PFN put out their mock draft today, so I decided to test it out. For fun, I decided to see what would happen if I traded down from the number one overall pick. In real life, the Cincinnati Bengals seem poised to take LSU's quarterback Joe Burrow at the top. For this simulator, I wondered what would happen if the Bengals traded down.
In this exercise,
The Cincinnati Bengals traded:
The 1st overall pick
To the Miami Dolphins for:
The 5th overall pick
The 18th overall pick
The 26th overall pick
The 39th overall pick
The 56th overall pick
The 141st overall pick
The 246th overall pick.
In summary, the Bengals in this simulation were able to get 3 1st Round picks, 2 2nd Round picks, a 5th round pick, and a 7th round selection.
Now that I had the 5th overall pick instead of having the top pick, I anticipated picking either the next best available player, or another quarterback. The player I wanted was Clemson's multi-positional, athletic unicorn, Isaiah Simmons, who is also technically listed as a strongside linebacker. He weighs over 240 pounds, runs a sub-4.4 40-yard dash, can cover running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends, and he actually played as a slot corner, safety, linebacker, and pass rusher in college. Hence, with his resume, he sounded like football's version of Zion Williamson.
Unfortunately, he got taken the pick before at #4 by the New York Giants. In case if you were wondering, both Ohio State's players, defensive end Chase Young went #2, and cornerback Jeff Okudah went third overall. Also, Miami in this simulation took Joe Burrow at number one.
I was tempted to flip the fifth pick to move down, but then I would be left with a very realistic possibility of not coming away with an elite talent in this draft. So with that in mind, I decided to take Alabama's quaterback, Tua Tagovailoa with the fifth overall pick. Though he is currently injured, he is a very talented player that also has helped his team win a national title. From there, my strategy was to give him everything he needs and build up the offense to its fullest capabilities to help him reach his full potential.
With the 2nd first round pick that I acquired from Miami, I took Georgia's offensive tackle, Andrew Thomas. He is a left tackle that was rated as one of the best players on the board, and he can protect Tua's blindside. Now as a tidbit, Tua is a left hander, so he will then may have to flip over to right tackle, but with the idea in mind, Thomas could then be that elite lineman to block top edge rushers to keep Tua upright.
With the 3rd first round pick came in, but there was no obvious choice, so I traded down, knowing I had the first overall pick of the second round. From here, I made a trade with the Atlanta Falcons.
The Cincinnati Bengals traded:
The 26th overall pick
To the Atlanta Falcons for:
The 47th overall pick
The 78th overall pick
The 119th overall pick
Essentially, the Bengals couped up a 2nd round pick, a 3rd round pick, and a 4th round pick in return for trading the 26th overall selection. Atlanta used this to take LSU's cornerback, Kristian Fulton.
With the 33rd overall pick, I took Michigan's center, Cesar Ruiz to give Tua another offensive lineman to protect him, but this time from the interior.
From the trade with Miami, I now had the 39th overall pick, and I opted to make a value pick in selecting Wisconsin's running back, Jonathan Taylor to give the Bengals a runner that can also make the play-action work.
I now also had the 47th overall pick from the Atlanta trade, and I decided to give Tua a big-play receiver to throw to. Here, I decided to select Colorado's wide receiver, Laviska Shenault Jr. He's regarded as a very talented receiver when healthy, but has had injuries in the past, but is regarded to have a high upside. Then to protect against the risk of taking Shenault, I took another receiver with my next pick (56th overall), and I took Clemson's Tee Higgins.
So, then with the first pick in the 3rd round, I went with another receiver to give Tua more options, and took Kentucky's Lynn Bowden, a slot receiver that can excel in the return game, and can potentially provide some explosive plays.
With the 78th overall pick, I went with another value pick, and took Georgia's offensive tackle, Isaiah Wilson. He's projected as a mauling, powerful run blocker that can play right tackle. With Tua, he might play left tackle, but also has the ability to move inside to guard.
In the 4th round, I opted to take Purdue's tight end, Brycen Hopkins with the 107th pick. He's projected to be a pass-catching tight end that can make plays downfield. With the next 4th round pick, I opted to take a defensive player instead, as the defense finally had to be addressed. So at 119, I took Utah's safety, Terrell Burgess. He's described as a safety whose versatility could allow him to play other positions.
In the 5th round, I took Penn State's defensive tackle, Robert Windsor at 141, as he's described as an extremely high-motor player that makes plays. With the other 5th round pick, I opted to take a chance on the upside of taking LSU's tight end, Thaddeus Moss. He came on this year and played well, and he also happens to be the son of NFL Hall of Famer, and former Minnesota Vikings great, Randy Moss.
In the 6th round, I opted to take Kansas' offensive tackle, Hakeem Adeniji at pick number 180. I wanted more options to protect Tua, and he has a profile that could allow him to play multiple positions.
In the 7th round, I opted to select Temple's outside linebacker, Chapelle Russell at 215. He was rated as a productive college player that is capable of making plays at the NFL level. I also realized that I still had yet another pick in this round at 246, and I decided to take a pass-rushing specialist in Syracuse's defensive end, Kendall Coleman.
So here is the full list of players I drafted for the Cincinnati Bengals in this simulation:
Here were the two trades I made in this simulation:
In all, if you count that second trade as part of the first one, then that means that I essentially turned Joe Burrow into Tua Tagovailoa and 8 other players, which included another 1st round pick, 3 2nd round picks, a 3rd round pick, a 4th, a 5th, and a 7th. So I started this draft with 7 picks, and with the two trades, I ended up making 15 selections in total.
All in all, it was a fun exercise. Even though, I'm absolutely certain that the Cincinnati Bengals will not go about the draft in this way, it was fun for me to see what if they did. I enjoyed making trades and selections on this website, and I will be interested to see if these players will fare well in the NFL over the years.
Thank you for reading, and hope you enjoyed this. You can follow me on Twitter @AlanLuSTL.
Also, if you want to try this simulator, here is the link: https://www.profootballnetwork.com/mockdraft/
In this exercise,
The Cincinnati Bengals traded:
The 1st overall pick
To the Miami Dolphins for:
The 5th overall pick
The 18th overall pick
The 26th overall pick
The 39th overall pick
The 56th overall pick
The 141st overall pick
The 246th overall pick.
In summary, the Bengals in this simulation were able to get 3 1st Round picks, 2 2nd Round picks, a 5th round pick, and a 7th round selection.
Now that I had the 5th overall pick instead of having the top pick, I anticipated picking either the next best available player, or another quarterback. The player I wanted was Clemson's multi-positional, athletic unicorn, Isaiah Simmons, who is also technically listed as a strongside linebacker. He weighs over 240 pounds, runs a sub-4.4 40-yard dash, can cover running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends, and he actually played as a slot corner, safety, linebacker, and pass rusher in college. Hence, with his resume, he sounded like football's version of Zion Williamson.
Unfortunately, he got taken the pick before at #4 by the New York Giants. In case if you were wondering, both Ohio State's players, defensive end Chase Young went #2, and cornerback Jeff Okudah went third overall. Also, Miami in this simulation took Joe Burrow at number one.
I was tempted to flip the fifth pick to move down, but then I would be left with a very realistic possibility of not coming away with an elite talent in this draft. So with that in mind, I decided to take Alabama's quaterback, Tua Tagovailoa with the fifth overall pick. Though he is currently injured, he is a very talented player that also has helped his team win a national title. From there, my strategy was to give him everything he needs and build up the offense to its fullest capabilities to help him reach his full potential.
With the 2nd first round pick that I acquired from Miami, I took Georgia's offensive tackle, Andrew Thomas. He is a left tackle that was rated as one of the best players on the board, and he can protect Tua's blindside. Now as a tidbit, Tua is a left hander, so he will then may have to flip over to right tackle, but with the idea in mind, Thomas could then be that elite lineman to block top edge rushers to keep Tua upright.
With the 3rd first round pick came in, but there was no obvious choice, so I traded down, knowing I had the first overall pick of the second round. From here, I made a trade with the Atlanta Falcons.
The Cincinnati Bengals traded:
The 26th overall pick
To the Atlanta Falcons for:
The 47th overall pick
The 78th overall pick
The 119th overall pick
Essentially, the Bengals couped up a 2nd round pick, a 3rd round pick, and a 4th round pick in return for trading the 26th overall selection. Atlanta used this to take LSU's cornerback, Kristian Fulton.
With the 33rd overall pick, I took Michigan's center, Cesar Ruiz to give Tua another offensive lineman to protect him, but this time from the interior.
From the trade with Miami, I now had the 39th overall pick, and I opted to make a value pick in selecting Wisconsin's running back, Jonathan Taylor to give the Bengals a runner that can also make the play-action work.
I now also had the 47th overall pick from the Atlanta trade, and I decided to give Tua a big-play receiver to throw to. Here, I decided to select Colorado's wide receiver, Laviska Shenault Jr. He's regarded as a very talented receiver when healthy, but has had injuries in the past, but is regarded to have a high upside. Then to protect against the risk of taking Shenault, I took another receiver with my next pick (56th overall), and I took Clemson's Tee Higgins.
So, then with the first pick in the 3rd round, I went with another receiver to give Tua more options, and took Kentucky's Lynn Bowden, a slot receiver that can excel in the return game, and can potentially provide some explosive plays.
With the 78th overall pick, I went with another value pick, and took Georgia's offensive tackle, Isaiah Wilson. He's projected as a mauling, powerful run blocker that can play right tackle. With Tua, he might play left tackle, but also has the ability to move inside to guard.
In the 4th round, I opted to take Purdue's tight end, Brycen Hopkins with the 107th pick. He's projected to be a pass-catching tight end that can make plays downfield. With the next 4th round pick, I opted to take a defensive player instead, as the defense finally had to be addressed. So at 119, I took Utah's safety, Terrell Burgess. He's described as a safety whose versatility could allow him to play other positions.
In the 5th round, I took Penn State's defensive tackle, Robert Windsor at 141, as he's described as an extremely high-motor player that makes plays. With the other 5th round pick, I opted to take a chance on the upside of taking LSU's tight end, Thaddeus Moss. He came on this year and played well, and he also happens to be the son of NFL Hall of Famer, and former Minnesota Vikings great, Randy Moss.
In the 6th round, I opted to take Kansas' offensive tackle, Hakeem Adeniji at pick number 180. I wanted more options to protect Tua, and he has a profile that could allow him to play multiple positions.
In the 7th round, I opted to select Temple's outside linebacker, Chapelle Russell at 215. He was rated as a productive college player that is capable of making plays at the NFL level. I also realized that I still had yet another pick in this round at 246, and I decided to take a pass-rushing specialist in Syracuse's defensive end, Kendall Coleman.
So here is the full list of players I drafted for the Cincinnati Bengals in this simulation:
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| Mock draft simulation courtesy of profootballnetwork.com |
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| Mock draft simulation courtesy of profootballnetwork.com |
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| Mock draft simulation courtesy of profootballnetwork.com |
In all, if you count that second trade as part of the first one, then that means that I essentially turned Joe Burrow into Tua Tagovailoa and 8 other players, which included another 1st round pick, 3 2nd round picks, a 3rd round pick, a 4th, a 5th, and a 7th. So I started this draft with 7 picks, and with the two trades, I ended up making 15 selections in total.
All in all, it was a fun exercise. Even though, I'm absolutely certain that the Cincinnati Bengals will not go about the draft in this way, it was fun for me to see what if they did. I enjoyed making trades and selections on this website, and I will be interested to see if these players will fare well in the NFL over the years.
Thank you for reading, and hope you enjoyed this. You can follow me on Twitter @AlanLuSTL.
Also, if you want to try this simulator, here is the link: https://www.profootballnetwork.com/mockdraft/
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