Bengals now lead race for the first pick in 2020 NFL draft

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The Bengals now control their own destiny for the first overall pick as they are the only winless team left in the NFL.

This is far from what most Bengals fans thought when Zac Taylor was hired as the team’s new head coach this offseason. The Bengals are 0-8 as they hit their bye week, and they got to watch the Dolphins secure their first win of the season. This leaves Cincinnati as the last winless team.

For those still looking for the good in this situation, this means the Bengals are now in the driver’s seat for the first overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft, but the competition is probably more fierce than fans expected.

Currently, there are four teams with only a single victory on the season. Three have already had their bye week as they sit at (1-7) (The Dolphins, Falcons and Jets), and the only team at (1-8) currently is Washington. Cincinnati still plays the Jets and Dolphins this season, which could really determine where each of those teams end up picking.

It is also hard to imagine the Bengals hitting the (0-16) mark this season as it takes a special kind of bad to hit that rock bottom, but it honestly can’t be ruled out as the uncertainty of Ryan Finley as the team’s new starting quarterback could decide the Bengals draft fate.

This has been a huge week for fans who are hoping the Bengals are bad enough to end up with one of the potential franchise quarterbacks in this year’s draft. Whether it is Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert or Joe Burrow, there seems to be some options for the Bengals to choose from as their next face of the franchise. What also helps the Bengals’ cause of possible getting a quarterback is that the only team with a single victory looking to take a quarterback is the Dolphins.

We are only halfway through the season, and there could be a late charge by a few of these teams to try and gain some pride or momentum going into next season. Cincinnati will probably be attempting to do the same themselves. For right now though, the Bengals are the NFL team with the best chance to be on the clock first when the draft is set to begin, and getting a new franchise quarterback seems like a pretty nice consolation prize for having to sit through this 2019 season.

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