After a year in which the Cincinnati Bengals had one of their worst offensive seasons in history, the team had to solidify their offensive line.
And they did.
Cincinnati chose Alabama junior left tackle Andre Smith with the 6th pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.
Smith, the 2008 Outland Trophy Winner, should compete right away for a starting position on the offensive line.
He played left tackle in college. Whether or not he will block for Carson Palmer's blindside remains to be seen.
He was regarded as one of the top players in the draft, but some off the field issues drove down his stock.
Smith was the second offensive linemen selected in Saturday's draft. Jason Smith, of Baylor, was taken by the St. Louis Rams with the second overall pick.
Coach Marvin Lewis says of Smith, "This is a guy that's been very, very well coached in college, and could literally, as our coaches put him on the board, and began to talk about football and so forth. You watch this guy really light up, and get into football, and protections, and 'who's supposed to have this guy,' and where the point was, and all those things that kind of go unnoticed at times."
With their second pick the Bengals addressed the defensive side of the ball and got quite a steal.
USC linebacker Rey Maualuga was taken in the second round with the 38th pick.
Maualuga, the 2008 Bednarik winner given to the nation's top defensive player, will play next to fellow USC alum, linebacker Keith Rivers, the Bengals first round pick last year.
Maualuga was projected by many as a first round pick this weekend.
He plays with a high motor and will add intensity to a Bengals defense that took a big step forward in 2008.
The Bengals are done for the day.
Cincinnati is slated to pick again on Sunday with the 70th pick in the third round.
Round One Draft Picks:1. Detroit, Matthew Stafford, qb, Georgia.
2. St. Louis, Jason Smith, ot, Baylor.
3. Kansas City, Tyson Jackson, de, LSU.
4. Seattle, Aaron Curry, lb, Wake Forest.
5. New York Jets (from Cleveland), Mark Sanchez, qb, Southern Cal.
6.
Cincinnati, Andre Smith, ot, Alabama.
7. Oakland, Darrius Heyward-Bey, wr, Maryland.
8. Jacksonville, Eugene Monroe, ot, Virginia.
9. Green Bay, B.J. Raji, Boston College.
10. San Francisco, Michael Crabtree, wr, Texas Tech.
11. Buffalo, Aaron Maybin, de, Penn State.
12. Denver, Knowshon Moreno, rb, Georgia.
13. Washington, Brian Orakpo, de, Texas.
14. New Orleans, Malcolm Jenkins, db, Ohio State.
15. Houston, Brian Cushing, lb, Southern Cal.
16. San Diego, Larry English, lb, Northern Illinois.
17. Tampa Bay, qb, Josh Freeman
18. Denver, lb, Robert Ayers
19. Philadelphia, wr, Jeremy Maclin
20. Detroit, Brandon Pettigrew, TE
21. Cleveland, Alex Mack, C
22. Minnesota, Percy Harvin, WR
23. Baltimore, Michael Oher, OG
24. Atlanta, Peria Jerry, DT
25. Miami, Vontae Davis, CB
26. Green Bay, Clay Matthews, OLB
27. Indianapolis, Donald Brown, RB
28. Buffalo, Eric Wood, C
29. New York, Hakeem Nicks, WR
30. Tennessee, Kenny Britt, WR
31. Arizona, Chris Wells, RB
32. Pittsburgh, Evander Hood, DT
