The Cincinnati Bengals shook up the entire NFL Draft on Saturday night, trading for all-world defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence. Not only was it a franchise-changing move for the Bengals, but it had major ramifications for the draft on Thursday.
One of the common reasons why many believe the Bengals traded out of that spot was because they wouldn’t be able to get a quality defender right away that could help the team win.
But what we haven’t heard is exactly who Duke Tobin and the rest of the front office was targeting with that selection. Until now.
Bengals buzz suggests they were set to make a major reach with No. 10 overall pick
It’s no secret that the Bengals wanted to address their defensive line early in the 2026 NFL Draft. However, most draft experts believe that there isn’t a defensive tackle in this class taking inside the top-20, let alone the top-10. On the expert consensus board, the highest-rated defensive tackle is Kayden McDonald, and he doesn’t appear on the board until 32.
But teams need defensive tackle help, and it’s not uncommon to see teams reach for players at that position. That's how a player like Kenneth Grant went inside the top-15 picks in last year's draft. And that’s likely what the Bengals would have done at No. 10, given their need at the position.
According to former NFL scout Bryan Broaddus, his intel and sources told him that Peter Woods, the defensive tackle from Clemson, was going to be the pick at No. 10 if the Bengals didn’t trade out. That is new information, as many believed that Rueben Bain or Mansoor Delane were the most likely selections at that spot.
Broaddus has worked in the NFL for decades and is very close to several NFL general managers, including Tobin. So while we should take all pre-draft information with a grain of salt, it's likely that he was given correct information here considering the Bengals no longer hold that pick.
There has been some rumblings for a few weeks now that the Bengals did like Woods, but picking him at No. 10 always felt rich. He is currently ranked as the No. 33 player on the consensus board and no national expert has him ranked inside of the top-20 players at this point in time.
The move to acquire Lawrence was already a smart one for the Bengals, as they are in a championship window. But it makes even more sense now if the alternative was reaching on Woods at No. 10. There’s always a chance that someone else could have fallen to that spot and changed how the Bengals would have drafted, but it sure feels like the Bengals dodged a major bullet here.
Add us as a preferred source on Google