Bengals surprise at position of strength in new mock draft

A surprise route for the Bengals in a new mock draft.

The Cincinnati Bengals regular season begins in Cleveland on Sunday, September 10, so there’s a lot of time and football between now and draft season, but that doesn’t mean it’s too early for mock drafts.

In a recent mock draft done by Nick Baumgardner and Diante Lee of The Athletic, the Bengals took Keon Coleman, a wide receiver from Florida State with their first-round pick.

Here’s what they said about that choice:

A lot of elite college football players claim they could’ve made a career as a Division I basketball player. We actually have proof with Coleman, who got into six games as a freshman for Tom Izzo at Michigan State. The most athletically gifted X receiver in the class, Coleman, who transferred to Florida State this offseason, could be a lot of fun paired up with Joe Burrow.

Coleman certainly is a gifted athlete and showed flashes of that with Michigan State last season when he brought in 58 receptions for 798 yards and seven touchdowns.

The Bengals are currently set at the wide receiver position, but both Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd are in a contract year so it’s possible Coleman would address a positional need if they don’t start spending money on extensions for their offense.

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