Ranking the Bengals' top 5 options with No. 28 pick in 2023 NFL Draft

The 2023 NFL Draft is less than a month away. The Cincinnati Bengals have done some major work in the free agency period to put themselves in a place to draft the Best Available Player with pick number 28.

Now is the tough part. What name will Roger Goodell announce on April 27 in Kansas City? What name should he announce? Let's go through the five picks that should be at the top of the Bengals' list.

Before that, however, let's talk about what kind of player the Bengals should draft. If you think of iconic draft picks of the last few years, including Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase, you need to pick the players that are way better than their league peers.

You don't move the needle by picking slightly above league average players. That is called closing holes and is picking because of need. That gets you players like Jonah Williams, Billy Price, and Cedric Ogbuehi. Where the Bengals knocked it out of the park was ignoring need and going for epic.

Drafting Chase when they needed an offensive lineman in the worst way. That is what I am talking about! That's what moves the needle; difference makers and superstars. Finding them at the bottom of the first round is hard, but, here is the best guess for true difference-makers that may be available when the Bengals are on the clock at 28.

Bijan Robinson, RB (Texas)

Running backs aren't valuable enough to go in the first round. That is what you hear. Yet, this league is still driven by superstar runners (household names such as Derrick Henry, Saquon Barkley, Christian Mcaffrey and Nick Chubb to name a few). They are the premium at the position.

You can win without one and the Bengals have, but, with one you are adding something to account for on every play. You are making a team line up with extra in the box to stop the run. At the end of the game you are daring them to stop you while you drain the clock. Safeties can't cheat, defenses can't blitz. Dogs and cats sleeping together, total chaos! You get the picture.

There are premium runners including some favorites such as Israel Abanikanda that you can get later, however, if you want a premium, do everything, surefire difference maker then Bijan Robinson is your man.

"Robinson is a special talent who may be the best running back prospect PFF has seen enter the draft (since 2014). He registered 90.0-plus PFF rushing grades in each of the last two seasons and has excellent receiving skills as well. Pass blocking may be the weakest area of his game, but he still showed an improvement over his college career, as he didn’t allow a sack last season on 60 pass-blocking snaps. Robinson has game-changing ability in the backfield and will likely be at the peak of his powers over his entire rookie contract. He can step in and be the lead back in a backfield right away."

- Sam Monson, PFF

You can get a link to the original article here.

There you have it. Why do the Bengals need a running back in the first round when they have needs at tight end, offensive line, and cornerback? They don't, however, adding a true difference maker overrides that concern.