{"id":42401,"date":"2026-01-25T23:56:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T23:56:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=42401"},"modified":"2026-01-25T23:56:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T23:56:26","slug":"cincinnati-bengals-roll-all-defense-in-three-round-mock-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=42401","title":{"rendered":"Cincinnati Bengals Roll All Defense In Three-Round Mock Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"
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CINCINNATI \u2014<\/strong>\u00a0The Bengals rolled defense early in\u00a0A to Z\u00a0Sports’\u00a0latest\u00a0three-round mock draft, entering the weekend. Cincinnati picked\u00a0Miami’s\u00a0Rueben Bain as one of the popular options for the team in the first round.<\/p>\n

He has been right outside the top-three most popular selections for Cincinnati in mock drafts over the past week as the third-best overall player on the consensus big board from Mock Draft Database.<\/p>\n

“We are all well aware that the Bengals need players at every defensive position,”\u00a0Joe DeLeone wrote. “Taking the best player available should be their approach throughout this draft, and Rueben Bain falling into their lap couldn\u2019t be more perfect. Al Golden can get creative with unleashing Bain onto unsuspecting offenses.”<\/p>\n

Cincinnati then went with Iowa State defensive tackle Domonique Orange with the 41st pick. He is ranked 68th on the consensus big board from MDD and sixth among defensive tackles.<\/p>\n

Arizona safety Genesis Smith\u00a0was slotted\u00a0to the Bengals with the 72nd pick in the draft. He is the 120th-ranked player on the consensus big board and the ninth-best safety.<\/p>\n

The Bengals\u00a0figure to go heavy on\u00a0defense in free agency and the draft,\u00a0with all of the\u00a0key pieces on offense\u00a0basicallylocked in for the 2026 season.\u00a0Signing guard Dalton Risner to a potential new contract is the only big question on that side of the ball.<\/p>\n

Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin is ready to get some talent in the building and sign deals like they mostly just did for their own stars last offseason.<\/p>\n

“Those negotiations\u00a0aren\u2019t\u00a0easy,”\u00a0Tobin said about the big extensions for\u00a0Ja’Marr\u00a0Chase and Tee Higgins.\u00a0“We were satisfied that we were maintaining clear, top-of-the-league players. We have clear, elite, world-class, best-in-the-world players on this football team.\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0one of the reasons we have high expectations. We\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0want to lose that. We wanted continuity to build off of. Did we build off of it enough? Was the defense up to it enough? Obviously, it\u00a0wasn\u2019t. That falls on me. We did at the time what we thought would produce for us.”<\/p>\n