NFL analyst predicts a surprisingly offense-heavy first round of the NFL Draft

It is finally NFL Draft week, and the mocks are still flying around, with each one seemingly having a different prospect coming to the Cincinnati Bengals.

The more you read, the more unsure you may become about what the Bengals will do with the 18th overall pick.

We have seen mock drafts with the Bengals taking offensive tackles and defensive tackles, while some have them selecting a wide receiver in Thursday night’s draft. After three straight seasons with a new starting right tackle, maybe Duke Tobin and Co. opt to find their long-term answer.

With DJ Reader leaving for the Detroit Lions, they could decide to try to fill his spot this season. Then again, what about Tee Higgins’ future?

NFL Network’s Peter Schrager, who is one of the more accurate predictors of drafts, believes that this draft will be heavily offensive favored, noting that he only has six for-sure first-round prospects on the defensive side of the ball, followed by five more names who might go in Round 1.

One noticeable absence on that list is Illinois’ Jer’Zhan ‘Johnny’ Newton. Newton is maybe the second-best defensive tackle prospect behind Texas’ Byron Murphy II, but Schrager sees teams addressing offense so much this year that he isn’t convinced Newton is a first round pick, though ESPN’s Mel Kiper seems to agree.

Newton is a name that has been mocked to the Bengals. They met with him at the NFL Scouting Combine in February and held a top-30 visit with him this month, so there does appear to be interest from Cincinnati.

The pick will likely be a lineman on one side or the other, but Murphy has moved up draft boards into the top 10 in many mocks, so he will likely be off the board at Cincinnati’s 18th pick.