Bengals host potential first-round pick Josh Conerly Jr.

Defense is important, but so is keeping Joe Burroe upright.

The Cincinnati Bengals appear to know their weaknesses going into the draft. Just about every position on defense needs an upgrade or depth, and the offensive line needs some attention in the interior and some additional depth.

One name to watch now is Oregon Ducks left tackle Josh Conerly Jr.

According to Jordan Schultz, the Bengals hosted Conerly for a visit on Monday.

Right now, Conerly is predicted to go in the first round, and some projections have him going before pick No. 17. He is a bit more undersized than what you envision a tackle to be in the NFL (especially by Cincinnati’s 6-foot-8 standards). He sits at 6-foot-4 and 311 pounds.

The fact that he was a 5-star recruit and is now seen as a top tackle in this draft says a lot about his talent beyond his missteps. He understands twists and blitz concepts at a high level and rarely gets fooled. He has incredible athletic ability to get where he needs to be, and he has great angles to boot.

Conerly has some fixable issues with hand placement and footwork. What could determine how close he gets to his high ceiling is how much he can increase his strength or learn to deal with that deficit at the next level.

You can kind of tell the Bengals may be planning to possibly slot a tackle in at guard to eventually kick them out to left tackle if Orlando Brown Jr. gets injured or for when his contract is up if they aren’t able to retain him.

That lack of strength would get tested very early inside at guard, and it certainly doesn’t seem like an ideal plan for Conerly. Still, if he gets a bit stronger, he could very well be a great long-term plan at left tackle.

The Bengals really need to start hitting on these draft picks to take advantage of the rookie deals now that they have to pay the likes of Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins. It cuts a bit down on their budget to supplement with outside free agents as often.