Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - DEEP DIVE: Cornerback Value Matches the Bengals Picks in the 2026 NFL Draft

Starting point is 00:00:00 This is a deep cornerback class. There are targets from the Bengals on all three days of the draft. Let's dive deep on cornerback targets for the Bengals in the 2026 draft. You are locked on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What up Bengals fans and welcome to another episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. He's Joe Goodberry joining me today to discuss a deep dive. into cornerback prospects for the Bengals in this draft.

Starting point is 00:00:38 I'm Jake Liskow, one of your hosts of the Lockdown Bengals podcast, bringing you daily Bengals content here. And we're getting into the corners that could be a fit for the Bengals on day one, day two, and day three of the NFL draft. This is part of a series where we are doing deep dives into a number of positions of need, almost entirely on the defensive side of the ball. we will be touching on numerous positions throughout this series. So if you need to go back and watch a previous episode where we hit on another position

Starting point is 00:01:10 or watch for one in the future, we'll be hitting all of the Bengals' big knees that are still out there for this year and into the future. And today we start with cornerback where I think this class has really good options from at least rounds one to four. and I think I said that a few weeks ago on the lockdown Bengals podcast when I was talking with James about Jermon McCoy after his pro day and how deep the corner class is. But because of that pro day, Joe, we're going to start with the round one options as we are in this series for each position. Mansour Delane, Jermam McCoy, both squarely in the conversation in the first round. So we're going to talk about those guys in depth before we get to a bunch of the names. it could be in play on day two, day three of this draft. Yeah, and it's a good top of the class.

Starting point is 00:02:06 There's other really good positions like linebacker we'll talk about. We'll talk about defensive end. But some of those die off after the elite guys that are protected going to top 10. I don't think Corner does. I think Corner we could have two guys going to the top 12 at least, and that's McCoy and Delane, of course. But then I think there's going to be a ton of guys that potentially still go in the back half of round one. and then right as we flip into round two,

Starting point is 00:02:30 and hopefully one of them are still there as we get to those guys, and there's five or six of them that I would love to have at 41 for the Bengals. But yeah, the jewels of the entire draft, I think the prize of the entire draft is defensive back because safety is incredibly strong. Corner is amazingly strong.

Starting point is 00:02:47 I'm in on corner throughout, and I've always loved watching and scouting corners. So for me, when I look at this, I just keep going and keep saying, yes, I can see the upside. Yeah, I can see them as a starter. I can see him in the slot. I think this is the football's response to receiver,

Starting point is 00:03:02 just dominating the NFL for the last 10 years or so, that we finally have a cornerback class to match it. And interestingly, a wide receiver class that is not as highly heralded as we've become accustomed to. There will still be good receivers in this class, I think. I don't think that it's possible for us to have the entire, like the Laquan Treadwell draft class where all the receivers from the first round didn't really hit.

Starting point is 00:03:25 And so it's interesting to see that contrast this year. But let's start with McCoy and Delane, Joe. McCoy is going to be a guy that scores very well when you look at the different analytic pieces of data that we fold into draft profiles, including production, the athletic score, and some PFF data. Mansour Delane, I think consensus is a top 10 prospect as well. How do you see those guys from a draft. ranking perspective because they're both clearly in play, I think, at pick number 10, do you have a preference between the two based on everything you've seen and all the data that you've looked at? Yeah, so let's start with the preference. And I like Drummond McCoy better

Starting point is 00:04:08 if I were to choose between the two. And for a lot of reasons, yes, the data is going to swing me that way. I think when you get an 18, 19 year old on tape that performs the way he did, especially the year before he got injured in the SEC. I mean, just looking as good as he did, some of those games are absolutely incredible. And there's going to be an Ohio State fan listening to this and say, he struggled with Jeremiah Smith. And I'm going to say everyone did. Every single corner we're going to talk about today.

Starting point is 00:04:33 If you held your own on five snaps, I like you going against Jeremiah Smith. That is not a knock. So if you're really hard on them for that game, we got to recognize who that receiver is. But in there are a lot more games, McCoy looks like a number one high upside, perennial Pro Bowl type corner. I don't think we have that in DJ Turner and Dexel. I really like both those guys. They are not touching McCoy as a prospect.

Starting point is 00:04:58 When you've got a 20-year-old in the draft right now, so we've barely even seen his 19-year-old tape. A lot of that is late 18-year-old tape. When you go back to, you know, he had an ACL injury in January of 2025. He is a year and a half recovered. He should be perfectly fine by the time, you know, minicamp and training camp opens up. We're talking about a longer guy than Delane.

Starting point is 00:05:18 We're talking, I think he's faster than Delane on tape. I think he's twitchier than Delane on tape. He's aggressive, angry, feisty is what I put on here. Good ball skills, better ball skills. I think some of the best in the class, but better than Delane. The biggest issue with McCoy is that he's a little too aggressive. There are times the ball's in the air and he throws a receiver down and makes a play on it.

Starting point is 00:05:40 It's like, dude, you don't have to do that. Like, he is physically imposing. He's mentally like, that is my ball. And at times he can get in trouble with penalties because of it. But that is really the only knock I have on him. He's a solid run defender. He's an aggressive run defender. He is an aggressive tackler.

Starting point is 00:05:55 He wants to come up and hit. He will hit. He's got all the traits you're looking for in a number one corner. I think he's completely worth the pick as long as medical say this is no issue. Clean ACL, clean repair. He's good to go, which is a common injury at this point. If it's all passed, I'm in on pick 10. That aggressive mindset sounds like something this defense could really need.

Starting point is 00:06:17 Like you live, I think, with that kind of potential penitial. penalty and currants and it's probably something that he learns to improve a little bit over the course of time of the NFL because he's young. But like the physical nature at corner, yeah, I think that's something this defense really needs. Meanwhile, Mansour Delane, another guy that is seen by many as a top player in this draft. I think Lance Zerlijn is top three on Mansour Delane from a pure talent perspective. He's a little bit older, a little bit smaller. I think I mentioned on this podcast previously, Ben Fennell pointing out that, you know, sub six foot, 30 inch arms, the wingspan is small, under 200 pounds, 180s for weight.

Starting point is 00:07:01 So some measurable questions there, but a guy that at some point, I was talking to you a few weeks ago, Joe, we were talking about this. And I fell asleep watching the link. Nothing happened. I mean, he had a few reps where like you can see the ability in coverage. but, like, teens just aren't testing him. Do you think Delane is worth the 10th pick? I do in some scenario.

Starting point is 00:07:24 So I want to be clear that I do like Mansour Delane. But his profile, especially data-wise, isn't as strong as Jermond McCoys. When he broke out, he's basically 21 years old. Now he was really good before he got to Virginia Tech, but not as good. He wasn't top 10 pick talk good. He wasn't third Lance Airline in the draft. Good. But he's a more patient, more balanced, very smooth player.

Starting point is 00:07:47 he buzzes around receivers with ease. He makes it look incredibly easy. It's why you may fall asleep because he looks so good. He is not stressing out. He doesn't look like he breaks a sweat for 75% of the game. I just read an article where they get some sound bites and tidbits from different coordinators and coaches in the college level. And it was an SEC offensive coordinator.

Starting point is 00:08:09 I told his quarterback, don't even try Mansor Delane's side. That sounds great. I would love to strike that kind of fear in the opposing offense. We're like, yeah, we can't even do it because this guy is just he's going to blanket your number one receiver. He's not going to have any penalties either. He didn't give up more than one catch per game to a receiver in this past year. It was across the schedule.

Starting point is 00:08:31 The offenses just did not want to challenge him because he was so sticky, so tight and so calm and cool, collected. And he's a very good run defender. He's a very good tackle or two. He is a complete player. I just do, I don't know if he has the age difference, maybe the difference in the profile here. When you're 21 and you look good, that's a good thing, right? We want that. But when you're 19 and you look good, that's like, that's what you're looking for in a top 12

Starting point is 00:08:55 elite type prospect. And for me, if you go another year and a half, because a year and a half older, another year and a half into the future. And you're like, you look at it then. You say, oh, McCoy is a much better player than Delane. I wouldn't be shocked. I would say, yeah, he got that extra year and a half of development. And look where he is now. We use this argument every draft year. You want to take the younger guys if you can. The Bengals typically do in the first ground. I'm not saying Delane's old. You know, he's 202.4 years old when he gets drafted. He's a very good player. If all the options are gone, I'm fine with him. I just don't know that I would be as aggressive in wanting him. A lot of ball production for Mansour Delane, and I think

Starting point is 00:09:34 that's worth pointing out. He had four force fumbles, all of those of Virginia Tech. But to go along with the past breakups and interceptions and his profile only gave up a 40% completion percentage on targets according to PFF in 2025. So a lot to like that. Bad targets. Like the receiver, the quarterback's not, when he even throws his way, he's like putting it, no one's going to catch this because there's, he's not open. And when you have tight coverage.

Starting point is 00:09:59 Yeah. That's what you're going to get as a result. So McCoy, the preference, Ms. Lord Elaine, another option at 10. So a couple of targets for the Bengals at 10, neither of which would be heinous, terrible picks, both of which could be good picks in a lot of scenarios. But what about day two? Would it be worth just waiting because of the plethora of options that could be there on day two?

Starting point is 00:10:21 We'll talk about the day two targets of cornerback coming up next. The NHL playoffs are here where every shift matters. Every moment is intense and the pressure is at its highest. And just like performance matters on the ice, especially in the Stanley Cup playoffs, it matters off the ice too. And that's where Ruggiet comes in. Ruggiet offers treatments designed to help you get ready and stay ready when it matters. Their top option, Rougiette-ready, combines clinically proven ingredients in a simple mint that dissolves under your tongue.

Starting point is 00:10:54 And it works fast in as few as 15 minutes and can last up to 36 hours. They also offer go-long designed to help you with both performance and control. It's all about confidence and feeling like yourself again. Head to Ruggiat.com slash lockdown NFL to get 15% off your ED treatment. That's Ruggiat, R-U-G-I-E-T-com slash. locked on NFL for 15% off. Ruggia, performance medicine for men. Joe, the list of corners that could be a target on day two of this draft

Starting point is 00:11:27 could have grown with Avianne Terell dealing with the handstring at his pro day, potentially pushing him down to the Bengals at 41. But the list of players here is pretty impressive. For round two in particular, Colton Hood, who probably doesn't make it there, but let's throw him into the conversation and pay lip service there. Avion Terrell, I mentioned as well. Neither of those guys likely make it to 41. You're probably talking more about Chris Johnson,

Starting point is 00:11:53 DeAngelo Pons, maybe Keith Abney, Brandon Cisei, from Arizona, sorry, from South Carolina, Keith Abney, Arizona State. Those are probably the guys you're talking about in the second round. There's probably some round three guys as well. But Chris Johnson and Pons both really stand out if they're available at 41 as potential options, both of which, you know, they have some.

Starting point is 00:12:17 some questions in their profile. There's a reason we're not talking about them at 10, but both of which could be really exciting picks at 41. I would not be shocked. So I love Chris Johnson, San Diego State. I would not be shocked if he goes ahead of Avianne Torell and Colton Hood. I do think Colton Hood more likely goes in the back half of round one. Right now in the consensus, I think Hood is 31 and Terrell is 30. That's why I, you know, if let's bring them up, at least they could be there if they're there at 41, they're clear BPA range. So like, yeah, They would have to be someone we want to talk about here. I would be in on, if I could pick a corner to put in to this trio of Dax Hill, DJ Turner, it would be Aviont Thorel.

Starting point is 00:12:57 And I would put him in the slot and I think he's going to be dynamic there. He had eight force fumbles last few years. You brought it up about Delane. Like Aviontorel is the peanut punch guy in this draft class. Just a physical. Talking about things that you could use on this defense, like you mentioned with McCoy and that aggressiveness, man, like a peanut puncher. Give me that. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:13:14 And we're going to talk about Jacob Reed. Rodriguez when we get to linebackers. It's the same thing with him. Like, if you could have Terrell and Rodriguez, you're getting another eight force fumbles this year. I would love to have that. We let's, let's get the ball back to Joe Burrow in this offense as much as possible. Let's get some turnover. So I got Terrell would be, I think he's a natural slot that can play the run, can tackle as aggressive as feisty. And all of his numbers look really good, too, in coverage. I wish he would have been able to test because I think he would have tested better than I think some people thought. It's just a little smaller guy, a little bit bigger than

Starting point is 00:13:45 Mancer, Elaine. So, you know, in that range when we talk about Delane. He is a small corner. But Colton Hood, when I watch him, his flashes at Tennessee are extremely good. He is not as refined as Delane. He's not even as refined as McCoy, who is still a very young player. Hood has a lot of ups and downs. He has mistackles.

Starting point is 00:14:04 His ball skills at times, I'm wondering if he knows where the ball is or if he can track it. But his tackling, I'm sorry, his run defense is really good despite missing tackles. His man coverage is very good. he is a feisty, aggressive, angry corner again, similar than him and McCoy. They're just a blast to watch together because they want to make every single play they can. Even if they fly by 100 miles an hour and miss the tackle, Colton Hood's flashes are like, whoa, that's manned coverage.

Starting point is 00:14:31 Like, this guy's going to be a stud in the NFL. Someone's going to bet on those traits before the Bengals get the chance to, I think, at 41. The guy, go ahead. Yeah, I was going to say, and then the guys that you could consider at 41 that are more likely to be there. Chris Johnson and like maybe DeAngelo Pons at this point because he's such a size outlier that he probably goes a little bit later than his production, his tape and and his testing would suggest that he would just because of the size. Yeah, so both guys are going to score incredibly well on our draft sheet that people will get close to about the time they're hearing this podcast. Chris Johnson to me is built different than a lot of these corners. He is sometimes you'll say these guys are leggy.

Starting point is 00:15:12 He's the opposite. He is very stumpy short legs. When you watch him, his center of gravity is very low. He is the most smoothest hips of any corner in this class. He changes directions very well. And some people said they thought he was clunky. I think he's got an odd body type. But it really helps him change direction, plant that foot, flip, turn and run with guys.

Starting point is 00:15:31 I think he was great in man coverage. I thought he was, he scores really well. And I thought he was excellent in zone coverage, very good eye discipline, understanding rough combinations where he can jump, where he can help, where he can go and make a play when it's time. the fire is gone and go get that. I was incredibly impressed with Chris Johnson. I think he's got number one corner upside. If I were to say, like, who are the number one corners in this draft? I'd say, Jermond McCoy. I'd say, answer, Delane has that upside. And I would say Chris Johnson's next in

Starting point is 00:15:56 terms of upside. If he was there at 41, it's an A plus type pick for me. Well, so then my question is, would you rather have Vermont McCoy at 10 or Chris Johnson at 41, not knowing what the other option would be at 10, not knowing if it is Caleb, even after the Bengals added two safeties with all the praise for Jordan Battle going on, not knowing if it will be a chance to draft one of the defensive ends that we'll have talked about in this series at some point as well. I think that is something that should be considered. I don't know if it's something that you can strongly consider.

Starting point is 00:16:32 Like if Drummond McCoy is just your best player in the first round, maybe you just have to take him. And then if Chris Johnson is there in the second round, then, you know, it is what it is. We've all experienced that, I think, in a mock draft simulator where you spent your first round pick and it's like, oh, man, now there's a plethora of guys at that position in the second round that I would have liked. And I could have done something else in the first round. Happens to NFL teams as well, I'm sure. What are your thoughts about DeAngelo Pons in the second round? The size outlier is significant, but boy, is he a fun player. I mean, athletic Mike Hilton, same mentality, played outside in college.

Starting point is 00:17:05 So like the one cop that we talked about, I think, earlier on this podcast, James and I was Mike Sandristro. But Sanristro played in the slot in college and played more outside in the NFL. You might need the opposite transition for DiAngelo Pons. But like Mike Hilton's size, but crazy athletic and like has a lot of that Mike Hilton mentality as well as far as run support. Yeah, a comparison that I've been bringing up was a guy I liked seven or eight years ago now. Meek Robertson, he's played for the Detroit Lions. He's been on the outside. he's a 5-8-5-9 guy.

Starting point is 00:17:36 And Deidrele Pons is 5-8 and 5-8. So he should wear number 58. But he is a jetpack Mike Hilton. Like put a rocket on Mike Hilton. Would you love that? Everyone would take that in a heartbeat. And data-wise, and we talk about, we talk to Neil Engelberger a lot as we're creating our sheet and we're going through this.

Starting point is 00:17:53 He is an elite prospect. He has the best data profile of any corner in this draft, over McCoy, over Delane. And it's because he's 5-8 and 5-8s. if he was 511, he is a top 15 lock in this draft. And it looks like he ran a 4-38. Maybe it's a 4-4 officially at his pro-day. There are no speed questions. I thought there were some like 4-2-8 reports.

Starting point is 00:18:17 By the time this is out, we'll have the official number. Yeah, yeah. But there's no speed questions with him. There's no agility questions. There's no explosion questions. He can jump. He moves. He floats around receivers with ease.

Starting point is 00:18:30 He is also another guy that is incredible. aggressively aggressive and physical. He wants the contact. He yearns for the contact. He is in the Mike Hilton mold of like, please, I'm not woken up yet until I come in and make a tackle. And there, yeah, he doesn't have a lot of slot like reps. But when you watch him, if they go on balance and three receivers to one side, he's going to come down and he's going to play that box and cover the tight end on that side. He'll blitz from there. He'll defend the run from there. He's got a lot of tackles where he looks like Mike Hilton taking on Derek Henry with the Titans, you know, where he's knifing in and grabbing these guys from the ankles and just flipping them up.

Starting point is 00:19:06 He's always hitting the knee, hitting the lower half. He's small, but he's tough. He plays bigger than his size. It has not affected him too much. There are a couple plays where I'm like, oh, that guy, that bigger guy's going to get it over you. And then as the receiver tries to pull away with the ball, you see Pond punch it out afterwards. And I'm like, geez, he's got ball skills to match. I can't give you anything on all of the notes I have written for him.

Starting point is 00:19:31 I can't give you something that I put that was negative on tape on on his ability. It's just that he's short. And that's it. And when you get there, you go, you know what? That's okay. I'll take that in round two. I want to put him in the slot. And the data says he will be a good player.

Starting point is 00:19:46 His chances of hitting are extremely high. Okay, sign me up. The one data point that gives you pause is that extreme outlier for size. And that is not only him. Mansor Delane is an outlier for size. And Ruben Bain is obviously a. big outlier for size for guys that we're going to be talking about for the Bengals. Let's wrap up, Joe, with discussing potential round three, round four targets.

Starting point is 00:20:09 And if there's anyone you love late on day three because Bengals don't have a fifth round pick. So only a few spots for the Bengals to go if they're looking for corner outside of the first two rounds. We'll finish up with some of the other corner targets coming up next. Today's show is brought to buy Rocket Money. If you've ever opened your bank account and thought, where did all my money go? Well, you're not alone, keeping track of all the subscriptions, free agency spending like the

Starting point is 00:20:35 Bengals and bills, it can get overwhelming. But Rocket Money is going to help you. And I use Rocket Money, and it's really nice. It helps you take control of your finances in one place, tracks all of your subscriptions, lets you know, hey, you have this automatic withdrawal coming, whether it's your mortgage or your rent or a big bill that is an annual subscription that you forget about. it will let you know all of those things. It's a personal finance app that helps you find and cancel unwanted subscriptions.

Starting point is 00:21:07 Monitors your spending helps lower your bills so you can grow your savings. Let Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. Join RocketMoney.com slash locked on. That's rocketmoney.com slash locked on rocketmoney.com slash locked on. Joe, I think we rightly spend a lot of time on the first and second round of corner because of the alignment between expected draft position for those guys, consensus ranking for those guys and where the Bengals are picking. There are a couple of guys right around 40.

Starting point is 00:21:38 That would be really fun picks. There are a couple guys right around 10 who could be really fun picks and really good players at this position if the Bengals want to go get a potential cornerback one. That's not as true when you look at the third round, in my opinion, but then when you get to the fourth round, there are a number of guys that I think are really interesting. Who stands out to you, round three, round four, as potential targets you would really like to see the Bengals target.

Starting point is 00:22:01 And what do you like about those guys? So top one is we're going to sound very similar to what we just talked about with Daniela Ponds. If you can't get D'Angelo Ponds, the next guy that I would be like in round four, I'm so in. And I'd consider it in the third. One of the funnest players to watch on tape of the entire draft season so far for me was Chandler Rivers out of Duke. He's a year older than these other guys. All the other guys we mentioned for round two is probably because they're 21.

Starting point is 00:22:26 That's what really separates them from the 22 and a half. year olds and the 23-year-olds that I have listed here for the day three. But Rivers, again, a 59, 185 short arms, right? He looks just like all these guys, but he ran a 4-4 at the combine. And I didn't expect that. RAS in the 90s, that's what you want from a guy I'm going to target maybe a little bit ahead of some of these other guys. But again, very similar. He's going to play boundary. I want to say it was 3,200 snaps total, 680 in the slot, 160 in the box. That's what I got written down for him. he's done a lot he's done a lot of safety they'll rotate him over into safety and then he actually is in a cover two situation in an end zone play i can't remember the opponent was but he gets his

Starting point is 00:23:06 range all the way across lays a hit on the receiver knocks it out he's diving for balls really good ball skills uh he's really aggressive tackler he wants to there's a put there'll be a screen on the other side he will get on his horse and run and try and get over there as fast as he can remember watching mike we say mike guilt was the funest player to watch on bengal's defense around that time because you can watch Dave and nothing happens on, you know, 20 plays in the game. And just nothing happens. But Mike Hilton is making something happen. He's running around.

Starting point is 00:23:32 He's making a guy miss and the ball's going the other way. But he just doesn't want anybody touching him, like almost like it's offensive. Chandler Rivers does that in a lot of ways. And so when you say there's a ponds, there's a jetpack, Mike Hilton, there's another one. And that's how good this class is. It's not just one this year. There's two of them in Chandler Rivers. He's a playmaker I wrote.

Starting point is 00:23:52 He's got great ball skills. he's everywhere, he's super-aggressive. It's just, when I watch a player like that, you can pick on, pick any game or just watch his highlights, type in Chandler Rivers Duke. It's just loads of fun. It's just a reset of, you know what, this is what I want for a slot corner,

Starting point is 00:24:09 and he's got some experience there. And you think that's more of a round four potential target BC 93-ish on consensus as of the time of recording this. Was there anyone that you liked in round three? is a Malik Muhammad, a guy that appeals to you in round three. I think Keith Abney is probably between the Bengal second and third round pick, but like maybe Abney gets to them in the third round. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:24:34 Either those guys stand out for you. Yeah, I've got Keith Abney also as a potential target. Brandon Cesea at South Carolina. Both guys, Cet is 20.8. Abney is 21.3. Both young guys with more size for CSEA, six foot, Keith McHavney is 5, 10, 30-inch arms, 73 and 5 eighth wing span for Abney.

Starting point is 00:24:54 So he is smaller, but he has tremendous production right, a 445, a 69-1-3 cone. The agility shows up on tape, too. He is, he changes directions very, very well. He is someone that played a lot of off coverage, a lot of zone. So I don't know if he's got, it's good to see him run that fast and move that quickly, but both guys have a little bit of holes in their game. The highlights for Abney are really good. Why, the key goes round two, especially probably back half a row.

Starting point is 00:25:21 round two. I think he's the better of the next guys. That's about Malik Mohamed too. He tested better. His agility times were much better than people expected. And then when I watched him do like the W and the wave drill and stuff at the combine, I thought it made sense why his three cone was so good. His foot planted, he cut, he changed direction. He's a taller, legy guy that had some issues with being grabby, had some clunkiness changing direction and had some issues with ball skills. But he's someone who looked like he was getting better every single time I watched him. And then when he tested as good as he did,

Starting point is 00:25:53 I think it's going to throw him into round two as well. We get to the later part of the draft here, Joe, some of the day three targets. We mentioned Chandler Rivers. He's consensus 93, like I said. So right around the end of the third, the beginning of the fourth. So maybe that ends up in a tweener spot as well. Anyone else stand out to you,

Starting point is 00:26:12 round four, maybe if they do end up with a round five, round six pick, round five pick or anyone who you really like for round six based on where we think these guys are going to be picked. Yeah, I've got three guys here that I would like. If you end up in this scenario where the Bengals are either double dipping at corner or let's just say DB, because I think it could be a safety in a corner or you're still needing a guy. There's a couple of slot guys potentially on day three.

Starting point is 00:26:36 Chandler Rivers may be there. The other one is Jaden Kennedy out of Oregon, who again is 510, 181, 30 inch arm, 74 inch wingspan. and he had a 6.5 RES did not test as well. That's going to keep him in the fifth, six round. Bengals has a fifth round fix. Maybe he's there in the six. 2400 career snaps, 1,000 in the slot in that safety.

Starting point is 00:26:54 He misses tackles, but he is a highly active, quick reactor. Like, he understands, with all those snaps, he understands, he's 23 years old.

Starting point is 00:27:03 He knows how offenses are attacking him. He knows where the route combos are coming. He makes it very hard to challenge his side, especially when he's playing in the slot. I think he's got the profile of a guy that will stick. and start for five plus years for a team in the slot because he defends the run really well. You can blitz with him. And his coverage is sticky enough.

Starting point is 00:27:22 And I especially think in zone, he's going to be, he's going to be good. I wrote down that he's super smooth on the shrine week in practices. He really gave people trouble there. He stood out. He probably should have been at the Senior Bowl. And he had a really good game versus Mackay Lemon. Julian Neal is the next one out of Arkansas. He's a 23-year-old, but he's 6-1 and 5-8s, 203-inch arms.

Starting point is 00:27:41 he is the best press corner in this entire draft. With that length, with that strength, he dominates. There's highlights of them locking guys at the line of scrimmage and riding them out of bounds and just throwing him. Like, it's a punt. Like, yeah, you're out of the play now. And he's super physical. And of the taller guys, we have a couple six three, day three guys.

Starting point is 00:28:01 If you're looking at the sheet, I highlighted them in blue for you, Jake. None of them are as good as Julianneal. Neil, and he's almost six two, he is the smoothest of them. He ran a 4-4-9, and he's a bit hesitant as a tackler, but he scores really well for us as a tackler and run defense. He just picks and chooses a little bit too much. But of the taller corners, he's got the best feet of all of them, probably the best eyes, too.

Starting point is 00:28:23 And, again, the best press corner in this class. If you were to say, like, who are the Legion of Boom Seahawks going to draft? I would say, Julie Neal was definitely the guy they're going to take at some point. I think actually they had a 30 visit with him. So I wouldn't be shocked if Seahawks are still in on that. guy, NC State, did not test well, was scoring really well for us in the sheet until he didn't test a 4.5 RAS is Devon Marshall, NC State Smaller School. He's 510, 197, 31-inch arms. He had tremendous production there. He's great eyes. He's super smart. He's sticky and man coverage. He

Starting point is 00:28:59 jumps routes in zone, understand zone coverage very, very well. Great ball skills. 99th percentile score in zone for us, right? Like PFF, loved him in zone coverage. And when you watch him, you can see why he just dominates that quadrant on the field, whatever his responsibility is on that play. They just don't, he's all over. He can almost cover two guys at once. I think he's a future slot guy.

Starting point is 00:29:23 Put him in there. He's a fifth, sixth, seventh rounder, wasn't invited to the combine. Usually means he's going to go much later than you think. That's a guy. I'm going to target my shadow team draft. There's a lot of names for you. We got the first round options. And we've talked about a ton because it's easy for us to talk about first round

Starting point is 00:29:39 options from Mavakoi, Mansour Delane. A bunch of guys on day two. We talked about Aviont Trell if he falls. We talked about Colton Hood if he falls. Chris Johnson, DeAngelo, Paz, maybe the sweet spot for the Bengals in the second round if they're looking for a corner there. And some mentions for Brandon Cese and Keith Abney, a couple of guys we talked about there as well. On day three, Chandler Rivers, if he makes it to the fourth round, I think is, again, talking about value. Chris Johnson's second round, Chandler Rivers, fourth round.

Starting point is 00:30:09 And if you could get those guys in those respective rounds, those both seem like excellent value propositions. And because of that, maybe they don't make it to those spots. But the NFL maybe value some of these guys differently, smaller school, San Diego State, smaller size Chandler Rivers. And Duke not known for his football, although they have produced some solid NFL players out of that program lately. We mentioned Julian Needle, Neal, Jaden, Kennedy, and Devin Marshall as well for some day three options. And that's not even everybody. We could have also talked about the Florida corner, Devin Moore, was the next guy on the list for me that we're not going to get to talk about a ton today.

Starting point is 00:30:51 Who are the next guys? We talked about Malik Mohamed very briefly. Was there anyone else that's an honorable mention? We don't have time to do more than just mention their names, but honorable mentioned names. Yeah, Keante Scott and Trayda and Stukes are going to come up in the safety episodes. So if you're wondering, we kind of had to split them and say, what do they play more? What is their responsibility? More Keante Scott and Stukes are probably slot safety hybrid types.

Starting point is 00:31:14 We'll get to them in that episode. Hopefully you enjoyed this deep dive into the quarterback position and some guys that the Bengals might be able to target in the 2026 NFL draft. And like I said, part of a series, depending on where you are in the series, will have covered many positions for the Bengals on each day of the draft. So hopefully you check out that entire series and find Joe's work at Joe's work. Barry on Twitter and on the first star logistics, Bengals on the Brain show where you can find some film breakdowns on some of the prospects that we've talked about in depth. Until next time,

Starting point is 00:31:49 that's going to do it for this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. Thanks for listening, Ho day, and have a good one.

Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - DEEP DIVE: Cornerback Value Matches the Bengals Picks in the 2026 NFL Draft

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.