Missing in American Memorial
Prepping for the Indy 500
Dancing With The Stars finalists
Home > Blogs > Big C's NFL Blitz > Archives > 2011 > May > 06 > Entry
Bengals making the grade in rounds 5-6
Round five: The Bengals addressed a glaring need at safety by selecting Robert Sands from West Virginia. Cincinnati lacked an intimidator in the secondary and Sands has a reputation for being physical and aggressive. The question is: Will he use that aggression to rock opponents to sleep at the pro level? His playing style is much like veteran safety Roy Williams.
Sands will likely make the switch to strong safety after playing free safety for the Mountaineers. He possesses the physical skills to play the position, but will need to add strength in the weight room. The Bengals love to play their strong safeties down inside the box as well as in blitz packages. Sands may find it difficult to compete against bigger and more physical players doing only 12 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press.
The 6-foot-4, 217-pound Sands is a big hitter with good straight-line speed and attacks the runner. He’s a solid performer when the play is in front of him, but could be a liability in coverage due to poor hips transitioning/change of direction. Sands considers himself a ball-hawk, but is somewhat of a gambler in coverage and must improve his reads.
As far as character, Sands has been described by some as a bit immature. That being said, how well will he respond to the hard-nose coaching of Marvin Lewis and Mike Zimmer?
Sands’ unusual height for a defensive back could make this a tough transition, especially in coverage. He has the talent and potential to be a solid pro, but will need to be coached up during film studies to be successful.
Grade: C
Round six: Stanford wide receiver Ryan Whalen could be a hidden gem for the Bengals. Whalen is an ideal inside receiver for West Coast offense. He is a good route runner with nice hands and can work the middle of the field. He’s tough, blocks well and displays a strong work ethic. Whalen lacks deep speed but uses smarts to create separation. He shows good potential and will have to be developed like Kevin Walter and Jerome Simpson.
Grade: C+
Picks in round 7 to follow…
Tweet
