The Cincinnati Bengals put in major work to upgrade their offensive line for the 2022 season but they shouldn’t call it a day in that department. Kyle Stackpole of CBS Sports put together a mock draft and had them adding another offensive lineman with the 31st overall pick.
Stackpole’s mock would be a dream come true for a lot of Bengals fans, as Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum fell to the end of the first round. Cincinnati gladly made him a Bengal with the second-to-last pick in round one.
Here’s what Stackpole had to say about why he had Linderbaum landing with the stripes:
"The Bengals added three starting-caliber offensive linemen in free agency. They should also jump at the opportunity to draft Linderbaum here. You can never have enough quality offensive linemen, and Cincinnati can plug in the Iowa standout at center and not have to worry about the position for years to come."
Cincinnati Bengals shore up o-line in mock draft
Adding Linderbaum would be the final piece in the new and improved Bengals o-line. As of now, the left guard spot is the only one that needs to be addressed but Linderbaum’s addition would allow Ted Karras to move to left guard while the Iowa rookie would slide in at center.
This would mean that the new-look Cincy o-line would be Jonah Williams at left tackle, Karras at left guard, Linderbaum at center, Alex Cappa at right guard, and La’el Collins at right tackle. Only Williams would be returning to start on the o-line from a season ago and this would also mean that Jackson Carman wouldn’t have a starting job on the line.
If Linderbaum falls to the Bengals at the end of the first round, it’s a no-brainer decision for Cincinnati to take him. Yes, it’d mean that Carman would no longer have a starting role but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The team needs to put the best possible offensive line in front of Joe Burrow while they still have him on a rookie deal.
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How would you feel about Tyler Linderbaum falling to the Cincinnati Bengals with the 31st pick?