If you were picking for the Bengals, what are the top 5 guys you would want? Would you consider a trade back if those guys weren’t there? If so, how far back would you be comfortable with? Thanks Man! Mark Bartruff, Fort Wright, KY
MARK: It depends what their board says and how much of a gap they see from No. 33 to, say, No. 75. If it’s small, trade back as far as you want and get three players instead of one. But that’s not usually the way it goes. Hard to see them moving back more than five or six slots. Usually at that point in the draft, that’s about how many guys you’ve got ranked in the same area.
So here are five guys, and maybe you can get two of them in the first 64: I’ve already stated the case on Elam, but there’s also Baylor safety Jalen Pitre, a seasoned, smart sort who can also play nickel. So can Michigan safety Daxton Hill. Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum is an interesting discussion. Hard to see any of those guys available past 40. At 64, the last pick in the second…