NFL Notes: Draft, Bengals, Cowboys, Steelers

Draft

• One NFL scout tells Matt Miller of B/R that Pittsburgh QB Nathan Peterman is “this draft’s best chance at a Dak Prescott.“
• According to Miller, the fact that Alabama LB Reuben Foster will not participate in drills at the Scouting Combine due to a shoulder surgery still won’t hurt his stock with NFL teams. In fact, one scout told Miller that his team has Foster rated as the No. 3 player in the entire draft class.
• A scout for an unnamed mentioned that he could see FSU RB Dalvin Cook drafted after both Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey due to his prior off-the-field concerns: “Listen, this is the time of year when we’re digging hard into the character of these guys. His past scares the s–t out of us. That, plus all the injuries and all the fumbles is just a lot to sign off on.“
• An NFL Scout tells Miller that Akron WR Jerome Lane could be a “young Anquan Boldin type.“

Bengals

• Katherine Terrell of ESPN writes that the Bengals could draft a running back early this year, despite having Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard in place as their top-two running backs.
• Bernard signed a contract extension with the team last year, but he, unfortunately, suffered a season-ending ACL year.
• Rex Burkhead flashed some ability for Cincinnati but is in line to be an unrestricted free agent in the coming weeks and both money and opportunity could lead to him moving on.
• Terrell mentions that the Bengals believes in the “best player available” draft philosophy, which means that they could be in a position to strongly consider LSU’s Leonard Fournette and Florida State’s Dalvin Cook in round one.
• Another interesting option for the Bengals could be Oklahoma RB Joe Mixon, as Cincinnati has taken chances on players with character issues in the past.

Cowboys

• Michael Lombardi believes the Cowboys should “go all in” to sign Chargers DE/OLB Melvin Ingram if he ends up testing the open market. Lombardi mentions that Ingram would be a perfect fit for their defensive scheme and give then the elite pass rusher they need.

Steelers

• Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk wonders if the Steelers could use the transition tag on RB Le’Veon Bell, as opposed to the franchise tag.
• This would give the Steelers the ability to match any offer Bell would receive on the open market.
• Florio writes that if the Steelers believe no team is willing to break the bank for Bell, considering his injury history and multiple substance-abuse policy violations, then it would make more sense for them to save the money use the transition tag on him.