{"id":172224,"date":"2025-07-01T05:51:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T05:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/172224\/"},"modified":"2025-07-01T05:51:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T05:51:14","slug":"bengals-unpredictability-leads-them-to-interesting-name-in-2026-mock-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/172224\/","title":{"rendered":"Bengals&#8217; unpredictability leads them to interesting name in 2026 mock"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/test-post-221407100.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:Cincinnati Bengals;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cincinnati Bengals<\/a> aren\u2019t an easy team to pin down in mock drafts ahead of the 2025 season because so much remains in flux on the defensive side of the ball.<\/p>\n<p>But that\u2019s one thing feeling like a safe bet right now: Cincinnati\u2019s first-round pick figures to be a defensive player.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>In a new mock draft from\u00a0 ESPN\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/draft2026\/story\/_\/id\/45585366\/2026-nfl-mock-draft-miller-early-first-round-predictions-quarterbacks-32-picks\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Matt Miller;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Matt Miller<\/a>, that player is Clemson cornerback Avieon Terrell:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDefensive line could become the No. 1 need if the <a href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/football\/nfl\/teams\/cincinnati-bengals\/327\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Bengals;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Bengals<\/a> can&#8217;t resolve the Trey Hendrickson and Shemar Stewart contract situations. But assuming cooler heads prevail, Cincinnati should concentrate on its secondary. The Bengals have several young cornerbacks in Cam Taylor-Britt, DJ Turner II and Dax Hill, but they&#8217;ve been held back by injuries and inconsistency. Terrell, the younger brother of <a href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/football\/nfl\/teams\/atlanta-falcons\/323\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Falcons;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Falcons<\/a> standout A.J. Terrell, had two interceptions and broke up 13 passes last season. His versatility, speed and production point to him being a value add late in Round 1.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>RELATED:<a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/article\/bengals-shemar-stewart-nuclear-option-124228035.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:Bengals, Shemar Stewart nuclear option includes 2026 NFL draft route;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Bengals, Shemar Stewart nuclear option includes 2026 NFL draft route<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Cornerback is a boom-or-bust spot for the Bengals right now. Cam Taylor-Britt looked like a No. 1, only to faceplant last year. DJ Turner II showed promise, only to get hurt. Dax Hill finally came over from safety and looked like a breakout boundary corner, only to get hurt, too.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>By the time next year\u2019s draft arrives, we could be talking about the stellar upside of the cornerbacks room (don\u2019t forget second-year player Josh Newton) or about how it\u2019s need No. 1.<\/p>\n<p>If it\u2019s the latter, Terrell is a name to know. And if it\u2019s not cornerback, it\u2019s probably helping out the pass-rusher or interior of the defensive line.<\/p>\n<p>RELATED:<a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/article\/bengals-standouts-mandatory-minicamp-includes-093046893.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:Bengals standouts after mandatory minicamp includes surprises;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Bengals standouts after mandatory minicamp includes surprises<\/a><\/p>\n<p>This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: <a href=\"https:\/\/bengalswire.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/nfl\/bengals\/2025\/06\/30\/bengals-unpredictability-interesting-name-2026-mock-draft\/84423703007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Bengals&#039; unpredictability leads them to interesting name in 2026 mock;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Bengals&#8217; unpredictability leads them to interesting name in 2026 mock<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Cincinnati Bengals aren\u2019t an easy team to pin down in mock drafts ahead of the 2025 season&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":172225,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2053],"tags":[9201,228,6358,227,256,2296,2700,2814,15009,7,11990,7337,4002,28960,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-172224","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cincinnati-bengals","8":"tag-avieon-terrell","9":"tag-bengals","10":"tag-cam-taylor-britt","11":"tag-cincinnati","12":"tag-cincinnati-bengals","13":"tag-cincinnatibengals","14":"tag-defensive-player","15":"tag-defensive-side","16":"tag-dj-turner","17":"tag-football","18":"tag-josh-newton","19":"tag-matt-miller","20":"tag-mock-draft","21":"tag-mock-drafts","22":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114776420131422128","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}