2020 NFL Draft: Justin Herbert goes No. 1 in first-round NFL mock draft

In this mock draft, Cincinnati selects first in the 2020 NFL Draft. They opt for consistency and the potential of Oregon’s Justin Herbert.

Greetings! Its that time of year again. The way too early, who cares who won the College Playoffs, Heisman winning mystery of the 2020 NFL Mock Draft. With several NFL teams on the cusp of being officially eliminated from playoff contention, it’s time for scouts and fans alike to look towards the 2020 NFL draft for their franchises next paladin.

Which college players are waiting in the wings to shoulder the responsibility of propping up an entire cities hopes of contention, along with dozens of front office managers and scouts hopes for steady employment? Who are the young men in their early 20’s who are excited to become marketable star athletes, who must balance playing the most physically demanding sport in the western hemisphere, along with new financial riches that school almost certainly did not prepare them for?

While this year’s NFL playoff seeding is ephemeral, the race to the bottom for the prized first pick in the 2020 NFL draft is fairly coherent. The clear cut front runner is the Cincinnati Bengals, who are holding steady with an 0-10 record as of this writing.

With the benching of Andy Dalton and the lackluster premiere of Ryan Finley, the Cincinnati Bengals have a firm grasp on the first pick in the 2020 NFL draft. What effect will Zac Taylor, the Bengals’ first-year head coach play in how this team drafts in the first round?

All these questions are further complicated by the recent injury to Tua Tagovailoa. He has a serious hip injury and will need months of rehabilitation and treatments before he could set foot on a football field again. As of now his recovery time is unknown, but the injury is serious enough to make some wonder whether he will ever play again.

Tua is a generational talent, but it is understandable for teams to be apprehensive about using a first-round pick on a player who may never throw again. The 2020 NFL draft will show us how impressed General Managers were with the Alabama quarterback.

After Cincinnati, other underperforming teams will have to decide what to do with their squad, as the elite NFL teams continue to have a chokehold on the coveted playoff spots. Is your team just one player away from making a serious run? Or will the owner hit the re-build button and start over with the eventual Super Bowl-winning teams offensive coordinator? Click next below to find out what player your team should seriously consider drafting in the 2020 NFL draft.

Note: This 2020 NFL draft order was determined prior to Sunday’s slate of games. While their draft order might rise or fall in the eventual 2020 NFL draft, their needs are still the same and I expect that many of the teams I have listed will be drafting players of a similar position group. Many of the picks I make may seem counterintuitive. But I promise that every pick in this mock 2020 NFL draft will have data and precedence to back them up.