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One of the latest mock drafts to make its way onto the scene comes from former New York Jets general manager and current ESPN front office insider Mike Tannenbaum.
Like a few other mocks in recent days, Tannenbaum likes the direction of the Cincinnati Bengals‘ offensive line and decides to focus on the cornerback position at pick 31. In this case, he goes with Auburn CB Roger McCreary.
The Bengals did a lot of work to their offensive line in free agency, including signing offensive tackle La’el Collins, guard Alex Cappa and interior lineman Ted Karras. I feel pretty good about that, so I’m focusing elsewhere: cornerback. Competition for Eli Apple and Chidobe Awuzie would be a good thing for Cincinnati, and McCreary is a feisty undersized corner with upside.
McCreary may be a bit undersized at 5’11, 190 pounds, but he balances it out with good speed (4.5 40-yard dash) and is a very physical man corner. As Tannenbaum notes, he would provide good competition to Apple and Awuzie and likely eventually supplant one of them as a starter on the outside.
NFL Network draft analyst Lance Zierlein compared McCreary to Raiders CB Rock Ya-Sin, who is coming off a strong 2021 season with the Colts. Ya-Sin was recently traded to the Raiders for edge-rusher Yannick Ngakoue.
Interestingly enough, if McCreary is selected by the Bengals, he would become teammates with the quarterback whom he recorded his first college interception against, Joe Burrow.
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