Bengals surprise by taking T Jones

CNNSI.com's Pat Kirwan This is a surprise pick for the Bengals. They had indicated to me during the week that they were thinking about a defensive lineman or a cornerback. With Philip Buchanon still on the board, I wonder the Bengals took Levi Jones. He's an outstanding athletic tackle who moved up with a great Senior Bowl performance, especially in practice. This is high where to select Levi, and Mike Brown could've considered moving down if this was his player. They won't be displeased by the effort they get from Jones. I like Jones as a pass blocker and, with his movement skills, can pull and will be excellent downfield as a screen blocker. I was impressed with him when I interviewed him at the Senior Bowl. First-round analysis, click here.

CINCINNATI (AP) -- The Cincinnati Bengals got the offensive tackle they needed, but surprised him and everyone else by how they did it.

The Bengals took Levi Jones from Arizona State with the 10th overall pick Saturday, shoring up a spot that is a major concern because of age. Starting left tackle Richmond Webb is 35 years old and backup John Jackson is 37.

Jones was the third tackle taken in the first round, after Buffalo got Mike Williams of Texas with the fourth overall pick and Bryant McKinnie of Miami went to Minnesota with the seventh pick. The Bengals have made only three other tackles a No. 1 pick - Vern Holland in 1971, Hall of Famer Anthony Munoz in 1980 and current right tackle Willie Anderson in 1996.

The surprise was how the Bengals went about it. They had several offers to trade down, acquire extra picks and still have a chance to get Jones because teams right behind them were interested in other players.

Instead, they chose not to budge.

"I knew it was going to be anywhere from 10th to possibly 27th, but I didn't think at all it would be 10th," Jones said. "I was real surprised. I thought they were going to trade down or take one of those tight ends."

The Giants offered to trade their 15th overall pick so they could take tight end Jeremy Shockey, but Cincinnati declined. The Giants eventually swapped with Tennessee and got Shockey with the 14th pick.

The Bengals fretted that if they traded down, they wouldn't get the player they wanted.

"We considered that, but there really wasn't the match," head coach Dick LeBeau said. "We thought we'd have to go too far, and we weren't going to get what we'd call equal deal because these kinds of people were going to be gone. It just didn't work out."

The Bengals take a conservative approach to the draft, preferring to stay where they are and take whoever is available. That leads to some second-guessing.

In 1999, they turned down New Orleans' treasure-trove of draft picks so they could stay put and get quarterback Akili Smith. They might have been able to trade spots and get Smith anyway.

In addition to passing on trade offers Saturday, the Bengals also passed on Miami's Phillip Buchanon, who could have given their defense the man-to-man cover cornerback they lack.

LeBeau thought it was more important to get an offensive lineman than to upgrade a defense that finished ninth in the league last season despite its subpar set of cornerbacks.

"We think a big, aggressive, tough, run-blocking tackle will be a great help for Corey Dillon and a great asset for our quarterback," LeBeau said.

General manager Mike Brown is fixated on getting a dependable quarterback. The Bengals haven't had a winning record since 1990 in part because they haven't developed a passer.

Smith and Jon Kitna have had the league's lowest passer ratings in the last two seasons.

Brown said the Bengals didn't try to trade up to get quarterback Joey Harrington, who went to Detroit with the third pick. He also ruled out trading with New England for Drew Bledsoe.

"The Bledsoe thing has been dead for some time, and it seemed to have a life of its own outside of the building," he said Saturday. "You can't make deals unless you have [salary cap] room to make deals.

"We came to a point where we decided we couldn't sit on the sideline indefinitely in the free-agent market. We went out and made deals. When we did those things, we whittled our cap count to the point where I don't think we're in position to take on a high-priced player from another team."

 

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