Mel Kiper Jr. Identifying Early Needs For The Cincinnati Bengals

Oh, Mel Kiper Jr. How we miss the November predraft hype, filling an obvious need for a team destined for postseason shadows. Noted earlier this week, if the season were to end today, the Cincinnati Bengals would be selecting No. 7 overall; which would be the third top-ten pick in five seasons.

Kiper takes a look at every team and writes for the Bengals (In$ider), identifying defensive end, linebacker, safety, wide receiver and running back:

The Bengals are on the edge of taking that next step after reaching the playoffs in 2011, but lack consistency week to week. The team currently has a lot of areas where it could use an upgrade, but no single glaring weakness. The Bengals are middle of the road in a number of areas, and will be looking for the best fits to help them immediately. They could certainly use another pass-rusher, help at linebacker (where I'm not sure they really like what they have currently), at safety, or at skill positions on offense outside of A.J. Green. They could go just about anywhere.

If the draft were tomorrow, Kiper has Cincinnati selecting Florida safety Matt Elam.