The 2026 NFL Draft is less than a week away, and the Cincinnati Bengals need to nail it. After a less-than-active free agency period, the holes on the defense remain massive and have taken the Bengals out of purely drafting the best player available at 10. Imagine that offense with a weapon like Jeremiyah Love. If only the defense were fully rebuilt.

Regardless, with the 10th overall pick, the Bengals may have plenty of options, depending on how the top nine picks go. Most mock drafts (well, more like 98% of mock drafts) have the Bengals picking a defender in the first round. Considering how bad the unit was last year versus how good the offense was for the most part, it makes sense.

Last year, the Bengals went for the uber-athletic-but-not-actually-good-at-football pick. There is another one of those prospects in this class, so will they repeat that process, or will they draft a player that’s good? Time will tell. Here is how the tiers should shake out when the Bengals are on the clock on Thursday night.

Ranking the Potential Bengals First-Round Picks
Run to the Podium

Sonny Styles (LB, Ohio State), Rueben Bain Jr. (EDGE, Miami (FL)), Caleb Downs (SAF, Ohio State)

The Bengals need a bona fide day-one impact player. They can’t afford to draft developmental players or those for whom they have no plan (ie, Dax Hill, Shemar Stewart, Myles Murphy). Arvell Reese and David Bailey fit into this category, but the likelihood that either is still there at 10 is about as realistic as the Brown family selling.

Right now, it feels like a good bet that any of Styles, Bain, and/or Downs will be there. Bain has his short arms and off-the-field issues, while Styles and Downs have positional value conversations to contend with.

Starting with Styles, the Bengals lit two picks on fire last year on Demetrius Knight and Barrett Carter, and managed to field the league’s worst linebacker corps. Knight may end up being a solid player, but taking Styles here allows the Bengals to use Knight as more of a pass-rushing specialist and less as an every-down backer. Styles is the every-down player the Bengals need.

Downs is still the dream because even if the team went out and signed Bryan Cook and Kyle Duggar, Downs immediately elevates the position. He can play free, strong, or nickel. Downs opens the defense up to do whatever it wants. The concern is his size and lack of testing, but if you watched him the last three seasons as one of the best defenders in college football, you’ll see he makes up for it with his elite processing and communication.

The off-the-field issues with Bain have been known in the NFL, evidently. The Bengals are not one of the teams that take a player off their board for character issues, for better or for worse, so Bain is absolutely in play. Bain had two elite seasons at Miami (FL): his most recent and his true freshman season. He’s a force multiplier and looks like he could be an exception to the arm length rule (Trey Hendrickson was…)

Yes, Please

Mansoor Delane (CB, LSU), Jermod McCoy (CB, Tennessee), Jeremiyah Love (RB, Notre Dame), Makai Lemon (WR, USC)

This tier is both about looking to the future and being greedy. The Bengals like to draft a year in advance. With DJ Turner and Dax Hill coming up on contract years, there is an uneasy feeling that the team will do to them what it did to Jonathan Joseph and Leon Hall. As a result, could the Bengals draft one of their replacements? Ideally, they lock down both and get a solid slot corner like D’Angelo Ponds or Chandler Rivers later, but that’s not how the Bengals operate.

Delane and McCoy look to be CB1 and CB2 in this class, and the order depends on who you ask. Delane is older and has four seasons of impressive play, including a four-interception season in 2024 with Virginia Tech. McCoy had elite tape in 2024 before tearing his ACL and just sitting out all of 2025. He finally tested and looked great while running an unofficial time of 4.37.

Now we get greedy. Love could be seen as the best prospect regardless of position in this year’s class. He’s as complete a running back as you’ll find, with nearly 2,500 yards and 35 touchdowns over the last two seasons. Plus, he added 55 receptions for 517 yards and five touchdowns as a receiver. Do the Bengals need a running back? Not really, but it would be exciting, wouldn’t it?

Same idea with Lemon. Either he or Carnell Tate would be fun as they would add different things to the offense and allow Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins to have more advantageous matchups. Last year’s Biletnikoff Award winner totaled 1,156 yards and 11 touchdowns for the Trojans last year.

Adding to the offense is a need at some point. Remember, even with Joe Burrow, that offense struggled against the Browns twice and didn’t even score on the Ravens. Adding a first-round pick would be odd, but not out of the realm of possibilities.

Trade Back First

Dillon Thieneman (SAF, Oregon), Kenyon Sadiq (TE, Oregon), Emmanuel McNeil-Warren (SAF, Toledo), Kayden McDonald (DT, Ohio State)

With so many issues on defense, it may behoove the Bengals to trade back and add another mid-round or future pick to continue to add. The issue, as always, is the fact that a team would want to trade up to 10. Will a tackle fall? Will Love fall? Could a team overdraft Ty Simpson, as we saw with Michael Penix and JJ McCarthy two years ago? It’s always possible.

Thieneman is another do-it-all safety that would immediately give the defense a jolt. He has ridiculous range as a deep safety and is more than willing to come downhill to level a hit on a ballcarrier. Don’t forget, he was a third-team All-American (via the Associated Press) as a true freshman, just as Downs was a second-team selection. But Thieneman did so at Purdue. Do you know how bright you have to shine to be recognized nationally while playing for Purdue?

McNeil-Warren is a different breed of safety. He’s more of a Vonn Bell, crash down and destroy a crosser or running back type of safety. He uses his size well and creates chaos. In his time at Toledo, McNeil-Warren forced nine fumbles and five interceptions.

McDonald is another interesting case. He’s the best true nose tackle in the class, but spending a first-round pick on a nose tackle may seem risky. He’s an elite run defender and has shown flashes of being able to disrupt the pocket from the interior. If you want a younger D.J. Reader, it’s McDonald.

Sadiq is in the same “greedy” class as Love and Lemon. He’s an athletic freak of nature at tight end and would be an immediate upgrade from everyone not named Mike Gesicki. Even then, he can be the one to take over in 2027 if Gesicki were a cap casualty.

Jake Liscow of “Locked on Bengals” posted a mock draft with a trade back, and it looked like a dream scenario. So, all in all, it may be the best move if the Bengals can get a good haul.

No.

Keldric Faulk (EDGE, Auburn), Offensive Line, Quarterback

The Bengals don’t need a first-round quarterback, as shocking as it may seem. Nor do they need a first-round offensive lineman. Sure, they could draft the top tackle like Francis Mauigoa, Monroe Freeling, or Spencer Fano, but where would they play? Amarius Mims is entrenched as the right tackle, the team extended Orlando Brown Jr., and the Bengals don’t draft first-round guards. In the team’s history, it’s only happened once (Kevin Zeitler, 27th overall in 2012). Dylan Fairchild looked good, and they brought back Dalton Risner. Sure, you could draft one to compete with Risner, but would they?

Finally, the elephant in the room. Faulk is this year’s Stewart. In three years, he amassed 109 tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss, and 10 sacks, which sound like Hall of Fame numbers when you compare them to Stewart’s stat line at Texas A&M. He was inconsistent, disappeared at times, and is a project. Let another team develop him. If he ends up as a Pro Bowl player, egg on our face, but the Bengals’ roster is not good enough to warrant another first-round project.

The Bengals need to use that first-round pick on a day-one contributor. Faulk is not that.