{"id":768640,"date":"2026-02-22T09:55:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T09:55:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/768640\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T09:55:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T09:55:14","slug":"one-bengals-bold-prediction-might-be-only-path-forward-for-cincinnati","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/768640\/","title":{"rendered":"One Bengals bold prediction might be only path forward for Cincinnati"},"content":{"rendered":"

Feb. 21, 2026, 3:30 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

As of this writing, the Cincinnati Bengals<\/a> often get tabbed as a franchise about to invest in its defensive line in the top 10 of the 2026 NFL draft.<\/p>\n

Makes sense, really. The draft class has a smattering of elite front seven prospects like Peter Woods. Cincinnati\u2019s own front seven was a disaster last season, to put it nicely.<\/p>\n

But it might not be that simple.<\/p>\n

In fact, Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr<\/a> just listed bold predictions for each NFL team and suggested the Bengals<\/a> going with a secondary player at No. 10 is one:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Bengals want the coaching staff to develop the talent up front, and in the meantime, will aid the pass rush by bolstering the secondary. Either Caleb Downs or Mansoor Delane will wind up in stripes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Need a news break? Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more!<\/a><\/p>\n

RELATED:6 Bengals veterans who won\u2019t be on Zac Taylor\u2019s roster next year<\/a><\/p>\n

But it might not end up being that bold.<\/p>\n

The Bengals already have two first-round edge defenders with Shemar Stewart and Myles Murphy. Odds are they\u2019ll sign another pass-rusher if they don\u2019t bring back free agent Joseph Ossai. And one has to think they\u2019ll sign a quality free agent starter for the interior.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Secondary talent is harder to come by. Just ask the Bengals, who have been reeling since letting Jessie Bates get away a year ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Adding a blue-chip talent in the top 10 to a secondary with budding boundary stars like Dax Hill and DJ Turner would be a shrewd move.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The whole idea hinges on the Bengals actually spending notable free-agency money on the front seven in front of the secondary, but it\u2019s one path forward that might not end up being that bold in hindsight.\u00a0<\/p>\n

RELATED:Bengals’ key offseason dates for NFL free agency, draft and more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Feb. 21, 2026, 3:30 p.m. ET As of this writing, the Cincinnati Bengals often get tabbed as a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":768641,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2053],"tags":[95878,228,227,256,2296,7,6,4779,13078,95905,95882,97231,95913,99867,95909,101504,97486,95912,95896,95888,95895,95899,96716,95883,95881],"class_list":{"0":"post-768640","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cincinnati-bengals","8":"tag-accessfree","9":"tag-bengals","10":"tag-cincinnati","11":"tag-cincinnati-bengals","12":"tag-cincinnatibengals","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-oh","16":"tag-sstssportsnflbengals","17":"tag-sstsnbengals","18":"tag-tagamerican-football","19":"tag-tagcincinnati","20":"tag-tagcincinnati-bengals","21":"tag-tagdaxton-hill","22":"tag-tagdj-turner-ii","23":"tag-tagjessie-bates-iii","24":"tag-tagjoseph-ossai","25":"tag-tagmyles-murphy","26":"tag-tagnational-sports","27":"tag-tagnfl","28":"tag-tagnfl-hub","29":"tag-tagoverall-neutral","30":"tag-tagsports-illustrated","31":"tag-tagsports-news","32":"tag-typestory"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116113684880394167","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768640","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=768640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/768641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=768640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=768640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=768640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}