I hesitate to write anything based off a publication that makes its home in Cleveland. I always think of the scenario that the Bengals-Browns rivalry (or the Queen City-Mistake on the Lake rivalry... if there is such a thing) runs so deep that a newspaper would be willing to print false information to make the other team think a certain way. Of course that's ridiculous. Actually, it's so ridiculous that the entire paragraph I just wrote was a waste of both of our times. Sorry.
Anyway, The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that the Bengals will be selecting a wide receiver in the first round, passing up a quarterback, even if one were to be available.
Based on new information, I now have the Bengals passing on quarterback Blaine Gabbert at No. 4 and choosing a receiver in our mock draft 8.0.
We should obviously take this comment with a grain of salt. If this were completely true, I think that we at Cincy Jungle, The Cincinnati Enquirer's Joe Reedy, the Mothership and any other Bengals website would be all over it.
However, if this is true, it could put the Bengals in a bind to select a quarterback. While I think that not selecting Cam Newton or Blaine Gabbert with the No. 4 pick is a good thing, I would be nervous about who the Bengals would be able to select in the second round to lead their offense.
Personally, I think the best fit for the Bengals system would be Florida State's Christian Ponder, but there are serious doubts that he would be available if the Bengals decide to sit and wait for him to fall to the 35th pick. My second choice for quarterback would be TCU's Andy Dalton, but again, what happens if he's gone and the Bengals find themselves sitting at No. 35 with Ryan Mallett and Ricky Stazi, two guys that I don't think fit well into the Bengals new WCO system.
If the Bengals don't select a quarterback with the No. 4 overall pick, they may need to be proactive to get the quarterback they want. By proactive, I mean possibly trading their second and third-round picks to get a late first-round pick to get Ponder or possibly Dalton. Of course, that means no second or third round pick to find a safety, interior offensive lineman, defensive lineman, linebacker, defensive back or a waterboy, but hey, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.
The Best option may be to trade the No. 4 overall pick to a team that needs a player that will be gone by the time the Arizona Cardinals or Cleveland Browns go on the clock, possibly a team like the Seattle Seahawks, who might not mind getting their hands on a player like Cam Newton or Blaine Gabbert, or maybe the Chicago Bears, who could definitely use a big time wide receiver like A.J. Green to help Jay Cutler out. If the Bengals talk one of those two teams, or somebody else (I'm just spitballing here), they could get a quarterback that best fits their system, Ponder or Dalton, and have a couple extra picks through the next couple rounds to grab players that they need to fill some holes.
Of course, all of this is just pure speculation and based off one sentence in a Cleveland newspaper. When it really comes down to it, does anybody really have any clue what's going to happen?