{"id":864643,"date":"2026-04-12T08:06:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T08:06:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/864643\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T08:06:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T08:06:20","slug":"cincinnati-bengals-expert-mock-drafts-have-team-targeting-defense-offensive-line-help-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/864643\/","title":{"rendered":"Cincinnati Bengals: \u2018Expert\u2019 mock drafts have team targeting defense, offensive line help | Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the NFL Draft less than two weeks away, analysts are all over the board predicting what direction the Cincinnati Bengals will go with their first-round pick.<\/p>\n

The Bengals have the flexibility to go with the best player available at No. 10, and that seems to be reflected in various mock drafts circulating online.<\/p>\n

Regardless of the approach, Cincinnati should place a high priority on defense and offensive line depth, especially in the interior where there currently is no backup center.<\/p>\n

Here is a look at some of the first-round options that mock draft \u201cexperts\u201d are suggesting at No. 10, why they make sense and what they say about them.<\/p>\n

Caleb Downs, S, Ohio StateBengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin said at the NFL Combine that positions addressed in free agency wouldn\u2019t be off the board in the draft. Otherwise, Downs wouldn\u2019t still be linked to Cincinnati at this point.<\/p>\n

The Bengals added two safeties in free agency with Bryan Cook and Kyle Dugger signing, but that will not prevent them from taking the best one in this draft class if he\u2019s still there at No. 10.<\/p>\n

PFF analyst Jordan Plocher predicts that selection in his mock draft published this past week, noting the Bengals would be picking a \u201cdefensive difference-maker.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDowns is a smart player who started for three seasons, and his lowest season-long PFF overall grade was an excellent 85.6 mark as a freshman,\u201d Plocher wrote. \u201cDowns will be a welcome addition to the back end of the Bengals\u2019 defense, as he can impact the game in multiple ways. He posted an 89.6 PFF coverage grade to go along with an 83.7 PFF run-defense grade in 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rhett Lewis of NFL.com<\/a> also picked Downs going to the Bengals, indicating they wouldn\u2019t be overthinking this selection, despite some debate suggesting Downs\u2019 measurables aren\u2019t elite.<\/p>\n

Mansoor Delane, CB, LSUCincinnati might be set at cornerback with Dax Hill and DJ Turner both returning and slot cornerback Ja\u2019Sir Taylor signed in free agency, but both Hill and Turner are in a contract year and Delane could slide in and make an immediate impact.<\/p>\n

Delane is linked to the Bengals in quite a few mock drafts, including in ESPN\u2019s three-round \u201crotating\u201d version compiled by Mel Kiper, Matt Miller and Field Yates. Miller made this pick with the following explanation: \u201cDJ Turner II and Dax Hill are talented, but Delane would be an upgrade on the outside, where he can win at the line of scrimmage with great quickness and instincts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"LSU<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane was a first-team AP All-American last season and was a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, given to the nation\u2019s top DB. Gerald Herbert \/ AP LSU Pro Day Football<\/p>\n

Gerald Herbert<\/p>\n

Hill could also kick back inside to make room.<\/p>\n

The Athletics\u2019s Nick Baumgardner and ESPN\u2019s Peter Schrager also had Delane going to the Bengals at No. 10, with Schrager noting he allowed a low 31.3 passer rating when targeted last season and is viewed as the top corner in this class.<\/p>\n

\u201cCincinnati could look at a few different options here, and while another early-round pick on a defensive back might not be the most popular choice, it could make a lot of sense,\u201d Schrager wrote. \u201cThe Bengals need a true shutdown guy on the outside.\u201d<\/p>\n

Olaivavega Ioane, G, Penn StateUSA Today\u2019s Nate Davis had the Bengals taking Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles in an earlier version of his mock draft, but in the latest rendition, Styles goes No. 7 to the Commanders, and Cincinnati lands on Olaivavega.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny number of directions this team could go. But after revamping the defense in free agency, the best play might be simply getting this year\u2019s best interior blocker in a bid to better cocoon QB Joe Burrow, who\u2019s only played two full seasons during his six-year career \u2014 a pretty good indication he still requires better protection.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peter Woods, DT, ClemsonWoods has fallen on a lot of boards based on poor testing and production drop-off between 2024 and 2025, but some mock drafts have the best players at other positions off the board before the Bengals pick, and Woods could still be worth the risk.<\/p>\n

CBS Sports\u2019 Ryan Wilson had him landing with Cincinnati.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t quite worst-case scenario for Cincy, but it\u2019s not great, either,\u201d Wilson wrote. \u201cThe defense desperately needs edge-rush help. And with (Texas Tech edge David) Bailey, (Ohio State edge Arvell) Reese, (Miami edge Reuben) Bain and even Styles off the board, Plan B would be Downs … who the Chiefs grabbed at No. 9. Woods isn\u2019t a bad consolation prize \u2014 the D-line could use reinforcements \u2014 and the Bengals did add Boye Mafe in free agency.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bain would be the more preferable target, but he went No. 7 in Wilson\u2019s mock draft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the NFL Draft less than two weeks away, analysts are all over the board predicting what direction…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":864644,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2053],"tags":[228,227,256,2296,7,6,9],"class_list":{"0":"post-864643","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","14":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116390710522966895","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864643","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=864643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864643\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/864644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=864643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=864643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=864643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}