{"id":585498,"date":"2026-04-04T18:28:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T18:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/585498\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T18:28:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T18:28:08","slug":"cincinnati-bengals-2026-nfl-draft-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/585498\/","title":{"rendered":"Cincinnati Bengals 2026 NFL Draft Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"

Despite having undeniable star power, the 2025 season was the worst for the Cincinnati Bengals since Joe Burrow<\/a>\u2018s rookie season in 2020. From August to December, Cincinnati fans had to put up with one of the worst defenses in the league, a still-struggling offensive line and questionable play calling.<\/p>\n

Bengals Draft Picks:<\/p>\n

Thankfully, the Bengals have eight different picks to address these needs:<\/p>\n

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Bengals Positions of Need:<\/p>\n

The Bengals notably parted ways with Trey Hendrickson<\/a>, who signed a four-year, $112 million deal with AFC North rivals, the Baltimore Ravens. Cincinnati also notably said goodbye to starting offensive lineman Ted Karas, defensive end Joseph Ossai<\/a>, and cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Bengals have had the same issues with the defense and offensive line for the last couple of seasons now. Their positions of need are:<\/p>\n

Key Draft Targets for Bengals:\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Rueben Bain Jr.<\/a>\u2013 EDGE \u2013Miami\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cincinnati will be looking for a player that can impact the squad immediately and the two main candidates that are projected to fall within the 10th pick of the draft are Caleb Downs<\/a> and Ruben Bain Jr.<\/p>\n

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The departure of one of Cincinnati\u2019s most productive pass rushers in franchise history will push the Bengals to draft the top edge<\/a> in this year\u2019s draft. Bain Jr. is strong and relentless, who stands out due to his ability to disrupt offenses, recording 15.5 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks this season.<\/p>\n

Caleb Downs \u2013 S \u2013 Ohio State\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

If Bain Jr. does not fall to the Bengals, which recent projections have found increasingly unlikely, Downs is another solid option to be an impact player for the Queen City. The Ohio State safety\u2019s versatility and flexibility is one of the key aspects the Bengals have been missing in their defense and place him within the top 20<\/a> selections in most mock drafts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Downs would challenge the ceiling of the defensive unit, dictate how offenses attack the Bengals, and could create crucial windows for takeaways.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Anthony Hill<\/a> Jr. \u2013 LB \u2013 Texas<\/p>\n

Anthony Hill Jr.<\/a> is projected<\/a> to fall in the early-to-mid second round. Hill Jr. would address the immediate issues of a lack of depth in the defensive squad, while providing versatility and output to the squad. The Longhorn racked up 249 tackles, 17.5 sacks and 11 forced fumbles during 32 starts for Texas, with a good defensive IQ and great football instincts.<\/p>\n

Hill Jr. has been criticized for his lack of size, however, his maturity and athleticism compensate for his smaller stature. His play style makes him a great candidate to play at the next level, and ease into an impact role for the Bengals\u2019 defense.<\/p>\n

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The post Cincinnati Bengals 2026 NFL Draft Preview<\/a> appeared first on The Lead<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Despite having undeniable star power, the 2025 season was the worst for the Cincinnati Bengals since Joe Burrow\u2018s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":585499,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,631,133465,1252,629,39789,5140,593,85,1259],"class_list":{"0":"post-585498","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-baltimore-ravens","11":"tag-caleb-downs","12":"tag-cincinnati-bengals","13":"tag-joe-burrow","14":"tag-joseph-ossai","15":"tag-miami","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-trey-hendrickson"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=585498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/585499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=585498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=585498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=585498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}