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Bengals should have dream scenario with fifth pick

By Alan Rubenstein

Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor high fives Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) after he threw a touchdown pass to Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd (83) (not pictured) during the fourth quarter of a Week 8 NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2020, at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati. The Cincinnati Bengals won 31-20.Tennessee Titans At Cincinnati Bengals Nov 1
Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor high fives Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) after he threw a touchdown pass to Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd (83) (not pictured) during the fourth quarter of a Week 8 NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2020, at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati. The Cincinnati Bengals won 31-20.Tennessee Titans At Cincinnati Bengals Nov 1 /
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Picking fifth the Bengals are in a position to draft what Cincinnati director of player personnel Duke Tobin calls a premier player. Quarterbacks are expected to be selected with the first three picks in the 2021 NFL Draft. If that happens, the Bengals will have a chance to draft an elite player in 2021.

Oregon offensive tackle Penei Sewell, LSU wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase or Florida tight end should be available with the fifth pick. Who is available out of those three will likely be dictated by what the Atlanta Falcons decide to do with the fourth pick. There are many ways Atlanta could go in the draft.

Offensive line, a play-making wide receiver and an edge rusher are the Bengals’ three biggest needs. Cincinnati is likely to wait until at least the third round before drafting an edge rusher. Chase or Sewell are the favorites to land in the Queen City with the fifth pick. Pitts is more of a longshot.

From a franchise that has possibly set the record for draft busts, Cincinnati is sitting in a dream scenario if they stay at fifth and do not trade the draft pick. The Bengals have become one of the most polarizing and talked about picks ahead of Thursday. Pro Football Focus profiled the Cincinnati pick.

"5. CINCINNATI BENGALS: TE KYLE PITTS, FLORIDA OR T PENEI SEWELL, OREGON OR WR JA’MARR CHASE, LSUAfter the 49ers at No. 3, this is quite easily the second-most-debated pick in the draft. And honestly, it doesn’t even matter, as there’s no wrong answer for the Bengals between these three.While there’s certainly a choice overload at play that will have Bengals fans closely following the careers of the players they don’t pick, Cincinnati is getting an outstanding player here regardless."

The Bengals are in a win-win and lose-lose situation with the fifth pick. Whomever Cincinnati selects should have a long and productive NFL career ahead of them. If either of the two players the Bengals do not select with the fifth pick have what some will judge as a better career there will be second-guessing.

Next. Bengals WR Tee Higgins 2020 Draft steal. dark

Cincinnati has to get this pick correct. What we do know is that the fifth draft pick will be someone with who Cincinnati believes will directly help the first overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft Joe Burrow. Cincinnati will likely take an offensive lineman in either of the first two rounds of the 2021 NFL Draft.