The Cincinnati Bengals tried to replace Jessie Bates with Dax Hill in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Didn't work. A similar strategy played out the next year, with Myles Murphy as the heir apparent to Sam Hubbard. That took about 2.5 seasons to *somewhat* come to fruition.
Two years ago, Georgia right tackle Amarius Mims was drafted 18th overall to be a backup to Trent Brown, who by the way, just started down the stretch of last season for the playoff-bound Houston Texans. Brown's injury in Week 3 thrust Mims into duty. Good thing he looks solid so far.
And last year, who could forget? A No. 17 overall pick in Shemar Stewart who had 4.5 sacks in three years at Texas A&M despite generational athleticism, brought aboard to be a glorified DE4.
So forgive me if I'm a little jaded about what the Bengals are about to do in the first round of the draft this time around. Consensus is growing in mock drafts across the Internet that a cornerback could be the pick at No. 10 overall.
What Cincinnati can't afford to do is compound that uninspiring selection with errors throughout the rest of the draft. One nightmarish mock that recently dropped does just that.
The Athletic's full 3-round mock draft is among Bengals' worst conceivable outcomes
Here's where Nick Baumgardner of The Athletic had the Bengals going with their first three picks in the 2026 draft:
- Round 1, Pick 10 — Mansoor Delane, CB, LSU
- Round 2, Pick 41 — T.J. Parker, EDGE, Clemson
- Round 3, Pick 72 — Josiah Trotter, LB, Missouri
Yikes.
Not that Mansoor Delane is a bad player. he's a strong boundary cornerback. The problem is, DJ Turner and Dax Hill are already excellent in that area for the Bengals. All indications are that they intend to extend both of them on second contracts.
So Delane is a redundancy. Then, we have ourselves a high pick invested in Clemson's T.J. Parker. That Tigers program is notorious for churning out glacially-developing prospects. Look no further than Myles Murphy!
Hopeful Bengals trade candidate, All-Pro nose tackle Dexter Lawrence, is a rare exception to this general Clemson rule.
Giants receive: 10th overall pick, 41st overall pick, DT T.J. Slaton, plus 2027 2nd- & 3rd-round picks
— Stripe Hype (@StripeHype) April 7, 2026
Bengals receive: 5th overall pick, DT Dexter Lawrence & 2027 4th-round pick
Blockbuster Dexter Lawrence trade baked into new Bengals mock draft https://t.co/jHsK04dB50
Plus, Cincinnati went back to the well already last year in Round 4 with linebacker Barrett Carter, who could single-handedly sink the 2026 Bengals' 2026 defensive unit.
I guess that's why Baumbgardner felt compelled to add Mizzou linebacker Josiah Trotter in Round 3. To me, Trotter is another half-measure acquisition to bolster a terrible position group. He offers little conceivable value at Pick 72.
Granted, this mock draft released before the Bengals released center Matt Lee, but I'm more inclined to believe Cincinnati will target Ted Karras' successor/2026 insurance with that second Day 2 pick, as opposed to another middling linebacker prospect.
Trotter is dreadful in coverage (47.9 PFF grade at Missouri last year; 49.4 at West Virginia in 2024). Carter and Demetrius Knight Jr. give us Who Dey Heads enough of that kind of suffering in spades.
So yeah. I just can't think of a much worse three-round haul than this. The cornerback class is strong on Day 2 if you're in the market for a backup boundary type. Picking Delane is unnecessary.
Holding the 10th pick is a weird spot to be in this draft. I talked about that in-depth on the Bengals Pulse podcast, and Bumgardner's mock, wherein Sonny Styles, Rueben Bain Jr., Caleb Downs, and even Jeremiyah Love all go in the top nine, puts Cincinnati in a Twilight Zone of unappealing options.
To summarize the other two picks and land this plane, Parker is a decent rotational piece, but I'm not convinced he's any better than, say, the Bengals' projected DE4 Cedric Johnson. Is that really worth the 41st overall pick? Not to me!
And I've said my piece on Trotter. Like cool, his dad is Jeremiah Trotter. That's great. Whatever inside knowledge he has from his father's NFL experience, Josiah Trotter would be put in prime position to fail if he landed in Cincinnati to compete alongside the likes of Carter and Knight, who are virtually clueless. Thanks to the Bengals, don't have a viable veteran to mentor them as of yet!