New Dark Horse Candidate Arises for Cincinnati Bengals No. 10 NFL Draft Pick

The 2026 NFL Draft is just one week away, and the Cincinnati Bengals have big decisions to make to get this team back into playoff and Super Bowl contention. General manager Duke Tobin has expressed his determination to construct a roster ready to “win now,” and after a disappointing 2025 campaign, the defense and offensive line are the points of emphasis for improvement. 

Both holes have begun to be filled with free agency. Offensive linemen Dalton Risner and Orlando Brown Jr. were both extended, keeping the same five starting lineup going into 2026. While they were one of the worst units in football for a large portion of the season, they were able to establish continuity and continue to build chemistry, so they will not be expected to underwhelm again this season. 

Defensively, the Bengals were able to pick up former Seattle Seahawks defensive end Boye Mafe, former Kansas City Chiefs safety Bryan Cook, former Minnesota Vikings defensive tackle Jonathan Allen, and former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Kyle Dugger. This leaves for the greatest needs being at cornerback and linebacker, but with the losses of defensive ends Joseph Ossai and Trey Hendrickson, more help in the pass rush is needed too. 

With this in mind, the most popular candidates for Cincinnati’s No. 10 pick in the draft have come from these positions. Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles and safety Caleb Downs, Miami edge rusher Reuben Bain Jr., and LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane headline these candidates. However, according to an NFL insider, there is one candidate that nobody is talking about. 

Albert Breer with Sports Illustrated shared his thoughts on who the Bengals could select at the very end of his most recent article. 

“My guess is that No. 10 is close to being the floor for Downs,” said Greer. “I don’t say that unequivocally because I think Bain could be in play for [the Bengals], as well as the top two corners (again, depending on what they think of McCoy’s knee). I’d also throw [Kadyn] Proctor in there as a wild-card name I’ve heard for Cincinnati.”

This little slip-in at the end of a question regarding whether the Bengals would draft the best defensive player available poses several questions. It seemed definite that Tobin and Cincinnati would be looking for defensive upgrades at both No. 10 and potentially 41 in the second round as well. Utilizing a pick on an offensive lineman is likely a high priority given the injury problems in 2025, but drafting a player in the top-10 who won’t be a starter is quite the opposite of a win-now move for a team that has missed the playoffs for three years in a row. 

Even if an offensive lineman was the play in the first round, the Alabama offensive tackle has been widely ranked as the third or fourth best option in his position. It’s not expected that the top candidates at tackle will go before the Bengals’ selection, so the fact that Proctor is being linked to them is strange, to say the least. 

Last season, rookie first-round pick Shemar Stewart ranked dead last in production from the first round of his class. If Tobin decided to make a depth pick this early in the draft, the Bengals would surely be on the path to earning that treacherous honor in back-to-back seasons. It’s worth mentioning that there have been rumors linked to one or both of Buffalo Bills defensive end Joey Bosa and New York Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence. Maybe this could entail that more help is on the way for the defense, and the Bengals’ front office would prefer to draft for the future, as Brown Jr. is set to turn 30 years old in a couple of weeks.