It's so close to the 2026 NFL Draft now that this is the prime time for teams to start leaking smokescreen interest on certain prospects. Let's hope the Cincinnati Bengals' brass is doing that when it comes to one particular player.
Many believe the Bengals will draft defense with the 10th overall pick. It makes sense. That unit was abysmal last year and for the better part of the last three seasons when Cincinnati failed to make the playoffs.
Alas, there's reportedly at least an outside chance that the first round could see the Bengals invest in a succession plan/luxury pick of the worst variety — and on offense, no less!
NFL insider Albert Breer has heard rumblings of Bengals' interest in shocking prospect
SI.com's Albert Breer has been around the block a time or two on the NFL beat. He's dialed in. Many sources. What he reports is highly credible, no matter how ridiculous it may seem at first brush.
So once you've contained your laughter, try to process this excerpt from his latest insider's mailbag piece and realize that it is, in fact, transcribed in digital ink for the world to see.
Check out this exchange. Breer makes a hard left turn from typical Bengals prospects like Caleb Downs, Miami (FL) defensive end Rueben Bain Jr., and Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy before dropping an absolute bombshell:
"From Damon Martin (@DamonMartin): We all know the Bengals are never going to trade up so is the No. 10 pick basically just best defensive player available? Caleb Downs remains a dream pick but it's hard to gauge what the team is thinking.
"Damon, my guess is that No. 10 is close to being the floor for Downs. I don’t say that unequivocally because I think Bain could be in play for them, as well as the top two corners (again, depending on what they think of McCoy’s knee). I’d also throw Proctor in there as a wild-card name I’ve heard for Cincinnati."
That's right. Alabama left tackle Kadyn Proctor is in play for the Cincinnati Bengals at No. 10 overall.
Orlando Brown Jr. just went to the Bengals brass on his own volition to negotiate his own, home discount contract extension so that Joe Burrow's blind side would be protected for the foreseeable future.
Turning around and drafting Proctor is akin to Cincinnati's personnel department spitting in Brown's face. It'd also be an affront to 2024 first-round pick Amarius Mims.
Proctor is a solid prospect in his own right. He tipped the scales at 352 pounds at the Combine and stands at a towering 6'7". The Bengals love those types of frames at the tackle spots, evident in their acquisitions of Mims and Brown. Both are listed at 6'8", 350.
I don't know, y'all. Drafting a freaking swing tackle at 10th overall is about as bad as it gets. You'd hope that a quality defensive player is there for the taking, or that a trade down could still yield a starting-caliber player on that side of the ball.
If the pick is on offense, I'd much rather another weapon like Notre Dame tailback Jeremiyah Love if he were there, or a pass-catcher like Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq, my No. 3 preferred Bengals draft target overall.
Who Dey Nation would crash out harder than ever if Kadyn Proctor is the pick at No. 10. Fair warning, Duke Tobin. Don't get any weird ideas. The draft has been weird enough on Day 1 since the no-brainer choice of Ja'Marr Chase back in 2021.
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