In the blink of an eye, the 2020 NFL Draft has officially closed and the Cincinnati Bengals have their quarterback of the future in Joe Burrow. So what better way to end the 2020 draft cycle than by jumping right into the 2021 cycle?
Pro Football Network has already unleashed their Mock Draft Simulator for next year’s draft in Cleveland. Now don’t freak out, but the simulator currently has the Bengals selecting at No. 2 overall. That’s because the draft order is based on the latest Super Bowl odds from Las Vegas. The Bengals are mixed in with the Jacksonville Jaguars (No. 1) and the Washington Redskins (No. 3).
The good news about this is we can have our pick of the litter from a bevy of excellent prospects since the Bengals only have one team picking in front of them and we can already pencil in Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence as the selection, in this case to the Jaguars. Also keep in the mind the draft order here will change as the odds change. The Bengals may have a lower pick by next week. So let’s just have fun with this, shall we?
So what could an extremely early 2021 draft look like for the Bengals? Let’s jump in.
No. 2 – Gregory Rousseau, Edge, Miami (FL)
Chase Young was the prized edge defender in the 2020 class. The early thoughts for 2021 is that honor currently resides at The U. Rousseau is a converted wide receiver/safety. He was rated the 15th-best athlete by Rivals coming out of high school. Since then, he’s bulked up and produced an absolutely phenomenal season in 2019 for the Hurricanes with an incredible 19.5 tackles for a loss and 15.5 sacks in 13 games, his first full season with Miami after redshirting in 2018 after an ankle injury ended his season after just two games.
The Bengals added some edge help in the 2020 draft with Khalid Kareem. But the thought of Rousseau with Carlos Dunlap and Sam Hubbard is downright scary. Which of course means it probably won’t happen, partly because the Bengals may not be picking this high come next April. But that’s the beauty of a mock draft literally almost 365 days before it happens.
Other names to watch this high would be LSU WR Ja’Marr Chase, Oregon OT Penei Sewell, Alabama CB Patrick Surtain, Ohio State CB Shaun Wade and Penn State LB Micah Parsons, just to name a few.