Bengals Draft: Tyler Linderbaum should still be an option in first-round
The Cincinnati Bengals‘ draft strategy has changed since the team opened up the pocketbooks and signed three offensive linemen to improve the unit moving forward.
Even with the strategy now changing from “draft an offensive lineman at all costs” to being able to target other positions, there’s one player who if he’s still sitting there at pick No. 31 or a few picks ahead of Cincy’s selection, is still an option. That guy is Tyler Linderbaum.
Bengals fans have been wanting Linderbaum in the black and orange stripes throughout the offseason but now that the team signed Ted Karras to a three-year contract, center isn’t as big of a need for the team.
Be that as it may, Linderbaum should still be an option for the Bengals, especially if he plummets to the end of the first round of the draft.
Bengals Draft: Tyler Linderbaum still fits team’s vision
If Cincinnati were to select Linderbaum in the first round, they could easily make it work with their new-look o-line. Karras has experience at both center and guard, so the stripes could slide him over to the left guard position and put the Iowa rookie at center.
This, of course, would mean that Jackson Carman would be relegated to a backup job, which doesn’t seem to be something the Bengals want to happen. They spent a second-round pick on the Clemson product not even a year ago and this could be viewed as “giving up” on Carman.
The Bengals shouldn’t die on that hill. If Linderbaum is still available when the stripes are on the clock, he’d make a lot of sense with this team. He’d immediately give their offensive line yet another upgrade and this team would have improved their weakest unit in just a single offseason, which could be the difference between hoisting the Lombardi Trophy or watching the big game from home.
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If Tyler Linderbaum falls to the end of the first round, the team has to make him a member of the Cincinnati Bengals.