Bengals should still draft an offensive lineman in first round

Cincinnati Bengals made a trade to improve their offensive line on Monday afternoon but still need to draft a lineman in the first round of the draft.

The Cincinnati Bengals made a trade with the Buffalo Bills for left tackle Cordy Glenn on Monday afternoon. When the news broke of the trade, many fans were surprised by the move. Cincinnati has been a team unwilling to make big trades or signings from outside of the organization. Fans seem to be excited about the trade which is the first step to improving an awful offensive line from 2017.

Glenn will be an expensive impact for the offensive line but brings very little risk. His contract is easy for the Bengals to toss if he doesn’t work out in 2018. With the big salary being taken over, the Bengals are less likely to make a splash in free agency and might have to turn to the draft for more offensive line help. According to a poll on twitter, Cincinnati should still draft more offensive line help in the first round even after the trade for Glenn.

The Bengals hold 11 picks in the 2018 draft and they should bundle some of those picks to move up in the draft or in a trade for another veteran player. Instead of quantity, this team needs quality picks. Take a look at what the Kansas City Chiefs did in the 2017 draft. They entered the draft with ten picks and traded up multiple times leaving with six drafted players.

While not making the playoffs the last two seasons, the team is not far from making it back in 2018. There’s talent all over the roster and with the additions of a few impactful pieces, this team could be a contender again. If the Bengals can trade in some of these picks to improve the offensive line it could turn the offense from the worst in yards per game to being a real threat.

We saw what having quantity did for the Bengals in 2017 as 10 different offensive linemen played at least 80 snaps and all 10 of them allowed at least one sack. The unit allowed 158 total pressures on the quarterback. Struggles affected the run game as well as the team averaged the fifth lowest yards per run when using outside zones. Rookie running back Joe Mixon had limited time before finally starting in week 9 and only averaged 3.5 yards per carry.

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Will the Bengals trade some of their picks to move up or bundle for a trade this offseason? It’s highly unlikely that Cincinnati would be able to sign all 11 picks to the 53 man roster in 2018 so why not trade them in for better picks?