NFL mock draft 2021: Justin Fields, Trey Lance help make history

The Bengals are in a good spot this draft to either trade back and acquire more picks or stay at five and get a blue-chip prospect.  There are really three players that this pick comes down to Penei Sewell, Kyle Pitts, and Ja’Marr Chase.

There’s certainly a case for them to take Pitts or Chase but I’m giving Sewell the slight edge over them for now.  Nothing is more important to the future of the Bengals than the health of Joe Burrow and who better to protect him than the best offensive line prospect that we’ve seen in years.

Sewell is an absolute freak of an athlete, at 6-6, 330 pounds, you simply don’t see many men of his size who can move as well as he can.  Watching offensive linemen usually isn’t fun, but with him, it’s a different story.

He opted out for the 2020 season, but that’s not a big deal whatsoever he had already shown enough in his sophomore and freshmen campaigns to prove he’s worthy of a very high pick.  In 2019, he won the Outland Trophy as the most outstanding interior linemen in college football.

As a pass protector, he has good technique as he does a good job of getting his hands on pass rushers first instead of his body and playing loose and flexible.  At Oregon, he was nearly flawless in protecting the passer as in 2019 he didn’t give up a single sack all season and only allowed 7 pressures, according to PFF.

As a run blocker, he is phenomenal, he dominates at the line of scrimmage, gets leverage and uses strength to bully defenders, and often gets out to the second level.  He’s also capable of pulling and blocking defenders out in space.