Then early Saturday afternoon, after they picked Lew and Young in the fourth round, assistant general manager Steven Radicevic said it all when he eased behind the microphone.
“That was a fun fourth round there,” Radicevic said. We got a kick-in with the trade.”
That’s the kind of weekend it seemed to be in the draft room. They not only stayed true to their board, but the board also seemed to be true to them and didn’t have many, if any, players chosen out from under them.
The draft swung with the Bengals looking at the 110th pick early in the fourth round. Oklahoma tackle Febechi Nwaiwu had been in the conversation on Friday night, and he was still there as Saturday began.
But the Bengals were still mulling a trade back. After giving up the 10th pick, they seemed to really want to get another pick before the end of the fourth, the last stop, it appeared, to get guys who can contribute right away.
“No doubt. When we went into it this morning, you’re looking at the fourth round and you have 32 or so players that you have stacked up, and you feel like all 32 of those players can help you,” Radicevic said. “They’re not all the same position, but you feel like they can help you. After that round, there might be a dip. When you have an opportunity to get another pick in that round to where a player is going to play for you this year, you do it.”
When the Texans picked Nwaiwu at 106, that seemed to be a sign. The Jets wanted to move up to take Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik, and the Bengals couldn’t resist New York’s fourth at 128 (Lew) and 140 (Young). Enough so they also threw in their Tom Brady pick in the sixth at 199.
Lew could be the heir apparent to center Ted Karras. The 6-4 Young looks to be drafted in the same tall, talented Bengals mold that began with Cris Collinsworth 45 years ago, continued through Chris Henry, A.J. Green and now Tee Higgins gives 50-50 ball clinics every Sunday. Higgins got to play with Green after idolizing him. Now Young gets to play with Higgins after admiring him ever since he attended a camp ten years ago where Higgins participated in while he was at Clemson.
Lew and Young? Taylor confirmed Saturday that if he knew those would be his guys on Friday night, there would have been sweet dreams.
