2017 NFL Draft: Cincinnati Bengals Final 7-Round Mock Draft

Round 5, Pick 9: Elijah Lee, LB – Kansas State

With so many picks to use in this draft, there are sure to be a handful which don’t go towards immediate needs, and the further we get into it the more likely we are to see even the stacked positions have new talented additions given to them. That’s where someone like Lee comes into play.

Of any position group on the Bengals, I believe the linebacker corps looks to be the strongest for this coming season.

Burfict, for all his flaws, is one of the more dominating players at his position in the league. Vincent Rey put behind a couple down years to return to being an above-average player in 2016. New addition Kevin Minter should have a bigger role with Cincinnati than he saw in Arizona, and should thrive.

The only notable issue for the group would be depth. Nick Vigil was not all that good in his first season. Marquis Flowers hasn’t shown much in two. Paul Dawson hasn’t seen the field in two seasons, and his poor work ethic has already gotten him cut by the team once.

With Cincinnati moving on from Rey Maualuga earlier this offseason, the group will be in a rough spot should an injury hit one of their starters at any point. The future of the position is up in the air too: Burfict probably will be here for a long time, but Minter is on a one year deal, and Rey is set for free agency a year later.

Lee isn’t someone who currently plays at NFL starter level, but he has the physical ability to do so. His speed is a great baseline to begin with, and the areas where he is currently deficient (playing too upright, not playing as fast as he could) could be fixed or mitigated through coaching.

This is a position group on the team routinely filled with late-round picks and undrafted free agents, so thinking they could turn another player in that mold into a solid contributor isn’t far-fetched.

Alternative Selection: Jeremy McNichols, RB – Boise State

Linebacker is one spot which seems pretty well-set for this year. Another would be their running back spot. Between the pair of Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard, the team has a two-headed attack that combines to give the Bengals just about everything you want from the position as a whole.

Or, at least they do in theory.

Both have had some solid performances in their careers to this point, but when you look through their entire slate of past games — especially the past two seasons — you see an unsightly number of blindingly pedestrian (or worse) showings from the two players.

In his past 31 games, Hill (a player whose production comes almost exclusively on the ground) has gained 50+ rushing yards only 14 times. In his past 26 games, Bernard (who combines rushing and receiving work) has garnered 75+ rushing/receiving yards combined just 11 times. Splitting time obviously cuts down on the totals each might be able to gain, but seeing these two so often fail to reach these low bars shows they may not be quite as good as they are perceived.

If that could be the case (hint: it can), some new blood should be added to challenge them, and McNichols could be a decent late-round selection for doing so.

Based on his size and style, he would be more of a threat to Bernard than Hill, but putting the pressure on either (or both) of them should be a goal with whoever the team grabs. McNichols could be a long-term option for Bernard’s spot regardless of immediate impact (the team could opt out after 2017 on Bernard’s contract), but in the interim could be a decent third option that fights for snaps and pushes Bernard to be better than we’ve seen from him recently.

This wouldn’t guarantee Hill gets off scot free either, though. Should Bernard step up and McNichols earn himself some snaps, it could be Hill who loses out.

The team has liked the separate styles the Bernard/Hill pairing provides, but if he continues to be lackluster in his snaps, there’s little reason to stick with him just for the sake of wanting to show more powerful run looks. Successful teams adjust to their personnel, and this team is not long removed from managing to keep playing decently well even with a significant quarterback injury.

If they can change their gameplan to better fit A.J. McCarron in Andy Dalton’s stead, surely they should be able to do so to some degree with regards to an ineffective Hill, right?