DE Derek Barnett at No. 9

NCAA Football: Music City Bowl-Tennessee vs Nebraska
Tennessee Volunteers defensive end Derek Barnett (9) waives to the crowd as he is acknowledged for breaking the all time sack record as a Tennessee Volunteer during the second half against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Nissan Stadium.
Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

With the 9th pick in the 2017 DBN Community NFL Mock Draft, the Cincinnati Bengals select...

Derek Barnett, DE, Tennessee

The selection and write-up were made by Mudville:

Statistically the Bengals’ offensive and defense were in the middle of the NFL last year in yards per game, and each side could benefit with some upgrades via the draft. The greater deviation between the offensive and defense comes with respect to points per game, where the defense ranked 8th, but the offense 24th.

Offensively, key departures include OL Zeitler (yay!) and Whitworth, with one notable free agent addition, LaFell. The Bengals have two young tackles in Fisher and Ogbuehi, although the latter has struggled to live up to his first round hype; and so they do need to upgrade/add depth along the OL. However, I think the Bengals will look to the later rounds where there is better value to address this.

On the defensive side, the Bengals resigned 2012 first-round pick, Kirkpatrick CB, and have drafted CBs in the first round in 2014 and 2016. They signed FA Kevin Mintner LB to replace Dansby and the recently cut Maualuga, but could use some extra support in the LB corps. The Bengals have enough PR problems with Jones and Burfict to stay clear of drafting Foster; and even though Mintner is on a one-year deal, I think the red flags (behavior/injuries) are too much to pull the trigger on Foster.

With the Bengals letting 2013 3rd round pick Margus Hunt go, and Michael Johnson’s declining performance, Barnett makes the most sense. He can bend well off the edge and plays persistently at a high level, breaking Reggie White’s school record for career sacks. He has good situational awareness and alertness to use his body and low pad level to hold blockers in the run game. He will be a solid, productive 3-down player for the Bengals for the next several years.

Pokorny: The Bengals appear on the verge of becoming the bottom dwellers of the AFC North if Cleveland can find a quarterback somewhere. Cincinnati has seen a once-promising defense become filled with troublesome, old, or disappointing players. Rebuilding there with Barnett is a good start, but there are a lot of holes forming on this team.

The Buffalo Bills are up next, led by TheBottom!

2017 DBN Community Mock Draft Results

Pick Team Username Selection
Pick Team Username Selection
1 Cleveland Browns Menocu DE Myles Garrett
2 San Francisco 49ers unoservix S Malik Hooker
3 Chicago Bears CTBuckeye DE Solomon Thomas
4 Jacksonville Jaguars UberTater RB Leonard Fournette
5 Tennessee Titans npchristman CB Marshon Lattimore
6 New York Jets jdreyfuss S Jamal Adams
7 Los Angeles Chargers unoservix S Jabrill Peppers
8 Carolina Panthers MConley17 TE O.J. Howard
9 Cincinnati Bengals Mudville DE Derek Barnett
10 Buffalo Bills The Bottom! WR Mike Williams
11 New Orleans Saints makeaplay59 DT Jonathan Allen
12 Cleveland Browns mrwhitman QB Mitch Trubisky
13 Arizona Cardinals Crawford_T WR Corey Davis
14 Philadelphia Eagles Gin_and_Tonic CB Gareon Conley
15 Indianapolis Colts fjblessi ILB Reuben Foster
16 Baltimore Ravens Suppa Bob DE Taco Charlton
17 Washington Redskins OhioCityBrownsBeliever LB Haason Reddick
18 Tennessee Titans Legoman0721 WR John Ross
19 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Ezweav S Obi Melifonwu
20 Denver Broncos poultman OT Ryan Ramczyk
21 Detroit Lions Mean Ol' Pete LB Zach Cunningham
22 Miami Dolphins anthszabo DE Charles Harris
23 New York Giants impulseCTRLissues OT Cam Robinson
24 Oakland Raiders Ghenry518 ILB Raekwon McMillan
25 Houston Texans Darth_Batman QB Deshaun Watson
26 Seattle Seahawks michael.hamper OT Garett Bolles
27 Kansas City Chiefs The Beast Mode QB Pat Mahomes
28 Dallas Cowboys Matt Wood CB Tre'Davious White
29 Green Bay Packers Robo Dawg RB Christian McCaffrey
30 Pittsburgh Steelers fj holden CB Kevin King
31 Atlanta Falcons BrianB77 OL Forrest Lamp
32 New Orleans Saints troy145 RB Dalvin Cook
33 Cleveland Browns Ike5 S Budda Baker