Williams: How Kansas City Chiefs show Cincinnati Bengals 'win now' approach to NFL draft

Ask columnist Jason Williams anything − sports or non-sports – and he’ll pick some of your questions and respond on Cincinnati.com. Email: jwilliams@enquirer.com

Message: What’s your big takeaway from the Bengals’ draft?

Reply: The narrative around the Bengals is “win now.” Not sure we saw a “win now” approach to the draft.

Want to get back to the Super Bowl? Then do everything possible to try to get the best defensive player in the draft.

Instead, the Bengals sat on their hands and didn’t trade up to get Texas defensive tackle Byron Murphy II. Seattle selected Murphy with the 16th overall pick in the first round, two spots ahead of the Bengals.

Cincinnati then picked what draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. called a "developmental right tackle" in Georgia’s Amarius Mims, who entered the draft early after just eight starts in college. We all know how much the Bengals struggle to develop offensive linemen.

The Bengals had 10 picks this year, giving them plenty of draft capital to make a trade. They liked Murphy a lot. So much so that Bengals coach Zac Taylor attended Murphy’s pro day at Texas. Taylor doesn’t often attend draft prospects’ pro-day workouts. The Bengals knew Seattle liked Murphy, too. Cincinnati chose to follow its stuck-in-their-ways tradition of not trading up in the draft.

You never know how any team's draft is going to pan out. The Bengals may have had a solid draft. They may not have. Certainly there are things to like about the Bengals' draft, including adding defensive tackle depth with Texas A&M's McKinnley Jackson and getting an Iowa tight end despite Erick All's recent injuries.

But the Bengals missed on a chance to go big on Day 1 of the draft. Sigh.

Want to know who drafts with a “win now” mentality? The Kansas City Chiefs. You know, the team the Bengals are constantly comparing themselves to and chasing in the AFC.

The defending Super Bowl champions traded up four spots in the first round to get Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy. The Chiefs’ wide receiver group was a weak spot last season. So Kansas City went all in on trying to fix it in the draft.

The Chiefs have a history of going for it in the draft. They traded up one spot in the second round to get the offensive tackle they wanted, Kingsley Suamataia of BYU. Kansas City picked quarterback Patrick Mahomes in the 2017 draft after trading up. He’s brought the Lombardi Trophy home to Kansas City three times.

Remember that the next time you hear the Bengals are all in on winning now entering the draft.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Kansas City Chiefs show Cincinnati Bengals 'win now' in NFL draft