Peter King, like many others, has been adamant that the Cincinnati Bengals need to take an offensive tackle such as Penei Sewell at No. 5 in the 2021 NFL draft.
But things change fast.
Late in the process, King admits in his final mock draft that the Bengals might just go a different direction:
“For a long time, I’ve thought—even railed about it in this space—that the Bengals should just sit here and pick the best tackle in the draft, Penei Sewell. And if they do, good for them. But this exercise is trying to project what I think they will do, not should do. And I’m getting to the point where I am relying on history and this particularly board in projecting something like for the Bengals:
Round 1, pick 5: Ja’Marr Chase, WR, LSU
Round 2, pick 38: Liam Eichenberg, T, Notre Dame
Round 3, pick 69: Wyatt Davis, G, Ohio State”
And King is spot on — there isn’t another player comparable to Ja’Marr Chase at wideout in this draft. There isn’t in most drafts. The Bengals can go get plenty of offensive line help later in the order.
Chase is just too much to pass up at No. 5. And that’s before taking into account his LSU connection with Joe Burrow and the LSU concepts already built into the Bengals playbook.
As the draft approaches this week, expect to hear more mocks like this throwing in the towel and pronouncing Chase as the pick.
