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ESPN released another monster mock draft. With the seemingly daily release of mock drafts, that really isn’t a shocker.
However, this one wasn’t the typical version of the term. It was highly unrealistic one but meant to set a value to every team’s first-round pick. That said, in the mock, each team traded their first-round pick, including the Bengals who have the top overall selection.
Staff writer Bill Barnwell wrote the column which appeared to have the Bengals giving up the first-overall pick for two first-round picks, one being the No. 3 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, a second-round pick and a third-round pick.
They’d likely be sending the pick, which is widely expected to be used on LSU phenom Joe Burrow, to the Dolphins. The Dolphins would flip their pick to the Detroit Lions and the Bengals would end up selecting third, then most likely looking to take Justin Herbert or Tua Tagovailoa.
While all intentions point to Burrow, including the Bengals using all their allotted per week in talks with the superstar quarterback, it is, at the very least, possible they don’t prefer him.
In all reality, anything is possible at No. 1, but the only reason the Bengals would even take a second blink at any trade offers for it is if they aren’t truly enamored by Burrow which doesn’t seem to be the case.
Barnwell noted that as well.
“The only reason the Bengals wouldn’t draft Burrow with the No. 1 pick would be if they preferred one of the other quarterbacks in the class. If they did, they could justify trading down to a place in which they could safely draft someone such as Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert or Jordan Love while also acquiring additional assets in the process. That means they can drop only to the third pick, but the Lions don’t need Burrow. So we need a third team in the mix,” Barnwell wrote.
He’s right too.
The third team would be needed because if the Bengals just straight-up trade with the Dolphins, the Lions or Giants could potentially scoop up their guy before they fall to No. 5.
Let’s again repeat — this isn’t a rumor and has a .1% chance of happening, but at the very least, it’s interesting to see how national columnists value the top pick.