When the Cincinnati Bengals signed three offensive lineman quickly in free agency, the general feeling was that they would use the 31st overall pick in Thursday’s NFL Draft on a defensive player.
Many mock drafts have them taking a cornerback or interior defensive lineman to bolster the defense that carried them to the Super Bowl, but a recent report suggests that they’re at the very least keeping their ear to the ground on the offensive side of the ball.
In a radio interview on Wednesday, Boston College offensive lineman Zion Johnson mentioned that the Bengals are a team he’s spoken to ahead of the draft. With the signings of Alex Cappa, Ted Karras and La’el Collins, one might ask where a first-round offensive lineman will fit in. Considering the younger players in the offensive line room that the coaches clearly believe in, this may be nothing but due diligence.
However, Johnson is an extremely exciting prospect. Not only does he have the versatility to play any of the three interior offensive line positions, his combine performance shows signs of an elite athlete in offensive line terms.
A 5.18 second 40-yard dash, 32 reps of 225 pounds and showing some agility, he seems like a guy Frank Pollack would love to have at his disposal. A player standing 6’3’’, weighing 312 pounds and doing three cone drills in 7.38 seconds will excite anyone who enjoys the trenches.
With the up and down year Jackson Carman had, could the Bengals target a new starting left guard Thursday night? Recent history says they will give Carman more time, but the Bengals have had a streak of breaking their conventional habits over the last three off-seasons.
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