The 2023 NFL is a week away and while fans are discussing which players they want to see Cincinnati Bengals select, this article will discuss the draft prospects that we want the team to avoid like the plague.
Whether it's injury history, inconsistencies, red flags, or a little bit of all of those things, here's to hoping the Bengals stay far away from these prospects.
3. Luke Musgrave
I'll be honest here -- Luke Musgrave could end up being a good pick but the knee injury he sustained in the 2022 season should hopefully scare the Bengals away from him, at least in the first two rounds.
Musgrave only played in two games in 2022 before he suffered a knee injury and while he did play well in those two games, there's a lot of time that has passed since the Oregon State product has taken the field in pads.
While the Bengals need a tight end and Musgrave did show a lot of potential in 2022 before the injury, this is a very strong tight end draft class. Cincinnati can find other viable tight ends in the first or second round that don't have injury concerns.
2. Adetomiwa Adebawore
The Bengals need help when it comes to getting after the quarterback and might look to add Adetomiwa Adebawore to help them in that department. The Northwestern defensive lineman has been linked to Cincinnati in a few different mock drafts and I don't love the idea of them spending the 28th overall pick on him.
For starters, he's considered to have an "untraditional build" per The Draft Network and that's not a great quality for a defensive lineman to have on his resumé. The Draft Network also notes that Adebawore struggles to finish plays and the Bengals need guys who can come in and shut their guy down.
Bleacher Report listed Adebawore on their list of boom-or-bust players, noting that while Adebawore had a top-notch 2022 season with the Wildcats and put together one of the best performances at this year's NFL Combine, he "will need to use his world-class athleticism to overcome the limitations of his size and become a force on a professional defensive line. He's also arguably too short to be a traditional edge defender and lacks the mass teams usually want from their interior linemen."
1. Jaelyn Duncan
While this wouldn't be a pick that the Bengals would make in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft, they might be interested in adding Jaelyn Duncan later on, perhaps on Day 2. Hopefully that doesn't end up being the case.
Duncan has the build of what an offensive tackle should look like but that hasn't translated to talent. He gets beat far too often and allowed 28 pressures during the 2022 season, per PFF. Michael Renner of Pro Football Focus listed Duncan as the biggest boom-or-bust player at the offensive tackle position.
Same concept here against #Maryland. Zach Harrison set up his bull rush the play before, then did it again, only to push, pull and rip past Jaelyn Duncan for a game sealing strip sack.
— Devin Jackson (@RealD_Jackson) February 21, 2023
Think he would certainly be an #Eagles target on Day 2, interested to see how he tests. pic.twitter.com/3yqnCWKG7L
The tweet above shows Duncan getting beat badly for a strip sack that went on to win the game for Ohio State. Sure, plays like this happen to everyone but it's a common trend for Duncan to get beat and for a Bengals team that desperately needs to improve on the offensive line, they should stay far away from the Maryland product.
The Bengals need to avoid these prospects when the 2023 NFL Draft kicks off.