{"id":863676,"date":"2026-04-11T04:30:32","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T04:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/863676\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T04:30:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T04:30:32","slug":"bengals-meet-with-3-high-profile-defensive-prospects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/863676\/","title":{"rendered":"Bengals meet with 3 high-profile defensive prospects"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"\">The Cincinnati Bengals are doing more due diligence ahead of the NFL Draft, predictably focusing on the defensive side of the ball. Per reports, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cincyjungle.com\/cincinnati-bengals-nfl-draft\/189412\/jacob-rodriguez-texas-tech-nfl-prospects\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:aside from meeting;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;aside from meeting&quot;}\" class=\"link \">aside from meeting<\/a> with Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez late this week, they are hosting three other notable defenders.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The Styles brothers from Ohio State\u2014Sonny and Lorenzo Jr.\u2014as well as Miami edge defender Akheem Mesidor, per insider Tom Pelissero.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cincyjungle.com\/cincinnati-bengals-nfl-draft\/186505\/ohio-state-sonny-styles-nfl-combine\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:We\u2019ve long-chronicled;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;We\u2019ve long-chronicled&quot;}\" class=\"link \">We\u2019ve long-chronicled<\/a> Sonny\u2019s stats and background, as he is very likely to be a top-five or top-10 selection in this year\u2019s class. While he is an off-ball linebacker, his high-end athletic profile, production, and character make him a blue-chip prospect in this class.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Lorenzo has been a cornerback and nickelback for the Buckeyes over the past three seasons. He began his career at Notre Dame as a wide receiver, playing 34 games as a defender from 2023-25.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">He logged 47 total tackles the past two seasons with seven passes defended. While he didn\u2019t net an interception with Ohio State, he\u2019s been gaining more attention lately for a number of reasons\u2014mostly his athletic profile.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">He posted a blazing 4.27 40-yard dash and other intriguing measurables. Most pundits have Lorenzo Styles as a Day 3 pick or a possible priority undrafted free agent, but his athletic profile could get a team to pounce earlier than expected.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Mesidor is considered to be a first or second-round pick in the upcoming draft. While his production is notable, so is his age at 25 years old.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">As a \u201csuper senior\u201d, he logged 63 total tackles (17.5 for loss) and 12.5 sacks for the Hurricanes in 2025. He too was a transfer from West Virginia, playing two seasons there and four others for Miami. While last year was his lone double-digit sack season (he never had more than seven in any other year), he did rack up an impressive 52.5 tackles for loss in his career.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">If the Bengals opt to trade back from their No. 10 overall spot (say, if Sonny Styles, among other notable defenders, are off the board), Mesidor could be a target later in the first round or at No. 41.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Cincinnati Bengals are doing more due diligence ahead of the NFL Draft, predictably focusing on the defensive&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":863677,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2053],"tags":[52319,228,227,256,2296,3126,7699,7,4725,109383,216,13851,2972,6,1446,2239,3257],"class_list":{"0":"post-863676","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cincinnati-bengals","8":"tag-akheem-mesidor","9":"tag-bengals","10":"tag-cincinnati","11":"tag-cincinnati-bengals","12":"tag-cincinnatibengals","13":"tag-defensive-lineman","14":"tag-fl","15":"tag-football","16":"tag-indiana-hoosiers","17":"tag-lorenzo-styles","18":"tag-miami","19":"tag-miami-gardens","20":"tag-miami-hurricanes","21":"tag-nfl","22":"tag-ohio-state","23":"tag-sonny-styles","24":"tag-tom-pelissero"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116384197755308978","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863676","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=863676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/863677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=863676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=863676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=863676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}