{"id":37324,"date":"2025-11-07T22:16:56","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T22:16:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=37324"},"modified":"2025-11-07T22:16:56","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T22:16:56","slug":"cincinnati-bengals-select-elite-college-defender-in-post-trade-deadline-mock-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=37324","title":{"rendered":"Cincinnati Bengals Select Elite College Defender in Post-Trade Deadline Mock Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure data-mm-id=\"_ctgbgyand\">\n<div>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,w_4500,h_2531,x_0,y_0\/c_fill,w_2160,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Fall_bengals%2F01k9fk6y7q32yzpcfjhh.jpg\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p data-mm-id=\"_tfryp1pj7\"><strong>CINCINNATI \u2014\u00a0<\/strong>CBS Sports\u00a0writer Ryan Wilson dropped\u00a0a new mock draft this week following the trade deadline action on Tuesday.\u00a0Cincinnati\u00a0is on pace to have a top-10 2026 pick amidst another potentially lost season in the Joe Burrow era. He has the team rolling with Ohio State safety Caleb Downs with the eighth pick.<\/p>\n<p data-mm-id=\"_u58ksn3x5\">Cincinnati hasn&#8217;t had consistently good safety play in years since the exit of\u00a0Jessie Bates III in the 2023 offseason. Downs is CBS Sports&#8217; fifth-best prospect overall.<\/p>\n<p data-mm-id=\"_txi0z8qxk\">&#8220;Downs could be a Troy Polamalu-level talent in the NFL. He&#8217;s only 5-foot-11, and he may not end up running a 4.35-second 40-yard dash, but I don&#8217;t care,&#8221;\u00a0Wilson wrote. &#8220;Not even a little bit.\u00a0Both Kyle Hamilton and Brian Branch slipped on draft day\u00a0because of\u00a0mediocre\u00a040\u00a0times.\u00a0They&#8217;re two of the best young defensive backs in football. Downs is a run-game enforcer and has the sideline-to-sideline juice, coupled with the short-area burst, to excel in pass coverage.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-mm-id=\"_kzok4cg0e\">Safety, defensive end, linebacker, cornerback, defensive tackle.<\/p>\n<p data-mm-id=\"_tkolski3h\">Cincinnati arguably has\u00a0major\u00a0needs at EVERY spot on the defense, and Downs could easily be the best player available and fill one of those glaring holes.<\/p>\n<p data-mm-id=\"_9metd1h3s\">The Bengals currently have the league&#8217;s worst defense in just about every relevant metric, including points per game allowed (33.3, nearly three points more than any other team).<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Bengals Trading Logan Wilson to Cowboys | Instant Reaction\" width=\"790\" height=\"444\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AH92tdW4Ll8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A big need filled with this pick.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37326,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cincinnati-bengals"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - 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