Cincinnati Bengals 3-round 2021 NFL mock draft: Building around Burrow

As we talked about earlier, the Cincinnati Bengals do have a nice group of receivers for Burrow to work with as a rookie. That being said, both A.J. Green and John Ross will hit unrestricted free agency after the 2020 season. Tyler Boyd and Tee Higgins can still lead a strong group, but the Bengals will likely be looking for depth at the position in the 2021 NFL Draft.

In the second round of this mock draft, the Bengals get Burrow another talented pass-catcher to work with. Amon-Ra St. Brown stands out as a strong fit for the team and a good value in this range.

St. Brown primarily plays out of the slot at USC and shows impressive natural playmaking ability at the position. He is a smooth and precise route runner who changes directions quickly and creates separation against man coverage with ease. St. Brown also shows soft hands and does a great job of getting upfield quickly after the catch.

Once the ball is in his hands, St. Brown shows impressive elusiveness in the open field and some explosive speed once he finds a crease. The USC product does most of his damage in the short to intermediate-range, but he does have enough speed and ball-tracking ability to stretch the field at times.

St. Brown may seem like a bit of an odd fit for the Cincinnati Bengals with Boyd already on the roster. Boyd does most of his damage out of the slot and so does St. Brown. That being said, both players have shown the ability to make plays on the outside at times and would form an extremely talented trio with Higgins.

When the Bengals would go to four wide receiver sets, they could use both Boyd and St. Brown out of the slot, which could lead to many easy opportunities for Burrow in the passing game.

Simply put, the Bengals need to do whatever they can to help Burrow reach his ceiling as a franchise NFL quarterback. Adding a talented receiver like St. Brown is only going to help.