With the seventeenth pick in the 2012 BGN Community Mock Draft, omnom96 selects...
Stephon Gilmore: CB, South Carolina
Ideally, if you're the Bengals, you're looking for an opportunity to move up to grab David DeCastro. He seems to be one of the best guard prospects in a decade, and with 2 first rounders and a massive hole at guard, alongside the willingness of many top 10 teams to trade down, it only makes sense for the Bengals. However, at 17, Cordy Glenn, the next best guard in the draft is still a reach. The next largest hole is at cornerback, with Leon Hall coming off a recent season-ending Achilles injury and Nate Clements and Adam Jones both in the last years of their contracts.
In this situation, Bengals select Stephon Gilmore, who some see as the second best cover corner in the draft. Gilmore is able to fit better into the zone scheme that the Bengals run than Janoris Jenkins, and also comes without the baggage that Jenkins brings. Gilmore has plus size, at 6'1", 195 and is still raw, leaving him room to develop with Mike Zimmer into the solid #1 corner. The folks over at Cincy Jungle seem to be enamored with Gilmore, with many people believing that he is a better prospect than even Dre Kirkpatrick.
More after the jump...
Gilmore has every ability necessary to develop into a solid number one corner for the Bengals. He has 4.4 speed to prevent wide receivers to break away, he has good athleticism with good hips and good feet, and has all the tools necessary to thrive in both a man or a zone system. Gilmore is a willing tackler with good ball skills, and given a year to grow under Zimmer under the wings of Hall and Clements, Gilmore could bloom into a star corner in very little time.
Sources:
http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Is-South-Carolinas-Stephon-Gilmore-the-3rd-best-corner-in-the-draft.html
http://www.cincyjungle.com/2012/2/29/2832418/stephon-gilmore-scouting-report-Bengals-Gamecocks-carolina-draft
Next on the clock will be sports00fan00 with the San Diego Chargers.
Previous Picks: #1 Andrew Luck, #2 Robert Griffin III, #3 Morris Claiborne, #4 Trent Richardson, #5 Matt Kalil, #6Justin Blackmon, #7 Melvin Ingram, #8 Ryan Tannehill, #9 Michael Floyd, #10 Dre Kirkpatrick, #11 David DeCastro, #12Courtney Upshaw, #13 Luke Kuechly, #14 Fletcher Cox, #15 Quinton Coples, #16 Mark Barron