Mock draft season is in full swing now that the Super Bowl is in the rear-view mirror and one of the latest mocks to be unveiled is that of the great Todd McShay of ESPN.
McShay recently released his second mock draft (ESPN+) of this draft cycle and first since the Super Bowl. And surprise, surprise, he has the Cincinnati Bengals taking an offensive lineman at No. 31. Central Michigan’s Bernhard Raimann, to be exact.
“Do we even need to explain this one? Cincinnati allowed 55 sacks in 2021 (third most), and then it took 19 more across four playoff games. Its 48.8% pass block win rate was 30th in the NFL. The season ultimately ended on a pressure, as Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald got to quarterback Joe Burrow on the Bengals’ final offensive play of the Super Bowl. Burrow is one of the best young passers in the game, and Cincinnati must, must, must clean up the offensive line to keep him healthy and let him operate the offense with more ease. Raimann has a powerful upper body and shuts down pass-rushers when he gets his hands inside.”
Raimann (6-6, 304), who was born in Austria, has only played offensive line for two seasons, transitioning from tight end for the 2020 season. But it has been one of the smoothest transitions you will see from a football player. At one point, he was about 230 pounds before he came to Central Michigan. Now he’s one of the better offensive tackle prospects in this class.
If there is a knock of Raimann, it’s that he will be 25 years old in September. But there is still room to grow for Raimann and he could eventually work himself into a starting role, perhaps even at left tackle, for the Bengals if this ends up being the pick.
