{"id":858280,"date":"2026-04-07T05:36:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T05:36:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/858280\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T05:36:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T05:36:27","slug":"bengals-could-address-surprising-need-in-upcoming-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/858280\/","title":{"rendered":"Bengals Could Address ‘Surprising Need’ in Upcoming Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Cincinnati Bengals<\/a> have a very important NFL draft coming soon. Bleacher Report<\/a> has put together a list of \u2018surprising needs\u2019 for each NFL team.<\/p>\n

For the Cincinnati Bengals<\/a>, a team need that they could use is at the tight end position. The Cincinnati Bengals defense has been the talk of the town since the offseason started. With Cincy likely using most of their picks on defense, another need could possibly be another weapon for Joe Burrow.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Bengals could spend all eight of their picks on defense and the fanbase wouldn\u2019t complain. There\u2019s no denying the group needs a continued infusion of talent.\u201d Alex Ballentine wrote in the Bleacher Report article<\/a>. \u201cWhat we wouldn\u2019t expect is that Joe Burrow needs another weapon, but there\u2019s still room for a promising young tight end on the roster.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who Could the Bengals Target at Tight End?<\/p>\n

Bleacher Report identified three potential targets the Bengals could go after:<\/p>\n

Michael Trigg, Baylor
\nJack Endries, Texas
\nEli Raridon, Notre Dame<\/p>\n

\u201cMichael Trigg\u00a0was a 4-star recruit, who entered his redshirt-senior season having played for USC, Ole Miss, and Baylor. After dealing with injuries at Ole Miss, Trigg transferred to Baylor and looked to improve upon his 2024 campaign, where he totaled 30 receptions for 395 yards and three touchdowns.\u201d Daniel Harms wrote in a Bleacher Report article<\/a>. \u201cMichael Trigg is a matchup problem for defenses. The hybrid target already displays the nuance and route detail to immediately contribute to an NFL<\/a> offense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jack Endries caught 33 passes, recorded 346 yards and three touchdowns at the University of Texas.<\/p>\n

\u201cJack Endries is a former 3-star recruit before committing to play for the California Bears<\/a>. After two seasons, he entered the transfer portal as a 4-star and committed to Texas for his junior season. Steve Sarkisian-led programs have produced a ton of NFL prospects, and Endries is next in line.\u201d Harms wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Eli Raridon caught 32 passes and recorded 482 yards at the University of Notre Dame.<\/p>\n

\u201cEli Raridon has legitimate three-down ability, with a well-rounded game that will help offenses in the run game and add explosives through the air. He\u2019s got the size and speed to be a mismatch against most defenders down the field, and he\u2019s improving his functional strength to create movement on them.\u201d Harms wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A Solid Tight End Would Add to Loaded Cincy Offense<\/p>\n

If the Cincinnati Bengals can get their hands on one of these tight ends, the acquisition would just be an added weapon for Joe Burrow. Ja\u2019Maar Chase, Tee Higgins, and Chase Brown all highlight a loaded Cincinnati Bengals offense.<\/p>\n

During the 2024 season, the Bengals had the\u00a0first-ranked passing offense<\/a>\u00a0in the NFL off of an impressive season from Joe Burrow. In 2025, they ranked 6th with Joe Burrow being out for the vast majority of the season.<\/p>\n

The problem for the Bengals has been on the defensive side of the ball ranking 31st in total defense in the 2025 season. They ranked 26th in passing defense and 32nd in rushing defense which is dead last.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, the Bengals will look to improve their team by any means necessary. The priority will be to improve their defense and protect Joe Burrow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Cincinnati Bengals have a very important NFL draft coming soon. Bleacher Report has put together a list…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":812600,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2053],"tags":[228,227,256,2296,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-858280","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cincinnati-bengals","8":"tag-bengals","9":"tag-cincinnati","10":"tag-cincinnati-bengals","11":"tag-cincinnatibengals","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116361808305344953","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858280","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=858280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/812600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=858280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=858280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=858280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}