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The 2026 NFL<\/a> Draft is approaching on April 23, and with the Cincinnati Bengals<\/a> holding the No. 10 selection, they can add an impact player right away to help them end their playoff drought. <\/p>\n Nonetheless, the question is whether the Bengals will go offense or defense and what specific position. Although that\u2019s still uncertain, Cincinnati, along with four other teams, including the Dallas Cowboys<\/a>, was named the best fit for former Oregon Ducks<\/a> safety Dillon Thieneman.<\/p>\n Last season with the Ducks, Thieneman posted an overall defensive grade of 89.9 from PFF<\/a>, ranking eighth among 914 qualified safeties. His 90.5 coverage grade also placed eighth in that group, while his 69.3 run-defense grade came in at 442nd.<\/p>\n He finished the year with two interceptions and four pass breakups, allowing a 66.2 passer rating when targeted. Opposing quarterbacks completed 15 passes against him in coverage. He also added 54 solo tackles, contributing both in run support and in the open field.<\/p>\n As a result, Oregon Ducks on SI\u2019s Kyle Clements listed the Bengals, along with the Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a>, Chicago Bears<\/a>, and Kansas City Chiefs<\/a> as the best fits for Thieneman.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Cincinnati Bengals<\/a> should look to Dillon Thieneman to boost their secondary in the 2026 NFL Draft,\u201d Clements wrote in his April 11 article<\/a>. \u201cThe Bengals will have a better chance than the Cowboys and Steelers to land him, as they select at No. 10 in the upcoming draft. <\/p>\n \u201cIf former Ohio State safety Caleb Downs is still available for the Bengals, they may select him over Thieneman, but Thieneman would bring a physical presence to Cincinnati that has been missing over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n Bengals Get Another Draft Prospect to Have on Their Radar<\/p>\n Another draft prospect the Bengals are being urged to consider is one who can help them replace Trey Hendrickson. FanSided\u2019s Justin Carter floated the name of Zion Young as someone the Bengals should look to draft in the second round.<\/p>\n \u201cWith Hendrickson gone from a defense that already had plenty of holes, the Bengals are going to need some guys to step up,\u201d\u00a0Carter wrote in his April 11 article<\/a>. \u201cSpecifically, 2025 first-round pick Shemar Stewart has to prove he was worth that investment.<\/p>\n \u201cBut adding another edge rusher in the draft should be a priority as well. I wouldn\u2019t go there at Pick No. 10 because defensive back is an even bigger concern, but when the Bengals are on the clock at Pick No. 41, taking the best available edge rusher seems like a good idea, and Missouri\u2019s Zion Young might be that guy.\u201d<\/p>\n Why Zion Young to Cincinnati Makes Sense<\/p>\n Moreover, Carter explained why Young would be the ideal player for the Bengals to target in the 2026\u00a0NFL\u00a0Draft to replace Hendrickson.<\/p>\n \u201cYoung is built to be an NFL edge rusher as far as his physical build goes, though he has to work on getting off the line faster to ensure he can get into the backfield and get to the quarterback,\u201d Carter added.<\/p>\n It will be interesting to see whether the Bengals go defense with their first two picks, given that the group was a major reason the team lost games last season. <\/p>\n \n\t\t\tEduardo Razo<\/a> Eduardo Razo is a sports writer for Heavy.com, covering the NFL, MLB, and college football. He has previously covered the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area & California, and has freelanced for PSG Talk, covering Paris Saint-Germain. He also worked as an editor at Athlon Sports, focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Bengals\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty (Photo by Ben Jackson\/Getty Images) The 2026 NFL Draft is approaching on April 23, and with the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":865054,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2070],"tags":[374,692,391,2493,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-865053","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-bears","8":"tag-bears","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-chicago-bears","11":"tag-chicagobears","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116393640676110546","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865053","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=865053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/865054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=865053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=865053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=865053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}