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As the NFL offseason continues, so too does the wave of mock drafts coming in from every respectable football site there is. The point of mock drafts is to not only give people an idea of what players they could potentially select in the draft, but it also works as a "stock report: of sorts.
Alabama tackle Cyrus Kouandjio is a great example of this. When the 2013 college football season ended, he was projected as a top-15 pick. After it was discovered at the scouting combine he'd had a previous knee issue resulting from a failed surgery, he fell completely out of the first round.
Now that his knee has reportedly checked out with NFL teams, he's being mocked to teams in the first round, including the Bengals in the latest mock from the National Football Post:
24 -Cincinnati Bengals - Cyrus Kouandjio - OT - Alabama - The Bengals lost Anthony Collins in free agency. Kouandjio is the same type of big, massive player. Some teams have a concern about his knees. Anthony Munoz had the same medical concerns when the Bengals drafted him.
There's tow trains of thought with this pick:
1) Cyrus could start at left tackle and allow Andrew Whitworth to remain at guard.
2) He could be the backup tackle behind both Whit and Andre Smith and eventually replace whichever of those two leaves the Bengals first.
Option 2 sounds like the likeliest. The Bengals need more depth at OT, especially given how often the Bengals like to use 6-lineman formations with an extra OT. It also gives the Bengals insurance if Smith leaves in 2016 when he's a free agent, and Cyrus could probably slide to right tackle to replace him.
At the end of the day, the Bengals have more pressing needs than another OT, but this would still be a good pickup.