A tour of the Bengals' draft room, taking the best player available, depth at receiver and signing undrafted free agents

A tour of the Bengals' draft room, taking the best player available, depth at receiver and signing undrafted free agents

The Bengals are putting the finishing touches on their board with the NFL Draft just six days away. 

Everyone expects them to take LSU quarterback Joe Burrow with the No. 1 pick. The Bengals are looking at a variety of different positions with their other six selections. 

Here are five thoughts on the Bengals' draft possibilities:

Best Player Available

Despite their additions in free agency, the Bengals have plenty of needs, including linebacker, offensive tackle, wide receiver and defensive line. They're going to pick top talent, even if it isn't their biggest need. 

"We won’t overlook a rare talent for a need," Bengals Director of Player Personnel Duke Tobin said on Thursday. "There are other positions that we think will have some good talent, but we can’t predict what these other teams are going to see and whether all that talent will disappear before we go into the later rounds or not."

Don't be surprised if they select a cornerback, edge rusher or defensive tackle in rounds 2-4. They're going to take a player at a position that people aren't expecting on day two or early on day three. 

The Bengals would love to add another young player next to Geno Atkins at tackle. They signed four players to their secondary in free agency, but two are on one-year deals and William Jackson III is in the final year of his contract. Carl Lawson is also in the last year of his deal and Carlos Dunlap is 31 years old. 

The Bengals are going to draft a linebacker, wide receiver and offensive lineman, but it may not be as early as everyone thinks. 

Draft Room Tour

NFL personnel will draft from home this year due to COVID-19 concerns. Tobin gave reporters a tour of his 'war room' on Thursday. Watch the tour below:

Worried about the draft being hacked?

Some are concerned this years' draft could be compromised by hackers. Tobin admitted that he's thought about it happening. 

"I worry about everything," he said. "Has that crossed my mind? Sure. I read the papers and I’m a natural worry-wart. Our IT guy Jake and our video guy Travis and their teams have really done a great job getting us set up. We are comfortable with the way we are operating. We feel like it’s a good way to operate under the circumstances and we’ve been really productive doing it."

Every team is going to submit their picks using a Microsoft program. The draft could get hacked, but every team will still be able to communicate with their cell phone. The NFL has to have multiple backup plans in place, just in case the program gets hacked. It may be old-school, but the league and all 32 teams should be able to get through the draft without any major issues. 

Wide Receiver Depth

It seems like every draft analyst thinks the wide receiver position is as deep as its' been in years. It's not out of the realm of possibility to see eight wide receivers taken in the first round. The Bengals feel slightly different about the position as a whole.

"It’s a solid draft," Tobin said. "There are wide receivers. It all depends on what you want. There are a lot of different types of wide receiver and each team maybe is looking for a little bit different thing, whether it’s a guy that plays inside or whether it’s a guy that can play outside, whether it’s a guy that’s good with the ball in his hands for jet sweep-type things, whether it’s a guy that can provide something in the return game or in the coverage units. There are a lot of different styles (of) guys. I think that’s why you see it being advertised as very deep, because when you put all of those different style guys together and call them all wideouts, then that becomes a large group. But if you’re just having a certain style, then it thins out a little bit."

The Bengals are probably looking for a big, outside wide receiver that can play with A.J. Green and Tyler Boyd. That would give them some insurance if they're unable to sign Green to a long-term extension. They could also opt for a speedy, dynamic player with John Ross entering the final year of his contract. 

Signing Undrafted Free Agents

Signing undrafted free agents is going to be different this year. All 32 NFL teams will have to be more organized than normal. Communication will be critical during the post-draft process.

“We’re going to do it in a way that’s pretty standard to what we have done, we just won’t be in the same room," Tobin said. "The communication of when one gets done [player signing] and how you handle the money. There’s a finite amount of money that you can spend on college free agents. When you agree with one person that takes the total down. That’s the toughest logistical part is when we’re getting agreements, making sure that everybody is aware of it and managing the overall sum of money that we have to spend. That’s a league mandated number."

In the past, the Bengals have had success signing undrafted players. They brought in Vontaze Burfict and Vinny Rey, both of which made significant contributions during their playoff runs in the early 2010s. 

"It’ll be a frenzy like it always is and we’re going to attack it the same way. Both with our coaching staff and our scouting department.”