Until the Cincinnati Bengals prove otherwise, projections will keep suggesting they won’t win many more games this year while landing a top-10 pick in next year’s draft.
There were enough hints from Joe Flacco’s offense last weekend that the Bengals can possibly remain in the fight for at least a few more weeks.
But again, the Bengals have to show it, hence The Athletic’s Austin Mock’s model projecting Cincinnati will pick fourth in the 2026 NFL draft:
“The Bengals’ projected win total of 5.3 is lower than those of New Orleans (5.5) and Cleveland (5.7), despite the Bengals currently holding one more win than either team.”
RELATED: Is Bengals QB Joe Burrow actually coming back this season?
Picking in the top five sounds good because those have largely been the obvious selections Duke Tobin and the Bengals front office have gotten right over the years. But the fact that they would be picking there with Joe Burrow on a roster at all is a major red flag.
Either way, this is getting a little ahead of things. Flacco looked poised on the road with new teammates just days after joining the Bengals, so there’s a chance he can get the offense humming enough to make any draft conversations premature.
RELATED: Bengals’ QB trade search included some shocking names