2013 NFL Mock Draft: Cincinnati Bengals Select...

Editor's note: Pick was made before news of James Harrison signing with Cincinnati.

When you look at what the Cincinnati Bengals typically do in the draft, it often looks like they take a checklist of their needs, start at the top, and just run straight down it when they make their picks. They tend to focus on filling needs over best player available.

Last season, CB and OG were their two biggest holes: they added CB Dre Kirkpatrick with the 17th pick and OG Kevin Zeitler with the 27th pick, after trading around a little bit in the 1st round. So when selecting for the Bengals, I looked at their biggest hole in the roster... and there's no bigger than the one where Andre Smith was at right tackle.

Smith's shirtless combine numbers several years ago was a thing of nightmares, and now Smith is playing hardball with the Bengals on re-signing to a long term deal. With the Bengals power-run offense, D.J. Fluker was the perfect fit... until he came off the board just before our selection! I would say that safety is also a top need, and I did consider Matt Elam at this point, but felt like it would be too much of a reach.

When Manny Lawson walked in free agency though, it left an opening at OLB in the Bengals 4-3 scheme. Rey Maualuga has been re-signed (much to the Cincinnati fan base's dismay), but there's been some uncertainty over whether he will play in the middle, or whether Vontaze Burfict will move to that spot.

With the 21st pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, the Cincinnati Bengals select Alec Ogletree, LB, Georgia.

Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports

Regardless, Alec Ogletree is easily the most talented player left on the board. He would most likely play on the outside in Cincinnati, but has the versatility to shuffle around if Maualuga continues to struggle. If not for Ogletree's character red flags, he could have been a top-10 pick... and we all know that Cincinnati isn't scared off by that. (This is a team that just signed Pacman Jones to an extension!)

	Team	Player	Pos	School	BTSC rep
1		Star Lotulelei	DT	Utah	[Link to pick]
2		Dion Jordan	DE/OLB	Oregon	[Link to pick]
3		Sharrif Floyd	DT	Florida	[Link to pick]
4		Dee Milliner	CB	Alabama	[Link to pick]
5		Eric Fisher	OT	Central Michigan	[Link to pick]
6		Luke Joeckel	OT	Texas A&M	[Link to pick]
7		Lane Johnson	OT	Oklahoma	[Link to pick]
8		Barkevious Mingo	OLB	LSU	[Link to pick]
9		Chance Warmack	OG	Alabama	[Link to pick]
10		Jonathan Cooper	OG	North Carolina	[Link to pick]
11		Tavon Austin	WR	West Virginia	[Link to pick]
12		Xavier Rhodes	CB	Florida State	[Link to pick]
13		Ezekiel Ansah	DE	BYU	[Link to pick]
14		Cordarrelle Patterson	WR	Tennessee	[Link to pick]
15		Jarvis Jones	OLB	Georgia	[Link to pick]
16		Kenny Vaccaro	S	Texas	[Link to pick]
17		Tyler Eifert	TE	Notre Dame	[Link to pick]
18		Sheldon Richardson	DT	Missouri	[Link to pick]
19		Bjoern Werner	DE	Florida State	[Link to pick]
20		D.J. Fluker	OT	Alabama	[Link to pick]
21		Alec Ogletree	LB	Georgia	garmancm
22	via				Hines4theHall
23					Michael Uhlhorn
24					steel3dd92
25	via				Michael Uhlhorn
26					barnerburner
27					c63tho
28					Ram_india
29					TrifeReality
30					MDR21
31					afbassi
32					Mr MaLoR