The Cincinnati Bengals have spent a remarkable amount of time looking at Notre Dame tackle Mike McGlinchey. They continue with top 30 pre-draft visits.
The Cincinnati Bengals are making it a point to address the offensive line needs this offseason even after trading for left tackle Cordy Glenn. One name that continues to come up is Notre Dame tackle Mike McGlinchey who the Bengals seem very interested in with their first-round pick in the upcoming draft. The team has met with him at least three times now with working him out in March, sending coaches to attend his pro day workouts, and now for a top 30 pre-draft visit.
Cincinnati already has two tackles that could fight for the starting role at right tackle with Cedric Ogbuehi and Jake Fisher already on the roster. Unfortunately, neither has been able to step up to the right tackle position as both have been benched recently due to poor play. With the constant changing on the offensive line, the Bengals look to find a permanent solution at the position and McGlinchey could be their guy.
McGlinchey was a part of a very impressive offensive line for Notre Dame including guard Quenton Nelson who will likely be a top 10 pick. Drafting the 6’8″, 312-pound lineman would allow Cincinnati to address the interior in possibly the second round as there will likely still be solid talent there when they pick. With three centers that could all be upgrades for the Bengals early on in Ohio State Billy Price, Iowa James Daniels, and Arkansas Frank Ragnow, it would be a wise option for the team to address outside first.
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The tackles group in this year’s draft is not deep by any means like the interior group. The Bengals could find their outside help early and start working on the interior in the second round. New offensive line coach Frank Pollack, brought over from the Dallas Cowboys, should be able to bring a much more dominant offensive line with some upgrades at a couple more positions in this year’s draft.
Cincinnati staff has been pretty consistent on who they bring in during this nearing time to the draft as they brought in wide receiver John Ross last year this close to the draft. They also brought in cornerback William Jackson III around this time in 2016. This could be a great indication of how the Bengals feel about McGlinchey and wanting to grab him in the first round in 2018. The team took him out to dinner in Cincinnati on Thursday night and look to met with him more on Friday.
If you want to get a good look at McGlinchey you can look at this game in 2016 where he was playing left tackle and facing off against the top edge rusher in this year’s class Bradley Chubb. Left tackle was not McGlinchey’s strong suit and while Chubb got past him a couple times, he showed a good performance against a top rusher on a side he is less comfortable playing. It shows that he can play left tackle if needed though.
Cincinnati fans seem excited about the team looking at McGlinchey in the first round when we ran a poll on Twitter on Friday morning. Most fans want to see the offensive line addressed multiple times in the first three rounds of the draft as it’s by far the largest need.
With the #Bengals meeting with Notre Dame tackle Mike McGlinchey what do you think of the team drafting him at 21?
— Stripe Hype (@StripeHype) April 13, 2018
Next: Bengals should avoid wide receivers in the early rounds of the draft
If Cincinnati can grab McGlinchey in the first round and one of the three centers at the top with their second-round pick it would immediately upgrade their offensive line talent significantly. The team also has eleven picks and could bundle some of those picks to move back into the second and grab some more talent if they felt it was needed. The Bengals don’t have eleven open spots on the roster and should be aggressive this draft to get impact players that could help right away.