Future Joe Burrow protection, interior pass rush, and more on the Bengals' first-round wishlist ahead of the NFL Draft

The week of the NFL Draft has finally arrived. The Cincinnati Bengals have three days and 17 picks to go before selecting 18th overall in the first round.

With 62 players on the current roster, six being newly signed free agent additions, the Bengals are set up nicely with 10 picks at their disposal. There's always a chance the Bengals add more picks via trading down, which they've done plenty of times in the past, but there may not be a scenario in which 10 rookies make this year's roster.

Cincinnati's plan of attack in the first few rounds of the draft are pretty clear. Let's go over what they have in mind.

Finally landing a right tackle of the future

The perfect draft pick occurs when a need intersects with a strength of the draft class. That's what we have when it comes to the Bengals and the right tackle position. 

Cincinnati has not had a proper long-term plan at right tackle in years, including all four years of Joe Burrow's career. That can all the change with the right player being picked early.

The first round of the draft is expected to feature over five offensive tackles go off the board. Joe Alt from Notre Dame will be long gone before the 18th pick, but Olu Fashanu from Penn State, Taliese Fuaga from Oregon State, and JC Latham from Alabama have slight chances to be available. Troy Fautanu from Washington and Amarius Mims from Georgia appear to be the most likely options for Cincinnati, and both players were hosted on top 30 visits by the team. Fuaga also swung by Paycor Stadium for a visit.

Landing one of these tackles is the primary plan for the Bengals, but if they chose to wait until the second round, Kingsley Suamataia from BYU, Roger Rosengarten from Washington, or Patrick Paul from Houston would be on the radar as backup plans. 

Recent free agent signee Trent Brown is slated to start Week 1, but is only under contract for just this season and has a known injury history. He's also making a salary that befits both a starter and swing tackle off the bench. Finding a long-term replacement for him that has the talent to start over him immediately is the optimal goal. 

Making defensive tackle a position of strength again

If offensive tackle isn't the way to go at 18, defensive tackle has the best chance to be the pick. The Bengals attempted to form a new starting trio in free agency, but only went one-for-two by signing Sheldon Rankins and losing out on DJ Reader. One more is expected to join Rankins and incumbent starter B.J. Hill.

Two options may or may not present themselves in the first round. Byron Murphy II from Texas is the consensus best interior pass rusher, and Johnny Newton from Illinois is the only other defensive tackle with a first round grade attached to his name.

Murphy has been a popular Bengals mock draft selection, but with recent murmurs of him becoming a top 10 pick when it's all said and done, the idea of him lasting to Cincinnati's pick seems farfetched now. Newton's stock has seemingly dropped to the early part of the second round, but the Bengals did bring him in for a top 30 visit not long ago. 

This leads us to the Bengals' main conundrum in the first round. Are Murphy and Newton good enough to pass up on one of the five best tackles in this year's class? If they aren't, Day 2 is ripe for a defensive tackle to join the mix. Braden Fiske from Florida State, Kris Jenkins from Michigan, Michael Hall Jr. from Ohio State, and Ruke Orhorhoro from Clemson are all intriguing second round options. Maason Smith and Mekhi Wingo from LSU have also been linked to the Bengals.

A nose tackle will have to be added as well, but positional value will allow the Bengals to wait on drafting one. Evan Anderson from FAU and McKinnley Jackson from Texas A&M both make sense as targets. 

Picking the right time to add more weapons

Finding more players to catch passes from Burrow is always a good idea. The Bengals need an immediate replacement for Tyler Boyd, and a long-term replacement for Tee Higgins. Luckily, these two birds can be killed with one stone. 

This year's wide receivers class is one of the deepest of all time. Around 20 are expected to go off the board in the first 100 picks. That means the value of the class can be found closer to the 100th than the 1st pick. 

Brenden Rice from USC, Jalen McMillan from Washington, Ricky Pearsall from Florida, and Javon Baker from UCF are all players who can run routes from the slot, but can also line up out wide and stretch defenses vertically. They're all expected to be drafted on Day 2, which is when the Bengals typically draft receivers when they need them. 

In the unlikely scenario that tight end Brock Bowers from Georgia falls to the 18th pick, a conversation will surely be had in the Bengals' war room. This regime doesn't seem to overvalue the tight end position, but Bowers is more of a big slot than a traditional tight end. He's the ultimate wild card on the Bengals' wishlist.