It seems like a long time ago since Marvin Lewis took over as Cincinnati Bengals head coach and resurrected a franchise hopelessly lost at sea. Yet the team carried one of the youngest and most-talented rosters into the playoffs after they were crowned 2015 AFC North champions.

Now, the next step Lewis must take is pushing the team past the proverbial playoff hump as they are now notorious for going one-and-done come January.

With a front office that has hit on more draft picks than it's missed, the Bengals have a young and talented core in place. Now, they must look to tighten up some loose ends in the upcoming draft as they search for a way to become one of the elite in the conference.

In continuing with this 32 article series, here's a look at the top needs for the Cincinnati Bengals as well as a seven-round mock draft we ran through the FanSpeak mock draft simulator. We manually picked for Cincinnati while the picks for all other 31 teams were selected by the simulator.

1. Wide Receiver

The problem with having a superstar like A.J. Green in your offense is finding a true complement to his game, allowing your offense to take full advantage of the obvious and continuous double and triple coverages. Easier said than done.

Just as Marvin Jones seemingly grew into the No. 2 receiver role, he bolted for Detroit in free agency. The team must now find a new replacement quickly as to not waste Green’s budding talent and window of opportunity as he enters the peak of his career.

The team could very well be hoping Ohio State’s Michael Thomas is still on the board in the first-round as his big size and frame would be ideal on the opposite side of the field.

If they decide to wait, however, a speedster like Will Fuller from Notre Dame would help take advantage of one-on-one coverage down the field with Green, and tight end Tyler Eifert doing their damage over the middle.

2. Cornerback

Marvin Lewis has always had a slew of talented cornerbacks on his roster to play with giving him multiple options and looks throughout the season. Exactly why even with three capable cornerbacks on the roster now (Adam Jones, Dre Kirkpatrick, and Darqueze Dennard) Lewis will be ready to pounce on the first cornerback of his liking when the opportunity arises.

With Jones nearing 33 years old, Lewis could be looking for his replacement in the first three rounds to guarantee he has the defensive flexibility in the secondary once again this season.  

3. Nose Tackle

Once a developing starter Domata Peko seems to have plateaued as his quality of play has diminished over the past two seasons.

With his invaluable experience inside Lewis’ defense he still has plenty of worth in the 2016 season, but the front office will undoubtedly be looking for his eventual replacement in this month's draft.

Luckily for them this class is oozing with defensive interior talent and whether it's early or late there will be plenty of value to be had.  

If he was still on the board with the 24th pick Baylor’s Andrew Billings would be nearly impossible to pass up on as the drafts best pure nose tackle and run defender. Even as just an early rotational guy Billings would be worth every penny in the trenches as part of both the short and long term plans.

4. Defensive End

As one of the bigger Margus Hunt supporters I'm disappointed to say the second-round project from SMU simply hasn't panned out.  

Even after a huge improvement from the league's worst sack totals from 2014 it was clear the defense needed more help from a pass-rushing standpoint, needing the ability to bring in a fresh rotational player.

Nabbing two defensive ends in the later rounds could be the direction the front office turns to as they could be eased into the lineup while still offering their high upside and raw skill-set on third downs early on.

5. Center

So it turns out Russell Bodine just isn't good. There I said it.  Now that that's on the table we can move forward and talk about the team's options for the future.

In a quietly and surprisingly deep draft for centers the coaching staff could find a steal on day two or three if they so desire.

While Alabama’s Ryan Kelly is the number one center on my board he will likely cost a top-50 pick.  

Meanwhile however, guys like Michigan State’s Jack Allen, USC’s Max Turek, and Iowa’s Austin Blythe all are players that could come in and compete for the starting job right away while only costing a late round pick.