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Big moves or not, free agency doesn’t figure to stop the Cincinnanti Bengals from drafting a linebacker early.
The front office in Cincinnati clearly emphasized positions it values more than linebacker by getting defensive lineman D.J. Reader and multiple cornerbacks.
But based on a note from Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com after the Josh Bynes signing, linebacker is still a plan in the draft:
“He’ll line up inside with sophomore Germaine Pratt in the Bengals’ hybrid 3-4. The only other backer under contract is fourth-year outside man Jordan Evans. Bynes isn’t one of the big money backers they pursued last week, but he’s the kind of a guy they think fits a room that is going to need some experienced guys to tell the young ones where to line up. The Bengals figure to draft at least one starting linebacker.”
No surprise here. As we noted at the time, while Bynes was a great Week 2 linebacker signing, he’s more of a rotational player who specializes against the run.
Were the Bengals to ignore linebackers in the upcoming draft it’d leave sophomore Germaine Pratt as the only well-known coverage player at the position.
This is a little note in the grand scheme of things. But it’s an important one — while No. 33 is more unpredictable than ever thanks to how the Bengals performed in free agency, linebacker remains a prominent focus just based on the current depth chart and Bynes’ skill set.
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