Penei Sewell, Ja'Marr Chase Or Kyle Pitts? Dave Lapham Weighs In

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CINCINNATI — The Bengals have the fifth pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. There’s plenty of debate about what they should do with their top selection.

Some believe they should take Oregon tackle Penei Sewell. Others think LSU wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase would be a game changer for Joe Burrow. Then there are others that want them to take Florida tight end Kyle Pitts.

Bengals radio analyst Dave Lapham gave his thoughts during an appearance on 700 WLW’s Sports Talk with Lance McAlister on Thursday night.

^{“Who’s gonna give ya 70 snaps and who’s gonna give ya 70 snaps that might help your team the most?” Lapham asked. “I lean toward the tackle. I lean toward Sewell. Here’s a guy that’s going to give you 70 snaps a game if you average 65-70 [offensive] snaps. He’ll help Joe Burrow. He’ll help Joe Mixon. He’ll help the receivers because he’ll be giving Joe Burrow time. He’ll help his teammates on the offensive line. I think the ripple effect of a guy like when Anthony Muñoz was drafted. There’s an example—the ripple effect of that excellence, plus I’m telling you it brings everybody’s level of play up. When he showed up to camp and he was doing what he was doing, everybody was like ‘woah.’ And then when he was running like he was running. ‘Anthony Muñoz is working like that? I better up the ante, man. I better do a little bit more.’ Because you got this guy that’s got this talent and all of this work ethic and that’s what Sewell sounds like—the same kind of guy. These kind of guys can lift your organization in a myriad of ways. I just think that if it’s not Sewell, if they think (Rashawn) Slater’s better than Sewell, whoever it is in that offensive line position, I’d probably lean toward going that way.”}

It would be a huge surprise if the Bengals had Northwestern tackle Rashawn Slater ahead of Sewell.

The Oregon product is clearly the favorite to be the fifth pick in the draft.

Sewell should have an instant impact on the Bengals’ offensive line if he does end up being the pick. He’d be the most talented player in that position group and he’d be able to learn from experienced veterans like Riley Reiff and Xavier Su’a-Filo.

Listen to McAlister’s entire conversation with Lapham and Bengals.com beat writer Geoff Hobson below.

For the latest free agency news and NFL Draft coverage, bookmark AllBengals and check out some of our other articles below.

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