How Treydan Stukes could unlock Bengals' entire draft strategy

The Cincinnati Bengals must have Arizona defensive back Treydan Stukes near the top of the list of players they are targeting early in the NFL draft, even though it is not a name that most are hearing when discussing their early picks. 

Selecting Stukes in the third or fourth round seemed like a possibility just a couple of weeks ago. Now, he is moving just as fast up draft charts as he did at the combine.

Here is a litany of reasons why the Bengals’ personnel department must have Stukes on its short list of draft prospects. 

Targeting Treydan Stukes in Round 2 changes everything for Bengals

Planning to take Stukes in the second round opens up first-round possibilities. After zeroing in on Texas Tech edge rusher David Bailey at the beginning of the draft season, most draftniks now have the Bengals selecting LSU defensive back Monsoor Delane. 

If the Bengals take Delane, that will most certainly take them out of the running for the defensive back in rounds 2 or even 3, if he makes it to 72. He will not, by the way. Or, at least he shouldn’t. 

And as we’ve unfortunately seen from the Bengals in the draft, the best player available is not the driving force behind their selection process. 

But if the Bengals have the forethought to target Stukes in the second round, they could go in another direction in the first, knowing there is an excellent chance that Stukes will be on the board at 41.

Selecting Stukes allows Bengals to operate like they usually do

While we should not want Cincinnati to do their traditional draft, a player would not have to resign someone entering the last year of their contract the following offseason, they would leave the door open to that possibility by selecting Stukes.

Starting cornerbacks D.J. Turner and Dax Hill are looking for extensions with both heading into the final year of their contracts. Turner is entering his fourth year, while Hill will play under the 5th-year option. The team could sign one while keeping the option to use the franchise tag on the other. 

Hopefully, it will not come to that. However, if the Bengals can’t help themselves from taking a player with the succession plan in mind, Stukes should be that guy. 

Cincinnati would rely on Stukes to play in the slot right away while maintaining the appearance of another option on the outside if contract negotiations break down, following a plan similar to the one they had for Dax Hill, except they expected Hill to take over for Jessie Bates. 

As it turns out, Hill ended up being a better outside corner than safety or even slot corner, where he spent most of his time while at Michigan. 

Stukes has impressive athletic traits that make it easy to imagine that he could follow Hill’s lead, if need be.   

Treydan Stukes can contribute from Day 1 in Bengals defense

Stukes has as much versatility on the field as he would offer the Bengals in the first round of the draft and future contracts. 

Versatility is always a quality the Bengals and other teams desire in prospects, until it isn’t. 

Stukes’ versatility will allow him to get on the field immediately for Al Golden’s defense. He will compete with Jalen Davis and Bralyn Lux for the starting role at slot corner. In doing so, he adds to the depth at the position while letting Dax Hill stay on the boundary. 

Playing him will allow defensive coordinator Al Golden to better disguise coverages. He can line up at slot, boundary, safety, and in the box as a linebacker if need be. He would allow a defense to do a lot of the things we would want to see Ohio State safety Caleb Downs do in Golden’s defense. 

Furthermore, relying on the 24-year-old to start as a second-round pick would be much safer and a better idea than expecting the 25-year-old rookie Demetrius Knight to do so last year. 

The numbers and film both scream breakout NFL starter

The most important question that so many seem to gloss over this time of year is whether the prospect is good at football or not. 

And just in case you were wondering, yes, Sutkes is a good football player.

Pro Football Focus puts his coverage grade at 34.4 last season. Mansoor Delane’s was 31.3. If you are a believer in PFF, Stukes’ coverage grade last season was better than D’Angelo Ponds (55.4), Keionte Scott (69.9), and Jermond McCoy in 2024 (53.6)

Stukes’ combined athletic score and man coverage grade is on par with young NFL cornerbacks like Patrick Surtain and Christian Gonzalez, while having a significant advantage over those two in man coverage grades. 

Stukes would be one of the best tacklers as a cornerback in this year’s draft. But he is also one of the best tackling safeties.

One of the advantages of taking Sukes is that he could play safety or corner, like Hill. If he does line up at the position, he could be just as good a tackler as other players mentioned for the position for the Bengals. 

Stukes’ 11.3% career missed tackle rate is the seventh-best among the safeties in this year’s class. For reference, Caleb Downs is sixth at 11.1%, Dillon Thieneman is eighth at 11.5%, and A.J. Haulcy ranks ninth at 11.8%. All of whom have been linked to the Bengals in some fashion during the draft process.

Treydan Stukes’ draft stock is exploding at the perfect time

And lest you think that these are just the ramblings of a madman, we are not the only ones whose admiration for Stukes has grown throughout the process.

PFF ranked Stukes at 105 two weeks ago. That would put him in “cross your fingers and hope he falls to the 110th pick in the fourth round” territory. 

Now, Stukes has bumped PFF’s draft rankings to 61st overall, putting him squarely into the “if you want him, you’d better take him at 41 in the second round” region. Stukes went from 91 to 71 in that same time frame in Tankathon’s rankings.

Of course, the Bengals could go in another direction and leave those of us who want Stukes to don stripes next season hoping that he falls to 72 in the third round. 

After his pro day, even more will surely take notice, further increasing his stock among talent evaluators. Hopefully, the Bengals’ decision makers will be among them.