The question entering this past NFL season for the Cincinnati Bengals was whether they did enough in the prior offseason to address their defense. As the year went on, it quickly became evident that they did not, as the Bengals ended up finishing 30th out of 32 teams in points allowed. Despite having an above-average offense led by Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase, this led to Cincinnati being well out of the postseason picture.
With another chance to fix the defense this offseason, the Bengals have quickly gotten to work toward doing so. This of course became a lot more challenging once Trey Hendrickson departed for the Baltimore Ravens, but Cincinnati did well to pivot quickly and bring in a few new pieces in Boye Mafe, Jonathan Allen and Bryan Cook. But by all accounts, the work is not done for Zac Taylor and the Bengals.
With the 10th overall pick in this upcoming NFL Draft, Cincinnati faces a decision on whether to use that draft choice, trade it for an already established player or perhaps even trade down to nab an additional pick. Perhaps this decision will not come until draft day when the Bengals have a clear picture of who may or may not be available at pick No. 10, but there are already some mock trades out there predicting what they may do.
Vic Tafur of The Athletic has Cincinnati trading down to No. 13 and selecting safety Caleb Downs out of Ohio State.
“Downs can make plays against the pass and run, and matches up well with all of the game’s big receivers who are playing tight end,” he writes.
An argument can be made for more of a win-now move than a trade down to land an extra pick or other compensation, because while whoever may be available at No. 10 or 13 could certainly be the caliber of player who could slide in and impact winning right away, the Bengals may have a better chance of guaranteeing that being the case by trading for an already established piece.
While there are differing opinions among analysts on how patient Burrow may be with the Bengals, he is still one of the game’s elite quarterbacks when healthy and represents a window worth capitalizing on. When the Bengals got a taste of the Super Bowl just a few years ago in 2022, led by Burrow, it left fans wanting more. The seasons since have not gone according to plan, and the poor defense is a big reason for that.
This places increased pressure on Cincinnati’s front office to either nail this draft pick or trade it for the right piece.