Cincinnati Bengals full 2018 NFL mock draft
By John Buhler
Given that the Bengals’ biggest need this offseason is at guard, don’t think for a second that they will pass up the chance to take an interior offensive lineman with one of their first two picks in the 2018 NFL Draft. Should he fall to them at No. 46, the pick has to be UTEP Miners guard Will Hernandez.
Though UTEP didn’t win a game in his final season in El Paso, Hernandez is certainly going in the top 50 up the 2018 NFL Draft. He could be a late first-round pick, but likely an early to mid-second-round pick. Getting Hernandez at No. 46 would finally offset the free agency loss of Kevin Zeitler to the division rival Cleveland Browns two years ago.
Hernandez is 6-foot-2, 327 pounds. He has 32-inch arms and 9 7/8-inch hands. Though shorter than Notre Dame’s Mike McGlinchey, Hernandez is the stocky interior offensive lineman Marvin Lewis would love to have in his Bengals offense. Should Cincinnati be able to land McGlinchey and Hernandez in the top-50, that would be a great start to turning this team around in the Queen City.
The key for the Bengals has to be winning in the trenches. While they have done a good job of that on defense, they had been lax about it under former offensive line coach Paul Alexander, now with the Dallas Cowboys. He used to be able to make something out of nothing on his offensive line. However, it is a new era in Bengals football and they need to rebuild in the trenches from the ground up.