Much to the pleasure of those who cover the Cincinnati Bengals and the NFL draft, the team signed edge rusher Antwaun Powell-Ryland to the practice squad. Now we can only hope that he garners a significant amount of snaps, given that Trey Hendrickson and Shemar Stewart are out.
While getting excited about a mid-season practice squad player should not be overly exciting, the front office signing a pass rusher who can actually rush the passer has not been the team’s modus operandi as of late.
Nevertheless, the Bengals should not stop with Powell-Ryland and target another edge rusher from the 9-2 New England Patriots’ practice squad.
Bengals must pounce on Patriots rookie Bradyn Swinson, forthwith
The Bengals should continue their tuning of the pass rush and sign former LSU linebacker/edge rusher Bradyn Swinson off New England’s practice squad. Beyond the fact that the Pats pay a visit to Cincinnati in Week 12 and could get some insider information — anything helps at this point! — Swinson would be a superb addition on his own merits.
Swinson, inexplicably to someone not in the pre-draft interviews, lasted until the fifth round of the selection process before the Patriots took him with the 146th overall pick.
Bradyn Swinson is flying way under the radar. Genuinely excellent tape off the EDGE pic.twitter.com/5gMI6N754i
— Billy M (@BillyM_91) March 26, 2025
In his last year with the Tigers, Swinson recorded 58 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, 12 QB hurries, and three pass breakups.
It took the Bengals' first-round pick, Shemar Stewart, three years to accumulate those types of numbers. Well, he never reached eight sacks, so advantage Swinson there.
The Patriots, unwisely, have Swinson on their practice squad for any team that needs a young edge rusher with incredible upside to poach before the end of the season. The Bengals should be that team before another gets any bright ideas.
With Jackson likely down for a long time, why not sign Bradyn Swinson off the Pats PS? Rookie for rookie, why not? #BillsMafia
— Daniel Bobry (@DanielBobry) November 10, 2025
Bradyn Swinson isn’t front office’s ideal fit, and that’s a good thing
Swinson is not the type of edge rusher that this Player Personnel department typically targets. That is half the reason that they struggle to identify pass rushers in the draft. They try to stick with an archetype while ignoring whether the player is actually good at football or not.
Perhaps if the Bengals had a few more resources for scouting, Swinson could have featured among a handful of linebacker/edge rushing players who should have been high on their draft board, along with Donovan Ezeiruaku, Josaiah Stewart, and Powell-Ryland.
With the immediate impact that Ezeiruaku and Josaiah Stewart are having for the Cowboys and Rams, respectively, combined with the massive and obvious (in real time) misses that Myles Murphy and Shemar Stewart have been, perhaps the Bengals will finally re-evaluate how they go about scouting edge rushers.
Or not.
To their credit, they did try going out of their comfort zone when they drafted Joseph Ossai. But he may not have been the best option to try it with. Yet with Hendrickson out, he is the team's best pass rusher.
Nevertheless, it is an excellent sign that that particular tide of sticking to an archetype could be turning with the recent acquisition of Powell-Ryland.
Minimum cost, potential high reward for Bradyn Swinson
It would cost the Bengals more than a practice squad spot if they were to make a move for Swinson. Signing the young pass rusher means Cincinnati must immediately place him on the 53-man roster, requiring the team to release someone.
A more straightforward solution would be to sign Swinson and place Shemar Stewart on I.R. now that the rookie defensive end will miss some time with an injury.
Even if the team does not want to shelve Stewart, signing Swinson is a move they should absolutely make. Today.
A Bengals defensive lineup with Powell-Ryland and Swinson as the edge rushers is something that would have those of us who cover the draft and the Bengals salivating. And if it were to happen without giving up any draft compensation, it would be the biggest heist from this organization since the trade of Billy Price for BJ Hill.