{"id":876581,"date":"2026-04-28T03:09:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T03:09:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/876581\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T03:09:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T03:09:21","slug":"bengals-select-oregon-edge-rusher-elijah-rushing-in-way-too-early-2027-nfl-mock-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/876581\/","title":{"rendered":"Bengals select Oregon edge rusher Elijah Rushing in way-too-early 2027 NFL Mock Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The 2026 NFL Draft is over, and the Cincinnati Bengals are welcoming in a new rookie class from across the country in an effort to round out a 53-man roster capable of returning to the Super Bowl. Now begins the long stretch of training through the summer, as the team works to get the entire roster under contract and on the same page.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">But before we fully turn the page to the 2026 season, there\u2019s no reason we can\u2019t squeeze in one more mock draft.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Rushing has limited experience at Oregon so far. A former 5-star recruit, he redshirted in 2024 for the Ducks and appeared in just seven games in 2025. Still, he\u2019s added size this offseason\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/articles\/elijah-rushing-bulked-ready-anchor-230407911.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">now listed at 6-foot-6, 285 pounds<\/a>\u2014and fits the physical profile the Bengals typically covet in edge rushers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">It\u2019s not surprising to see a defensive projection here, but it is a bit curious that it\u2019s another edge rusher. The Bengals selected Myles Murphy and Shemar Stewart in back-to-back first rounds, signed Boye Mafe this offseason, and just used a second-round pick on Texas A&amp;M pass rusher Cashius Howell.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">A linebacker\u2014given the position was largely ignored this offseason\u2014or a cornerback, with neither DJ Turner nor Dax Hill under contract beyond 2026, might have made more sense.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Then again, it would make even more sense if the Bengals were picking at No. 32 instead of No. 15.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">___________________________________________________________<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">___________________________________________________________<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 NFL Draft is over, and the Cincinnati Bengals are welcoming in a new rookie class from&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":876582,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2053],"tags":[228,227,256,39983,38367,2296,7,6],"class_list":["post-876581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cincinnati-bengals","tag-bengals","tag-cincinnati","tag-cincinnati-bengals","tag-cincinnati-bengals-draft","tag-cincinnati-bengals-mock-drafts","tag-cincinnatibengals","tag-football","tag-nfl"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116480138519476939","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876581","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=876581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/876582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=876581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=876581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=876581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}