Coley Harvey, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

In Todd McShay's first mock, Bengals go OT

CINCINNATI -- We're still two weeks shy of the playoffs, but ESPN draft insider Todd McShay already has the NFL draft on his mind.

While it's still a little early for draft talk as far as I'm concerned -- after all, the team I cover, the Cincinnati Bengals, are knee-deep in a division title chase -- I do agree with McShay's first-round Bengals selection.

In his first 2015 first-round mock draft that was published Wednesday, McShay has Cincinnati taking Stanford offensive tackle Andrus Peat with the 24th selection. One matter of housekeeping before we move further. No one knows what the draft order will be next spring. We have to reach the end of the playoffs before we'll know the full 32-team breakdown. No. 24 is where the Bengals would pick if the season ended today.

So why is this a selection I can agree with? Because as we've seen in recent weeks, one of the most glaring holes the Bengals have is in their reserve ranks at offensive tackle. Since starting right tackle Andre Smith's season ended four weeks ago after he tore his left triceps, Cincinnati has been scratching its head over ways to replace him. The Bengals have tried moving starting left guard Clint Boling over there. They've put reserve Marshall Newhouse there. They signed veteran Eric Winston via free agency and are tinkering with him at the position.

If they had a solid backup tackle like Anthony Collins was when he was with the Bengals, then some of this maneuvering might not be necessary. Linebacker also is a position lacking depth, and one that likely will be addressed in next spring's draft. Tight end could be another, depending upon what the Bengals do with Jermaine Gresham, whose contract is up after this season.

As for Peat, here's what McShay had to say about him:

"We've moved Peat down our board a bit this season, but he still has the ideal physical tools to be a starting left tackle in the NFL, with good length, a powerful upper body and very good agility in pass protection. He'd provide a boost to the Cincinnati offensive line, whose current starting left tackle Andrew Whitworth is entering the final season of his contract."

Indeed, in addition to solving the issues at backup right tackle, the Bengals also will want to start thinking about life after Whitworth with this draft or the next. While it stands to reason the Bengals might re-sign Whitworth to a short-term deal -- he's arguably in the middle of the best year of his nine-year Pro Bowl career -- he did turn 33 last week.

Regardless where they end up picking, don't be surprised if the Bengals do like McShay suggests and go with an offensive tackle.

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