Does Penei Sewell already know he’s coveted by Bengals?

Maybe this is just wishful thinking, but I really think Penei Sewell has a good idea of where he’ll end up in the Draft, and that the Cincinnati Bengals are committed to taking him when he makes it to the fifth overall pick. (I must give a shoutout to the individuals in this Reddit post for drawing my attention to a series of facts.)

Where’s the evidence, you ask?

Exhibit A:

Sewell recently liked a picture of Joe Burrow on Instagram, in which the charismatic and perfect quarterback simply wrote “Coming soon...”

Exhibit B:

Sewell follows these Bengals players from the present and past on Instagram:

• Billy Price
• Chad Johnson
• Willie Anderson
• Joe Burrow

Sewell only recently began following Burrow.

And he’s following Anderson and former Bengals o-line coach Paul Alexander on Twitter.

Exhibit C:

Back in late December, Sewell posted a picture of a banner Bengals fans made in which they expressed their desire to draft Sewell. He wrote the following on the image: “I appreciate all the love y’all!!!! #WHODEY? (eyeballs emoji).

Analysis:

Clearly, Sewell has been studying the area. “Y’all” is famously painted on the Florence Water Tower. In fact, that image is the one used for the Wikipedia entrance for “y’all”.

The eyeballs emoji, meanwhile, by definition, serves to “draw attention to something the user wants to highlight, especially in situations that involve drama and interpersonal tension.” Sewell seems to want to announce to the world that he will be a member of the Cincinnati Bengals come April. The laws governing the NFL, though, only permit him to declare this using cryptic language.

Being drafted into the NFL involves a wide range of emotions but also a certain degree of interpersonal tension. Will he be able to live up to the hype? How will this change the dynamic of his inner circle, close family and friends? Will money warp his perspective on life? Sewell explored this psychological journey and more in one simple emoji.

Seriously, though, we don’t know what all this means. But we do hope Sewell will be blocking for Burrow.

Joe Goodberry stepped out of retirement temporarily to join us in discussing the Bengals’ plans in the Draft and more. He tells us that Sewell is a great prospect but a good player (on tape) and why the Bengals will need to improve the offensive line in free agency, regardless of whether they get Sewell. This is, in part, because it can take a half season or more for rookie tackles to adjust to the pros. And Sewell is impressive physically but still in need of refining his technique.

You can watch Goodberry’s analysis below:

You can also listen on iTunes or using the player below: