Mohamed Sanu Drafted by the Bengals

In the third round of the 2012 draft, the Cincinnati Bengals selected record breaking Rutgers wide receiver Mohamed Sanu with the 83rd overall pick. It was a little latter than where he was expected to go, but he landed in a pretty good situation.

The Bengals were a playoff team last year, and should only get better, with quarterback Andy Dalton entering his second year, and a plethora of weapons including second year WR AJ Green, third year TE Jermaine Gresham, former Scarlet Knight RB Brian Leonard and Sanu. They have a solid defense as well, and it should be fun seeing Sanu and Leonard's Bengals square off against Ray Rice's Ravens twice a year.

Sanu will likely go into training camp competing competing to be the Bengals Z receiver (second WR, lined up outside, slightly off the line) with guys he should beat out like Brandon Tate (a burner who was waived by the Patriots last year and has 24 career receptions in three years), Jordan Shipley (who is  a better fit in the role of a slot receiver and is coming off a knee injury that cost him all of last season), and a bunch of other guys like Vidal Hazelton and Armon Binns. The Z in the Bengals offense should get plenty of opportunities to catch the ball, as most defenses will be focused on stopping super star number one receiver A.J. Green, opening up the other side of the field.

Sanu broke Larry Fitzgerald's single season Big East receptions record with 115 catches, and is Rutgers all time leader in career receptions. Despite the accolades, scouts had doubts about his lack of top-end speed and ability to separate, and that's what dropped him into the middle of the third round. But these doubts aside, Mo is a very safe pick. He is a hard working kid with no character issues, and he will be a very good possession receiver at the next level. He has great hands to go along with his solid 6'2'' 211 frame. He is very strong and will out muscle defenders for the ball while making spectacular catches in the process (like this and this). He is very tough and not afraid to go across the middle, and although he is not going to outrun most defensive backs, he is dangerous after the catch because of his ability to break tackles. The scouts are right in the regard that he will not stretch the field vertically, but I think the "separation issues" is more of a product of him being double teamed all of the time. He will contribute as a blocker, and he's a nice, reliable guy, who will move the chains of third down and be an asset in the redzone.

Sanu could have landed in a better situation and he certainly should have gone higher, especially since boom or bust WR prospects like Stepehn Hill, DeVier Posey, Brian Quick, AJ Jenkins and TJ Graham went ahead of him, but he is in an environment were he can be successful. It's up to him now to prove the 31 teams who passed on him wrong. The entire Rutgers community is behind him.