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This is the year the Cincinnati Bengals should step outside the comfort zone

By Steve Rivera

LUBBOCK, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 16: Wide receiver Jalen Reagor #1 of the TCU Horned Frogs runs a route during the first half of the college football game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders on November 16, 2019 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 16: Wide receiver Jalen Reagor #1 of the TCU Horned Frogs runs a route during the first half of the college football game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders on November 16, 2019 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /
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The Cincinnati Bengals own the first pick in the 2020 NFL Draft and have the opportunity to select one of the two best quarterbacks available. But to enhance that pick, they need to step out of the safe space they all too often operate in.

The Cincinnati Bengals are overwhelmingly likely to play it safe come free agency and the 2020 NFL Draft. That’s OK as it’s a space they are comfortable in and will provide the easy selection of Joe Burrow with their first pick. It’s also likely they will take the same approach, relatively speaking, in free agency. While they have hinted otherwise, odds are they stay in their lane.

But if there was one offseason where the Bengals should explore their own version of the wild side, this offseason is that time, and this draft is that venue.

For anyone who watched the NFL Combine, it’s clear that offense, especially the receiver position, is deep with talent even in later rounds. For the Bengals, this is the time to step out of that comfort zone and build an offense around Burrow, even if that means drafting the heir apparent to A.J. Green.

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The one wide receiver Cincinnati would be smart to consider as a replacement for Green or John Ross is Jalen Reagor from TCU. Reagor had 43 catches for 611 yards AND was solid as a punt returner. He is a burner who can and will get past defenders and stretch the field. He also posted a 4.47 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine. In a year where the Bengals are all in on Burrow and the future in Cincinnati, that same consideration should be given to turning over the roster on the receiver’s side as well, especially in a draft where starters can be drafted in the second round.

The Bengals have the rarest of opportunities in the NFL, and that is the chance to get better quickly. In 2016 and 2017, the Los Angeles Rams were aggressive in drafting for their offense and quarterback Jared Goff. To fix an underperforming defense, they used free agency and parlayed smart choices in an 11-5 season and a 12-3 season and made it to the Super Bowl in 2018.

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Keeping Green potentially on the franchise tag is short term, or at least should be. The best thing the Bengals could do is step out of their self-imposed safe space and draft to win. They can do that by drafting for the offense early and often.