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With the Super Bowl having passed, the focus of the NFL now turns to the 2018 NFL Draft.
The Cincinnati Bengals will almost certainly be taking an offensive tackle early in this year’s draft, possibly as high as No. 12 overall. While this year’s draft is lacking truly elite tackle prospects, there are several guys worthy of first-round selections.
Whether any of them are worth the No. 12 pick remains to be seen, but by now, we’ve seen several tackles mocked to the Bengals at that spot.
The latest offering from ESPN’s Todd McShay has Texas Longhorns lineman Connor Williams landing in Cincinnati.
12. Cincinnati Bengals
Connor Williams, OT, Texas*
Cincinnati had a disappointing season and the offensive line was a big reason why. Cedric Ogbuehi and Jake Fisher (out for the season with an irregular heartbeat) haven’t played up to their draft potential, and Cincinnati both struggled to protect Andy Dalton and run the ball. The Bengals should take the best offensive lineman available at No. 12. If they are comfortable with Williams’ medicals, he’s the most gifted left tackle in this class.
What’s interesting about this is just two weeks ago, McShay had Williams ranked as the 25th-best prospect in this year’s draft. That’s largely due to a knee injury keeping Williams sidelined for much of this past season, though he was very underwhelming in the beginning of the season before being injured.
But there’s no question that Williams is a very talented lineman when healthy, not to mention he doesn’t turn 21 until May. Heck, going into the 2017 season, Williams was regarded as a top-10 pick that could even sneak into the top five before the season began.
Williams is projected as a left tackle in the NFL, but since the Bengals have issues at both tackle spots, he’d almost certainly have a big role during his rookie season at one of those spots.
The Bengals will likely also consider Notre Dame’s Mike McGlinchey and Orlando’s Orlando Brown as potential first-round offensive tackles.
Which of these linemen do you like the most for Cincinnati?