Bengals make a splashy trade for playmaker in latest PFF mock draft

The Cincinnati Bengals hold the 28th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft but will it stay that way? Not according to the PFF staff who held their own seven-round mock draft before the real thing kicks off on Thursday night.

Nathan Jahnke was the one drafting as the Bengals and he made sure to start Cincy's draft off with a bang. Right off the bat, Jahnke had the stripes trading with the Giants, swapping first-round picks and moving up to No. 25 overall to draft Bijan Robinson out of Texas.

"The Bengals send Pick Nos. 28 and 163 to the Giants to move past the Cowboys and Bills and draft Robinson. This would allow Cincinnati to cut Joe Mixon and build out one of the NFL's most exciting offenses for the 2023 season."

- Nathan Jahnke

As Jahnke says, doing this means that Joe Mixon's days as a Cincinnati Bengal are numbered. They wouldn't need him anymore with Robinson in their backfield. Considering the Bengals haven't traded up in the first round of the draft in the past 25 years, this would be quite the shock. It'd be even more shocking that making this move would be for a running back but hey -- Maybe this is the missing piece for the Bengals.

Bengals swing for the fences in mock draft

After making a huge trade up in the first round, the Bengals trade back and out of the second round, giving them the 66th overall pick as their next selection. With that pick, they snag Luke Musgraves out of Oregon State. Taking Musgraves in the third round as opposed to the first round would definitely go over well with Bengals fans, as he only played two games in 2022 due to injuries.

Adding Robinson and Musgraves with their first two picks means that the Bengals would be putting a major emphasis on the offensive side of the ball. They need to add help in the secondary and in their pass rush but their additional third-round pick (the original one they had entering the draft at 92) sees them sticking on the offensive side of the ball with Wayna Morris, an offensive tackle out of Oklahoma.

Going with offensive players with their first three picks would be surprising but it'd show that the Bengals think highly enough of their defense to do this.

The Robinson move would certainly have people talking. How would you feel if Cincinnati did this?