CINCINNATI, Ohio — Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin was guarded at his Thursday pre-draft press conference on most topics, and the status of the running back room was no different.
Tobin didn’t comment on running back Joe Mixon’s status with the team, but added that the team would be willing to take a running back in the first round of the NFL Draft next week.
Just in general, any position group is hard to eliminate,” Tobin said. “You start eliminating it, you can’t get to 28 (on your list). So, if you say we’re not going to take a running back or we’re not going to take a tight end and we’re not going to take a receiver or we’re not going to take … once you eliminate a position group or two, you can’t get to 28 anymore, and you end up with third- and fourth-round picks in your top 28. So we’re open to any position that presents itself if they’re the best player available.”
There might be just one running back who goes in the first round this year, Bijan Robinson, though it feels unlikely that Robinson would be available when the Bengals pick at 28th overall. If he is, they’d have a mighty difficult decision to make.
Mixon’s future has been up in the air for a myriad of reasons
, meaning that it wouldn’t be a shocker for the Bengals to replace him in next week’s draft. They have one hole on their roster, after the departure of Samaje Perine.
Depending on how the draft goes, their running back room might be totally overhauled.
