{"id":42692,"date":"2026-01-31T13:46:59","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T13:46:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=42692"},"modified":"2026-01-31T13:46:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T13:46:59","slug":"bengals-predicted-to-add-best-prospect-of-2026-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=42692","title":{"rendered":"Bengals Predicted to Add \u2018Best Prospect\u2019 of 2026 NFL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\">\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2254203894-e1769825167663.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2254203894-e1769825167663.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2254203894-e1769825167663.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2254203894-e1769825167663.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Bengals Predicted to Add \u2018Best Prospect\u2019 of 2026 NFL Draft\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" \/><\/figure>\n<div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Cincinnati Bengals have one of the league\u2019s top offenses. The trio of Joe Burrow, Ja\u2019Marr Chase and Tee Higgins led the Bengals to a 4-2 record in their six games together in 2025. But despite having an explosive offense, the team fared poorly defensively and that was the biggest reason they failed to meet expectations.<\/p>\n<p>They missed the playoffs for the third consecutive season. Despite having superstar talents on offense, the Bengals seemingly have to win a shootout every week in order to compete. That is not sustainable in the NFL. Unfortunately, things will only get harder as they are expected to lose All-Pro pass rusher Trey Hendrickson in free agency. Hendrickson was only available for seven games this season, and the defense struggled to replace his production.<\/p>\n<p>As we enter free agency and the draft, all the focus for the Bengals seems to be on improving their defense. A new mock draft offers a solution to the Bengals\u2019 problem.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><b>Cincinnati Bengals Select Caleb Downs in Mock Draft<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>The Bengals currently possess the No. 10 overall selection. It marks the draft pick the Bengals have had since the 2021 NFL Draft, when they selected Ja\u2019Marr Chase with the fifth overall pick. Chase was a franchise-changing player who helped lead the Bengals to the Super Bowl in his rookie season. Now, the Bengals front office will hope to obtain a player with a similar impact on next year\u2019s team.<\/p>\n<p>NFL Network analyst Bucky Brooks has the Bengals drafting Ohio State safety Caleb Downs with their first-round pick. Brooks wrote, \u201cThe defense has fallen apart since Jessie Bates III\u2019s departure. In 2022, Bates\u2019 final season with the team, Cincinnati ranked 16th in yards allowed, then dropped to 31st, 25th and 31st over the next three seasons. Adding a multi-faceted playmaker to the lineup would go a long way to boosting this unit, and Downs is a high-IQ defender who excels near the box or in the deep half as a playmaking specialist.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Previously, Bleacher Report\u2019s Daniel Harms had described Downs as, \u201cThe single best prospect for the 2026 draft cycle. With his experience in Matt Patricia\u2019s defense, he\u2019s going to hit the ground running for whatever NFL team drafts him.\u201d Adding someone who has been labeled the best prospect in the draft would provide a huge boost to the Bengals\u2019 defense.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><b>Thoughts on Caleb Downs\u2019 Selection<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Brooks\u2019 Moving the Sticks co-host Daniel Jeremiah disagreed with the selection as he went with cornerback Jermod McCoy for the Bengals with Downs still on the table. Jeremiah has Downs as the No. 10 overall prospect on his big board. He wrote, \u201cDowns is a versatile safety prospect with outstanding instincts and intangibles. He moved around in Ohio State\u2019s scheme but primarily lined up underneath as a nickel, strong safety or nickel \u2018backer. In the passing game, he is a smooth mover and utilizes his eyes\/instincts to close and limit windows. He\u2019s physical and has enough speed to mirror tight ends in man coverage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With the division-rival Ravens already having a stellar safety in Kyle Hamilton, maybe the Bengals can copy a play out of their playbook and land their own special safety.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Cincinnati Bengals have one of the league\u2019s top offenses. The trio of Joe Burrow, Ja\u2019Marr Chase and Tee Higgins led the Bengals to a 4-2 record in their six games together in 2025. But despite having an explosive offense, the team fared poorly defensively and that was the biggest reason they failed to meet expectations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42693,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42692","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 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Bengals Predicted to Add \u2018Best Prospect\u2019 of 2026 NFL Draft - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=42692\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bengals Predicted to Add \u2018Best Prospect\u2019 of 2026 NFL Draft - Breaking News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Cincinnati Bengals have one of the league\u2019s top offenses. The trio of Joe Burrow, Ja\u2019Marr Chase and Tee Higgins led the Bengals to a 4-2 record in their six games together in 2025. But despite having an explosive offense, the team fared poorly defensively and that was the biggest reason they failed to meet expectations.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=42692\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Breaking News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-31T13:46:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/cincin-56.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrKen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrKen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=42692\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=42692\",\"name\":\"Bengals Predicted to Add \u2018Best Prospect\u2019 of 2026 NFL Draft - Breaking News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=42692#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=42692#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/cincin-56.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-31T13:46:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-31T13:46:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=42692#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=42692\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=42692#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/cincin-56.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/cincin-56.png\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=42692#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Bengals Predicted to Add \u2018Best Prospect\u2019 of 2026 NFL Draft\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"Breaking News\",\"description\":\"Explore top US sports stories, and live updates\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15\",\"name\":\"MrKen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"MrKen\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bengals Predicted to Add \u2018Best Prospect\u2019 of 2026 NFL Draft - Breaking News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=42692","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bengals Predicted to Add \u2018Best Prospect\u2019 of 2026 NFL Draft - Breaking News","og_description":"The Cincinnati Bengals have one of the league\u2019s top offenses. 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