Bengals mock draft has team taking wide receiver

The Cincinnati Bengals website put out a mock draft with the team taking a wide receiver that slid to their pick at 21.

The Cincinnati Bengals have multiple needs that most fans would agree on including offensive line, linebacker, defensive linemen, and maybe a versatile safety with how aggressive the team has been looking in free agency for safety help. One position that does not need to be addressed in early rounds is the wide receiver. Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com did a deep mock draft where there were multiple players that slid down the boards and had the Bengals drafting Alabama wide receiver Calvin Ridley.

We have discussed extensively why the Bengals should not take an offensive playmaker in the first three rounds of this year’s draft. They just took wide receiver John Ross last year in the first round and Tyler Boyd in the second round the season before. Ross spent all of 2017 battling injuries which kept him off of the field and Boyd has yet to see much playing time. Both of these receivers have yet to get a considerable amount of snaps with the offense to move on from them already.

This is another reason that Cincinnati should cut wide receiver Brandon LaFell following the draft as a cap casualty. Ross and Boyd especially need to be the second and third receivers this year and given the opportunity to prove their worth with where they were drafted by the team. Many fans have given up on Ross because his poor amount of play and his abilities when playing during the 2017 season but we have yet to see him when fully healthy.

John Ross would easily be the number one receiver in this year’s draft which is another reason that he should get the first opportunity to start in the spot opposite of A.J. Green. Cincinnati has too many needs for the team to be addressing the wide receiver position inside the first two days of the draft. Quarterback Andy Dalton won’t even be able to target these possible deep target receivers unless he gets a couple more new offensive linemen blocking for him.

If Ridley were to somehow fall to 21, this is a scenario that the Bengals may need to trade back again. There are team’s behind the Bengals that could use Ridley, even the Buffalo Bills who are picking right after the Bengals in the first round with their first-round pick they received from Kansas City in last years draft. While Cincinnati already has eleven picks and won’t have room for even those eleven picks, could they draft back a couple spots and then use bundling of picks to move up in the second and third rounds?

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The Bengals need to focus on the young wide receivers already currently on their roster. LaFell is just an average player taking snaps away from these young guys that haven’t had a chance to prove their worth. Bolster the offensive line and I would be willing to bet that if John Ross could stay healthy all season, he has better numbers that LaFell did in 2017. Give Boyd more time in the slot and see what he can do. Don’t keep grabbing playmakers in the first round and then not use them. Cincinnati has five receivers with two or fewer years of experience. There’s no room for more.