Prospect Watch: Leonard Hankerson - WR - Miami aka THE U

With the fate of my all time favorite Bengals wide out Chad "ochocinco" Johnson hanging in the balance with trade rumors swirling. Plus TO is more than unlikely to return to the Bengals after a solid season. The Bengals may find themselves trying to replace 139 catches, 1,814 yards and 13 touchdowns collected by the dynamic duo. With young eager players like Shipley, Gresham, Jerome Simpson, Quan Cosby and Caldwell on the roster is this enough fire power to fill the in the holes left by Batman and Robin? This leave most Bengals fans with a "Hankering" to ad another weapon to the passing game.

The WR depth is this draft is solid but the drop off after the big three AJ Green, Julio Jones and Jon Baldwin is noticeable. These players will most likely get snatched up in round 1. The second tier of WR prospects is lead by a young man who tore up the Senior Bowl Leonard Hankerson. Leonard caught five passes for 100 yards, including the 18-yard TD from Ponder in the first quarter of the Senior Bowl. A 48-yard bomb earlier in the game displayed his ability to make adjustments and fight for the ball. The pass was underthrown, forcing Hankerson to flash back inside of the corner in coverage to make the impressive catch. I have seen 2nd-3rd round grade placed on this Miami product. Hankerson finished his Miami career with 128 catches for 2,089 yards and 21 touchdowns in 40 games. The issue with Hankerson early on at Miami was his hands. He has shown the ability to accept the proper coaching and has improve his hands tremendously over the past two seasons. He has improved every year at Miami and the upside is huge for this young man.

I think WR is a glaring need especially if Chad is traded. AJ Green has been mocked by many experts to be the Bengals selection with the 4th pick. This would be fine with me but I would not be shocked to see the Bengals select a pass rusher with their first pick. Pushing the WR need to the later rounds. Hankerson may be a reach in the second due to our position a the top of the round but in the 3rd he could be a steal.

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