Which athlete the Cincinnati Bengals will choose in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft has been the subject of intense conjecture in recent weeks. There’s no denying that maximizing talent plays a role, but choosing a first-round pick is perhaps the most crucial aspect of building a winning team. Consider the impact that the 2020 selection of quarterback Joe Burrow had on this team four years later.
I’ve seen various sources, even well-known ones like NFL Insider Mel Kiper Jr., forecast over the last several days that Cincinnati will select Byron Murphy II with the 18th overall pick. Murphy seems like a good three-technique defensive tackle in the future, but Cincinnati would be overrun with quick, undersized tackles if that choice is made in addition to Sheldon Rankins’ offseason arrival. Either Murphy, Rankins, or B.J. Hill, a two-year starter, wouldn’t see enough action on that line to make their investment worthwhile.
J.C. Latham, an Alabama right tackle, is the best available offensive tackle in this draft class, therefore Cincinnati will select him if they want to get the most out of their draft selection. Despite being ranked by ESPN as Notre Dame behemoth Joe Alt’s backup, Latham has four years of SEC experience playing against top competition, which has improved his athleticism and skill level.
At 6’6″ and 342 pounds, Latham appears to be the prototypical mauler for a run-dominant offensive scheme. Even with that size, Latham’s ability to protect the passer has been lauded as the best in the collegiate game last season with excellent technique and hand placement. The only thing that comes off as a red flag on his resume is that he has a tendency to over-set to elite speed on the edge which gives up the inside lane to pass rushers. The big concern there is that he doesn’t have the confidence in his athleticism to set normally against them but that should vanish with maturity and experience.
A lot of fans were appeased when the organization brought in Trent Brown last month to presumably take over the starting role at right tackle. If you read between the lines on his contract, his salary of four million dollars for one season won’t inspire his notoriously low work ethic. That means Brown may come into Cincinnati out of shape and if that’s the case, the team will certainly need a backup plan. On top of that, Latham would likely start over Brown to start the season anyway.
Latham has skyrocketed up the draft boards recently and as of this moment, ESPN ranks him as the eleventh-best overall prospect. The first fifteen picks are always going to be a toss-up since there will likely be at least five quarterbacks taken by desperate teams. If Cincinnati can land Latham, they can finally lock in an offensive tackle for the long haul rather than the struggling free agency game that they have played for the last ten years.
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