5 draft prospects the Bengals should trade up for after free agency

2. Ahmad ‘Sauce’ Gardner

Trading up for Sauce would make many Cincinnatians very happy. Unfortunately, this move would be extremely expensive.

Sauce has worked his way up draft boards and is now considered the top cornerback prospect in this draft by most experts. If the Bengals want to move up for him, they will have to get a bit lucky.

In some strange scenario, I could see a slight possibility where Sauce is the third corner off the board, behind Stingley and McDuffie. An ideal trade-up spot would be with the Houston Texans at pick 13. The Texans already have a top-three pick, so adding more capital to continue building for the future is something they might be interested in. Moving up from 31 to 13 would likely require giving up picks 31 and 95, as well as our second-round selection in next year’s draft.

Is Sauce worth all that capital? Based on his play and what this move would mean for our fanbase, I’d say the answer is yes.

As many know, Sauce didn’t give up a touchdown his entire college career. He also snagged three interceptions in all three of his seasons at Cincinnati. Based on coverage alone, I’d say he is the clear favorite to be the first cornerback selected in April. His frame will allow him to hang with any receiver he covers.

However, I am a bit concerned with his physicality, especially when running downhill and making an open-field tackle on NFL running backs. Regardless, Sauce to Cincinnati would be awesome to see.