The Cincinnati Bengals don't need some help on defense. They need a lot of it. They need to double-dip at multiple positions across the 2026 NFL Draft and free agency to ensure Joe Burrow's offense is complemented in earnest.
Rumor has it that the Bengals plan to spend a lot of money on open-market talent. SEeing is believing on that front.
What the Bengals can hopefully bank on is a player at a perceived "low-value" position of need falling to the 10th overall pick. He hails from Ohio State. Among the more than a few Buckeyes who are top prospects, one draft expert believes (along with many Who Dey Heads) that one is the best fit for Cincinnati.
ESPN's Matt Miller explains how Buckeyes star would transform Bengals defense
Seems my ex-Bleacher Report colleagues are coming out of the woodwork in recent days with brilliant ideas for the Bengals. First it was Matt Bowen matching my 3,000-word mock offseason projection for Kansas City Chiefs safety Bryan Cook and linebacker Leo Chenal to Cincinnati as ideal free-agent fits.
Now we have the four-letter network's resident draft savant Matt Miller breaking down a mock draft of Caleb Downs to the Bengals at 10th overall. And what a refreshing change of pace that selection would be indeed.
While Miller did acknowledge the "positional value" argument, Downs' skill set to play deep safety, in the box, in the slot, or even as a QB spy on the likes of Arch Manning, prove that he transcends the typical "safety" label. Here's more of what Miller had to say toward the end of his segment:
"Downs can be an eraser. He can align in so many different areas for you as a mismatch chess piece at the safety position. I know we're going to talk about positional value. Do you draft a safety in the top 10? I think you do if it's Caleb Downs. And we could have a laundry list of safeties — guys like Kyle Hamilton. Guys like Antoine Winfield Jr., Tyrann Matthieu. I think Caleb Downs could be a difference-maker in that same mold of a Honey Badger; a Brian Branch. And that is what this defense needs."
.@nfldraftscout sees Ohio State's star safety Caleb Downs as a potential difference maker for the Bengals' defense in this year’s draft 👀 pic.twitter.com/5dHJXp4sUc
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) February 17, 2026
Tell 'em, Matt Miller! Circling back to the Chiefs, Matthieu won a Super Bowl with them. Trent McDuffie won two after Matthieu left the team!
Why is McDuffie relevant, beyond Miller bringing him up? Because I believed — it's on public record on the Wayback Machine from my Barstool Sports days somewhere, rest assured — that McDuffie was the closest thing to Honey Badger when he came out in the 2022 NFL Draft.
I had McDuffie eighth on my big board. Kansas City GM Brett Veach had to be in a tizzy in the war room as he scrambled to trade up for Trent. Veach moved up eight spots to 21st overall in a trade with Bill "Never Met A Trade-Down He Didn't Love" Belichick's Patriots. The rest is history.
Yeah, the Bengals' hopes of getting Trent McDuffie got snuffed out by the team they beat in the AFC Championship Game that previous year. They went with Dax Hill. Fine player when he's allowed to play at his proper boundary cornerback position.
Dax's move got triggered by Jalen Davis' emergence as a slot cornerback. The Bengals did the unthinkable and actually re-signed Davis before free agency opened. This lessens the need for Downs.
That qualifier aside, it couldn't hurt Cincinnati's under-repair defensive front seven to have such a stellar secondary. A lineup of Hill and DJ Turner as boundary corners, Davis at the nickel, and Downs starting next to Jordan Battle, or *Bryan Cook* (!), at safety would rival any secondary in the league.
It'd be nice for Cincinnati to steal Cook and Chenal away from KC. Heck, I advocated trading for McDuffie as far back as November. Just bring over the Chiefs' whole defense!
If the Bengals can't have McDuffie — who the Chiefs refuse to extend for some reason — maybe they can have the closest thing to him in Downs.
Granted, Downs feels a lot closer to the other comps Miller made like Matthieu and Branch than what McDuffie has proven to be in the NFL (mostly a perimeter cornerback). Nevertheless, an offseason where Cincinnati somehow, someway wrangles multiple Chiefs defenders and drafts Caleb Downs is my kind of party!