No, the Cincinnati Bengals must not select Auburn defensive Keldric Faulk when they are on the clock at the upcoming NFL Draft.
With that said, why the Bengals should not take Faulk has less to do with his skill set, which other franchises will covet, and more to do with Cincinnati’s past failures.
However, Faulk’s skill set is something that the worst rush defense in the NFL would love to have on its team. But that is not enough.
Momentum building for Faulk in the Bengals’ building at 10?
Recently, The Athletic’s Jordan Reid said something that every Bengals fan should be worried about. Something that we have been worried about since many started doing their draft research.
Reid stated that Faulk is the type of player the Bengals love, that their draft board is unpredictable, and that "It would not shock me at all if they select this player."
We know why the Bengals should not take Faulk, but we also know how they would consider it anyway, despite the obvious smacking them in the face. But he should not be in the same, nonetheless similar, boat as Shemar Stewart. Or Myles Murphy, while we are here.
And there are other experts who believe that Faulk will go higher than expected.
Why Faulk is different from Bengals’ past draft misses
Bengals fans’ gripe with taking Faulk at ten comes with understandable and frightening comparisons to their 2023 and 2025 first-round picks.
We do not understand what the Bengals were doing when they selected Myles Murphy with the 29th overall pick in 2023. Their crack scouting department should have known that, at best, they were getting a player in the mold of Sam Hubbard, with more pass-rush upside, not a sack artist they needed opposite Trey Hendrickson.
In his three seasons in the league, Murphy has yet to hit six sacks or even seven tackles for loss. Hubbard averaged 6.3 sacks, 65 tackles, and nine tackles for loss per season in his seven-year career. Meanwhile, in three years, Murphy has averaged 3.1 sacks, 33 tackles, and tackles for loss per season.
At least to this point in his career, to compare Murphy with Hubbard would be fair to Hubbard, a third-round pick.
In the meantime, some of us are still wondering how Shamar Stewart got invited to the NFL draft ceremony.
Some fans are under the impression that Cincinnati selected Stewart not for his pass-rushing ability but for his run-stopping. Unfortunately, those fans seem to be parroting misinformation as they cling to any hope after their favorite team selected Stewart in the first round.
Being ranked 203rd out of 204 edge rushers in the last 10 years, with a run stop rate of 3.7%, should be enough to convince fans that, perhaps, the Bengals front office just got it wrong with Stewart. But hopefully, he proves all of his naysayers incorrect. We would love nothing more.
With luck, Stewart will see significantly more snaps at defensive tackle than at edge rusher during the 2026 season, where his bull-in-a-china-shop tactics will surely yield more dividends.
Paving an orange and black road to Faulk at 10
Watching Faulk’s film, we can honestly say that he offers practically nothing as a pass rusher, other than youth and want-to.
At least one expert agrees with us. Marcus Whitman (That Franchise Guy), in an interview with the 33rd Team’s Steve Palazzolo and Sam Monson, said what Bengals fans should know when he stated, “If you take him in the first round, that's some of the worst pass-rushing tape of a d-lineman I’ve ever seen go in the first round.”
Marcus Whitman explains why, if he were the Chiefs, he would take Akheem Mesidor over Keldrick Faulk
— Check the Mic with Steve Palazzolo & Sam Monson (@CTM_Show) March 16, 2026
“Faulk doesn’t do anything for me at 9. I have him more as a high 2nd or late 1st… I think Mesidor, if he were 2 years younger, we’d be talking about him as a top-10 pick.” pic.twitter.com/I95qMcdPVh
However, there is one important aspect of his game that the Bengals definitely need and may covet above all else. Where Faulk separates himself from Stewart is that he is an elite runner stopper. Something that at this point, we're just closing our eyes, crossing our fingers, and praying that Stewart can be better than 203rd out of 204 edge rushers in the past 10 years.
The Bengals were last in rushing yards allowed in 2025. They also ranked last in runs over 20 yards surrendered. And they were 31st in yards per carry at 5.2.
With his elite missed tackle rate of 6.4%, when he gets into the backfield, Faulk will make the tackle on running packs, whereas tackling was an issue with several defensive players last season, even those who got penetration into the backfield.
Realistic expectations for Keldric Faulk with the Bengals
If the Cincinnati Bengals decide to pick Faulk with the 10th overall pick, it will be with the expectation that he will bring a run-stopping element that the Bengals lack on their defensive front. It will not be because the front office believes that Faulk can replace Hendrickson as a pass-rusher, or even close to a prolific quarterback hunter.
We would expect the former Auburn defensive lineman to immediately improve the league's worst rushing defense if he were to bring his talents to the Queen City.
Nevertheless, not even improving the rush defense should be enough to justify taking Faulk at ten. But at least it would be some justification.
Better Bengals options lie in wait elsewhere in the draft
Finally, if the Bengals were to go with traits over production, they could trade down for Zion Young, another player they would like, while not spending so much draft capital on Faulk.
While it is fair to worry about taking Faulk because of recent mistakes by the Bengals, it is not fair to him, or any other player in this year’s class, to put our drama on them.
Faulk’s evaluation should be about him. Unfortunately for him, his evaluation is not good enough to justify Cincinnati’s first-round pick.