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Right about now, some 2020 NFL mock drafts figure to have the Cincinnati Bengals go away from Joe Burrow at No. 1 by trading down.
But those sorts of mocks are aimed at getting attention — the Bengals won’t do any such thing.
In this case, boring is good. And good — depending on what the Bengals do beyond the first round — can be great.
Great would be a new three-round mock from Draft Wire’s Luke Easterling, which explains the Burrow pick:
“Despite rumors to the contrary, this has been set in stone for quite a while. Burrow won’t make trouble about playing in Cincy, and the Bengals finally get the franchise quarterback they so desperately need.”
And it doesn’t stop there.
The Bengals grab LSU’s Patrick Queen in the second round, giving the linebacker unit a major upgrade.
Queen, tabbed as a “Year 1 quality starter” by NFL.com, is one of the draft’s best linebackers and can cover well in matchups, which the Bengals badly need.
In the third round the Bengals land TCU’s Lucas Niang, a 6’6″, 315-pound offensive tackle who has the potential to start right away if he wins a battle somewhere that isn’t left tackle (which belongs to 2019 first-round pick Jonah Williams).
In fact, this might register as perfect. The franchise passer, coverage linebacker and offensive line help — paired with a well-graded trip to free agency — could equate to a fast Bengals resurgence.
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