Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - MOCK DRAFT MONDAY!? | Navigating a Cincinnati Bengals mock draft with plenty of starting needs lingering

Episode Date: March 24, 2025

The Cincinnati Bengals have some clear wants and needs, and they'll have a big opportunity to find impact players to improve their roster in the 2025 NFL Draft. So, for the first time in this draft cycle, Jake Liscow and James Rapien fire up the mock draft machine to try to find the players who can help the Bengals the most while thinking about needs on the defensive line and guard.Join the Locked On Bengals Insider Community! https://joinsubtext.com/lockedonbengalsFind and follow Locked On Bengals on your favorite podcast platforms:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-bengals-daily-podcast-on-the-cincinnati-bengals/id1159723162Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7AObc0lh0WmQl5fJVgtajsGoogle Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vbG9ja2Vkb25iZW5nYWxz?sa=X&ved=0CAYQrrcFahcKEwio_sXtj8nuAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAgStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-bengalsSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Luckily for the Cincinnati Bengals, free agency is not the only way to improve your team in the off season. And a biggest opportunity to add talent, it's the NFL draft. We haven't done a mock draft Monday in a while, but it's time. Let's dive it. 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 Locked On Benagles. I'm your host, Jake Liskow. He's your host, James Rapine, and we are locked on Bengals, covering your team every day on the Lockdown Podcast Network. We're on YouTube. We're everywhere you get your podcasts. Everydayers already know that. They've already hit the subscribe button.

They've already rung the bell. And shout out to all you everydayers who make us part of your daily routine. Love to see more of you join that club. And I've told you how to do it. Subscribe, hit the bell, wherever you get your podcast. Or if you're on YouTube to hit the bell. Today, James, we dive into our first mock draft Monday where we're running the draft. I think of this draft season. I don't think we've done it. We've talked through some other mock drafts. We had John Sheeran on for mock draft he did on A to Z sports a few, what weeks?

Is it a month ago at this point? But it's time. It feels like years. It feels like 10 years. It's a mock draft Monday, maybe. And the reason that we're choosing today is because free agency is, is in its doldrums. We're at the end. There are still moves that the Bengals could make and they can make more cap space and all of those things. We just spent an entire episode

yesterday being critical of their cap approach and their approach to free agency. We're not going to do that today. We're not going to talk about the cap today. But as of today, there are still holes on this team, James. And that's part of the exercise. If free agency is in fact done for the Bengals and we get to the draft, how do we feel the impact of that free agency as we try to navigate this draft? Well, yeah, we're going to have to first mock draft Monday. We're going three rounds. It's going to have to be the biggest three rounds since certainly the 2020 draft.

I mean, we're going to have to nail these things. I mean, mock draft Monday comes with a special pressure now when it comes to the Cincinnati Bengals and their Super Bowl hopes. And hopefully we're doing an emergency pod, to be quite frank with you later today. That's not something either of us to anticipate. But if that does happen, if there is news, we'll obviously cover it with free agency. But it is time to set our sites on the draft because it's one month away. It's the other element here.

It's one month away, which it's going to fly by. It's going to be here before we know it. And the Bengals are going to be on the clock. And let's start to get to know these names, start to have the discussions. The Bengals are certainly having right now. I think there's about 12 pro days today across the country. as well. So some high-end NFL prospects

are working out today. The Bengals certainly eyeing those guys and so are we on a special first edition of mock draft Monday. And I think what we're going to do here, James, is typically we don't take trades as often as you might when you're doing these.

If you're in the mock draft machines at home and it's midnight, you're sitting up in bed, you got the mock draft machine on your phone, you've gone through 12 different mock draft, you've tried to trade back, you're like, man, look at all these players I can get when I trade back. We'll talk about the scenarios of trading around a little bit, but probably not going to take any trade offers in this one.

We'll try to stick with the Bengals picks. And let's dive in, shall we? We're going to be using the PFF simulator today. And let's see who our options are as we kick things off here and we'll see who we can pick at the 17th pick. And I forgot to change it from Turv, row for those of you watching on YouTube, I'll slow that down for the rest of our picks here. But for those of you that are in our audio audience, if you're hoping that a skill player like

Ashton Jentie or Tyler Warren were going to fall, that didn't happen here. Jahad Campbell notably picked at 11 before our selection, Jaday Barron at 8, the offensive lineman that I think you would most strongly consider Armand Membo and Will Campbell off the board as well. Jalen Walker, Kenneth Grant, selected ahead of our pick at 17, James. Having seen all of that, what's your first thought when we consider the names available to us? Yeah, that safety very well could be the best player available when the Bengals are on the clock. And that's a very real possibility. And looking at the big board here, Malachi Stark is ninth on PFF's Big Board in the simulator. he's just staring right at you.

Now he's not alone. You got Mike Green as well, who I know PFF really likes. A lot of people like him as an edge rusher. You got Donovan Azaraku as well from Boston College, another edge rusher. And I wonder about those two guys, Jake, just the size element of it. Obviously off the field, who knows with Mike Green, but that's going to come up. And I think that that's going to be a discussion when it comes to a first round edge with a lot of these guys. is the James Pierce's of the world. It's just going to be size. Walter Nolan available, though.

I think he is very much in the mix at 17. And I also would imagine that Derek Harmon's still available, and he is out of Oregon. And I think he's very much a contender as well for the 17th pick. Other guys that could be in the mix. I know people like to dismiss it, but I think Colston Loveland, certainly in the mix. Shamar Stewart is one that I think the Bengals very much could jump at right now. And literally, there's no size questions with him. It's all production questions. My man has got a half sack in four years. No, it's not that bad. But the production questions with Samar Stewart or what's going to come up, certainly not the athleticism or anything like that. Mikel Williams, his teammate at Georgia also available. What stands out to you, Jake, as we

kind of look here. Is there anyone else or those, have I hit most of the names you'd be thinking about? I think you've hit most of the names just to run through them. Malachi Stark, Safe. out of Georgia. Mike Green, James Pierce, Donovan Azaraku from Boston College, three edge rushers there, all a little bit undersized. James Pierce from Tennessee, Mike Green from Marshall, the transfer to the smaller Mack school. I think Kelvin Banks is a name that didn't come up that I would mention here. Good pass protection as a tackle at Texas, but doesn't necessarily have the size to stick it tackle. And if you were looking for a potential guard pick in the first round, I think Kelvin Banks, as a tackle to guard convert, is a name that will come up between now and the You mentioned Walter Nolan, you mentioned Derek Harmon, you mentioned Shamar Stewart, and Michael Williams, Colston Loveland, you mentioned as well. All players that I think would be in consideration for that pick along with the one guy you didn't mention here, Gray Zabel, if the Bengals wanted to go back to the North Dakota State well and hope that you're not scouting the helmet here, Gray's able, a very different player from Cordell Volsen and could play along the interior, I think, at multiple spots. So if you're looking for an interior lineman pick there, I think Grace Abel is the last name I would mention. The other thing I've mentioned here is that's a whole lot of names that we're talking about.

If there are like 10 players here, and maybe it's not quite 10, maybe it's six, that you're okay with the Bengals drafting. This is where we would talk about the tradeback scenario. I think that you would have to be strongly considering trying to add a pick to move back six to seven spots. if there are six to seven players you're comfortable with here. Yeah. And honestly, that's going to be the most popular thing over the next month. Breaking news, the most popular thing is going to be a trade down from 17. And who knows, maybe it happens.

I don't really think, I've looked at it today, I don't really think that there's going to be a team that has to get to 17 for a quarterback. That's the challenge. That's the most, like you'd have to leap frog. Like you'd have to think Seattle was in on quarterback or Pittsburgh was in on quarterback outside of that, you could just wait and just move into the 20s or move up a few spots and not have to give up that kind of capital.

So of these names, I do think there are tears. Like I named a lot of guys because it's a month out and because we're just starting to really dive in, at least I am. I mean, for me, Malachi Stark's would be really high on my board as of now. And looking at these other guys, I think the other one for me, would be defensive tackle and Walter Nolan and Derek Harmon. Those two are the other ones

that really stand out. I think that those guys are pretty intriguing. Not that the edge rushers aren't. Shamar Stewart's going to be someone that a lot of teams are going to be considering in the top 10. And I think the Bengals probably take him here if he falls to 17 to be honest with you,

which is going to make a lot of people cringe. And I think a lot of people smile. But yeah, that's kind of where I'm at. I think that there's, I'd be in on the defensive tack, me personally, defensive tackles or safety, but I could see them going with Shamar Stewart. Yeah, I think any of these bigger edge guys could be in play, maybe even Nick Skirton, who we haven't mentioned, who's down here on the list. But the thought would be is it Malachi starts to be the game-changing safety, the force

multiplier safety, or is Walter Nolan that guy for you on the defensive front? And if we're talking about marrying up need with value, I think that is the closest one here. It would be Walter Nolan. But if you're talking about strictly, like, just get the player that you think is going to make the biggest impact on your defense, maybe that is Malachi-Starks. And I think that is the complicating bit here. But they're very, very closest prospects, Malachi-Starks and Walter Nolan, in my mind, if we're eliminating the smaller edge rushers. And so maybe you just lean Walter Nolan there because he can be your defensive interior player of the future. will we take nolan will i make a big case for derrick harmon we'll make our pick 17th overall coming up next

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And I, me personally, I'm not locked in on defensive tackle in round one. I think Derek Harmon's really intriguing as someone you could bring in. And, yeah, you're highlighting it on YouTube, the pass rush win rate, the true past set rush grade you know i i think do you think one are you comfortable with everything with walter nolan is he going to be not just a three tech like a larry oaken joe but a three tech that's just going to wreck things and if so then you take him 17 and i'm fine with either one i'm also fine with malachi starks if it were me today i probably take starks if you're leaning nolan though i'm fine with that especially because if we pulled our listeners and viewers this is our first

mock draft Monday, I think they would say defensive line all the way. I really do. So I'm fine defaulting to Walter Nola. If anyone listening or watching is on pins and needles screaming at their screen, you can't take a safety, well, we'll capitulate this one time

to those of you out there that are yelling at us, because I can hear it. I can hear you all yelling at your screen, typing the comments on YouTube for those of you that are watching on YouTube. So let's go Walter Nolan here. They weren't even ready. They weren't even ready for my, take Walter Nolan. They weren't even ready for my

Colston-Lauveland argument that will be happening within the next month. Don't you worry. It will. But we're not there yet. I think it's something that will have to be discussed at some point in greater depth than we have talked about it as a vague

possibility. But we go Walter Nolan in the first round. Donovan Ezraki goes immediately afterward. Josh Simmons, Kelvin Banks come off the board. Tyler Booker at 23. If you're interested in the first round guard from Alabama, Alachi Starks makes it a few more picks to 24 to the Minnesota Vikings, Gray Zabel, who we mentioned at 25.

Derek Harmon, who has been compared to Chris Jones, goes at 31 to the team that employs Chris Jones. Because, of course, Colston Lovell and makes it all the way into the second round, which, given what's going on with his stock right now, and the way people are talking about him, certainly some people have him as tight end one in the second round. It's a bit of a surprise. Nick Mnman Worry makes it all the way to 36.

one of my favorite players in the draft High League Williams did bun stopping defensive tackle from Ohio State goes 37, another three tech kind of defensive tackle and T.J. Sanders at 40. Nick Skirton at 41. Trey Amos, a clear cornerback target if he makes it to the Bengals

picking the second round in my opinion from Ole Miss at 43. Xavier Watts, who I was ready to draft without thinking at 49, picked by the Cowboys at 44. And here we are, James, making our selection at pick 49 with some considerations. Yeah.

That's a tough one because, yeah, I think the Xavier Watts one would have made this one pretty easy. And you look here, Demetrius Knight Jr. is the highest PFF-graded player available. Maxwell Harris in the corner out of Kentucky available. Cam Scadaboo, very popular Arizona State, halfback available. JTU Tulao from Ohio State, I might have but the edge rusher there. Quinn Sean Judkins, Carson, Carson, I forgot his last name from UCLA. Schlesinger, yeah.

So Jake is scrolling here and I'm reading his screen, just like, so for the audio audience, it's not like I have control over it either. So this is, it's day one for us too. Jack Sawyer available, Elijah Arroyo available. So, I mean, a lot of popular Bengals targets, I think, went off the board right before, but still some guys, Benjamin Morris and I think is in consideration as early as 49. Would not be shocked at all there. I honestly think, though, that round two running back, like Travion Henderson, I think the Bengals may end up loving the Ohio State kid.

Travian Henderson, and I would not be shocked at all if he would be in the mix at 49 here. Quinnshot Judkins, I mentioned him in Skadaboo. So don't be shocked if any of those guys are in the mix. Also, I didn't mention, is the LSU Edge gone? on? Yeah, Braden's Winston just went. I do think he could be in the mix here as well. Surprised he, well, not surprised he didn't fall, but would have been nice if he fell to consider here. Landon Jackson, the other one that I think would be very interesting to the Bengals at Pick 49 if he were available there. Has the size, the run defense, the athleticism that

you would hope to develop. Prince Lee, you, whose name I cannot pronounce from Ole Miss, also available here, but a little bit smaller. Great. rush win rate data and has certainly some skill in that area, but I wonder there about the size. But you mentioned running back. I mean, every running back you can possibly imagine available here if the Bengals want to go that direction. But James, I am going to argue here to scroll down a little bit. And there's a couple of players that I'm particularly interested in since we went defensive

tackle in the first round. So Omar Norman, Lott available here. Some people love him as a player who can do more. with more opportunity in the NFL. But I'm looking at a Ohio State player, James, Donovan Jackson, who played a lot of guard for the Buckeyes, kicked out to tackle. And if you're looking for a guard in this range, maybe as Tate Ratledge, maybe we go get the Georgia kid who tested great,

dealt with an injury last year, Donovan Jackson, another one that I think by average draft position would be a little bit higher. And then I wonder about the medicals on Benjamin Morrison, who if they wanted to go to corner, Al Golden obviously very familiar there, Benjamin Morrison out of Notre Dame, but the injury history with his hip,

a little bit scary. Sure. And that's what it's going to be for a lot of these guys, is that health factor and what the medical say behind the scenes, right? And it's not just him, the Michigan corner as well, that has a pro day coming up.

Will Johnson? Will Johnson. Yeah. Like he's going to be in, we didn't mention him at 17. He will be in consideration at 17 if he's there if he checks the medicals. You just don't know. And so it's the same thing. For sure.

And he might be picked. He might go eighth. But the medicals are big there. So we'll see on those two corners. I'm open. I'm open right now, to be honest with you. I saw a mock where Maxwell Hairston, went to the Bengals here.

I'm not in on Maxwell Harrison here. I know he tested really well. Moves great. I think a really intriguing combat. I just, I'm not sure if you take him at 49.

I may feel differently in a week or two, of course. All of these opinions can change very quickly. But that would be the one I would roll out at this point. Harrison moves great. I think that he should be probably in consideration in the second round. It depends on how you feel about Morrison's medicals.

To be honest, I think I lean Trey Amos between all those guys. Amos is clean medically compared to those guys anyway. I think that is one that you'd have to consider. Azaria Thomas, whose name I probably butchered, I don't know if he's available to us here, will be another corner if you wanted to go corner. I think you should strongly consider Demetrius Knight out of South Carolina as well as a plug-and-play linebacker, a little bit older as a prospect,

but a very good linebacker prospect. There's a reason that he's 33rd on PFS Big Board, and we're picking here at 49. But would you feel bad if we picked a guard here? I mean, should we be talking more about Elijah Royo as a receiving tight end option? Should we be thinking more, should I be thinking more seriously about the running backs, James?

Well, I think they will. See, I would be in a position where you didn't need a guard here. Well, yeah. But they aren't. And I think you do need. What are you going to do? You're going to wait another round? And hope for Tate Batledge at that point. That's where I'm at. I think if there was no need, Demetrius Knight makes a ton of sense.

I think he probably is BPA. And oddly enough was compared to his player count for Land Zerlind was Jermaine Pratt, which I think is hilarious. That that's the, that's the count. Obviously, you would want him to be reached probably another level if you're taking him in the second round. So I would say guard or Demetrius Knight, and we will get to our second round pick. And we still have a whole other round to go. We'll speed it up a little bit coming up next. So here's where we're feeling the pressure, James. We're feeling the pressure of not feeling like we have a starting guard on the roster. And so we're not maybe considering some players that we otherwise will be considering. Maybe even Xavier Restrepa, who I haven't mentioned, who is very

intriguing as a slot option if you wanted to improve your weapons on offense i've picked for strepo when i've done these pre-free agency a few times eliza royo we could be considering here and i think some of these edge players i think are very interesting too and i do think there's a fall off a corner after the second round where if you wanted to get a corner this is probably the time i also think if we look at guard is there an opportunity to to get a guard or tackle convert a little bit later. And then we're talking mostly about tackle converts. You're talking about Marcus Enbo from Purdue and kicking him from tackle into guard.

Wyatt Millum from West Virginia and kicking him in to guard from tackle. You're talking about hoping Tate Ratledge is available to you in the third round, who he might be, but you're hoping for guys to be available. So that's the risk reward here. Do we feel like we can take a player that isn't a guard with the pressure on us to find a guy that can step in and play right away. Yeah, I, I'm always the, the players not positions. And so I'm going to default to the best, best player available.

By the way, if you think it's Maxwell Hirsten, speak up, because I'm still, I'm still open to that. I just, as of now, I, I'm not jumping for joy. But you look at some, and some have them, that would be a steal at that point. at the same time, Demetrius Knight Jr., that fills a major need that I think the Bengals plan to fill in the draft. I don't think they're going to go and get a free agent linebacker. I think they already did that. And so I would go probably, I would lean Demetrius Knight, which is going to dismantle all the dreams, hopes, and wishes of a Jack Kaiser in round four, probably, which a lot of people have been doing in round five. but no, I think

I think he could come in and start for you right away. I am going to hope that we can get a guard later. I'm going to argue for a different linebacker, though. I like Carson-Swessinger more, just straight up, linebacker out of UCLA. And if we're cool with going linebacker, we can say James is taking Demetriusite here and I'll go Carson-Swessinger.

How's that work? It's fine with me. Look, this whole action and everything about it is about getting to know all of these guys and getting our audience familiar with these guys. Land Zerline does not have a player comp for him. I was hoping it was going to be Logan Wilson. Just, uh,

which was at both the Bengals lineback. I was really hoping that it would be, you know, there's similar grades. Uh, no, I'm, I'm fine with that.

I, I look at just some of the, the next gen stats and stuff. And, um, I haven't done a ton on the linebackers yet. Let's go with Srescent. I think you could definitely make an argument here for the Ohio State edge rushers as well as potential plus run defenders that have some pass rush upside depending on the athletic testing.

But we'll go line back here. And I'm assuming people will be very upset about that because the guard that we were talking about from Ohio State was picked two picks later. And now at the top of the board, our pick at 81, according to PFF is Mason Taylor, son of Jason Taylor, LSU tight end, followed by Chris Paul. linebacker from Old Miss, Marcus Embo, who I mentioned from Purdue as a potential guard convert from tackle. Karen Ferguson, another tight end from Oregon. Jared Wilson, the Athletic Center from Georgia with one year of starting experience. Kevin Winston, who is a very exciting safety prospect coming off of a pretty serious injury.

Jonas Savayina, Savineer, probably a name I'm butchering, another tackle guard convert prospect potentially from Arizona. Wyatt Millam and Tate Ratledge is there for us in the third round, which is probably a very obvious pick because I think a lot of people are expecting the Bengals to have to pick Ratledge if they want him in the second round. Yeah, I think, spoiler, that's part of why I knew, and this is the downside of the simulators.

Tate Ratlidge is available in every third round PFF simulator, period. And who knows if I'll actually get there. But yeah, I mean, that would be probably my pick. I mean, you're looking at what the Bengals need. And if you could get Tate Ratlidge in the third round and you get a really good linebacker in the second and you've addressed the interior of your defensive line in the first, well, you can see it coming together. So that's where I would be. I don't know if anyone else stands out to you. I think running back is very much in play on day two.

But scroll up real quick. I just want to make sure, is there? Now go down a little. What position are you looking for? Running back. Running back. Yeah. So yeah, DJ Giddens is interesting.

I think this is early-ish, but probably where the Bengals would have to take him. But early-ish for where the average fan would want the Bengals to take a running back. But I keep mentioning it because I do think it's in play that early. There's always usually a surprise pick at some point you think about the Jordan battle pick at safety on day two a couple of years ago. So Chris Paul Jr., by the way, I would love it just to have Chris Paul on the Bengals. That would be a fun one, the linebacker out of Mississippi. But I really, I don't know how you look at this and you don't say Tate Ratledge. You are a Cincinnati Bengal.

Yeah, Tate Rattledge certainly jumping off the page here. As a guy that's played guard, you'd have to check on the medicals. He had, I think it was tightrope surgery, and he wasn't very good after that. But then he had a great combine, tested like a great, great athlete. A lot of the running backs that I really like did get picked before our pick, just looking at some of the guys that got picked. Just before this pick, Demetrius Knight made it all the way to 76. By the way, Jalen Noelle, a wide receiver from Iowa State,

who is an exciting player, Elijah Roberts, a bigger-bodied edge rusher from SMU, also players that I would have considered if they were available. But Dylan Samson and Travian Henderson and all those running backs picked well before our pick between the second and third round. David Restrepo made it to 65. Benjamin Morrison made it to 66. Yeah, which is not where he's ranked in the PFF system. Donovan Jackson, who was a guard we were talking about, only got to 52.

And it looks like Seattle traded up to take Donovan Jackson there in this particular simulator. Another player that I love if we hadn't gone defensive tackle in the first round is C.J. West in the third round, if you could get him there from Indiana, picked at 68 by the Las Vegas Raiders. But yeah, Tate Ratlid is really jumping off the screen here. The one thing that I'll mention is there are some safeties that if they didn't need a guard, I would love to pick here. I mentioned Kevin Winston, Andrew Mukuba, another one that I think is worth mentioning here that is on the board and very interesting and potentially even Lathen Ransom from Ohio State and some intriguing safeties.

If there wasn't this one pure guard staring at us that we think, is certainly fair game at 81, and I can't pick anybody besides Tate Routledge here. Yeah, it's got to be Tate Rattlidge. The other thing I think on draft day, Deon Walker is certainly someone you start to have a conversation about, like, right now, because of what he is.

Obviously, you have medical question marks. You have motor question. There's questions, but we know it's hard to find those big bodies in the middle, so we'd not be shocked at all if they were interested there. And we did learn that Dion Walker was playing, with a broken back all year. And so the medicals are a big factor there for sure.

Well, and it potentially explains why he looks like he's playing so high all the time and why some of his production in his third year wasn't as good as it have been. PFF doesn't love our draft here. You can let us know what you think. Maybe it's the second round pick. Maybe it's the first round pick. They think we should have picked Mike Green. And we did scroll down the PFF board to get to Walter Nolan.

And there's certainly compelling arguments for Mike Green, for Derek Harmon, for James Pierce for a bunch of different players besides Walter Nolan with that first round pick. But I do think that Nolan and Harmon would both be fine picks there. And the second round, we go linebacker, James. We go to Carson Swessinger from UCLA. And that's a plug-and-play linebacker for you. Linebacker of the future as well as the present where he can take over Logan Wilson's mantle at the end of that first rookie contract and be an extension candidate for the Cincinnati Bengals

if all things go according to plan. And Tate Routledge is probably a day one starter. And so I think we got three day one starters here. It doesn't feel like we necessarily got force multipliers unless that's Walter Nolan. And he turns into that for you on the defensive front. But that's to me feeling a little bit of the pressure that I'm feeling trying to get through these drafts with the Bengals needs.

Yeah. Well, that's why if you have a three tech, you could go Cleas Campbell or, you know, Eccles Campbell, then you go Malachi Starks in round one. If you're not thinking about linebacker necessarily or guard, then it just, it opens things up

where you're at, or you go Colston-Levelin round one. I mean, I'm just there are really high-end players here. And if you limit it to, you got to go defensive line round one, which we didn't do, but we kind of appealed to what we thought people would want.

It's going to be tough. it really is. And so this is just one of many folks, but interesting draft season. The pressure's on, Jake. And one of the big issues here is, what about a Trey Hendrickson's successor? What about a Trey Hendrickson replacement if that's needed?

That's an answer that we don't have yet. We didn't get an edge rusher period in the top three rounds here. So if you're looking for an edge rusher that's going to make an impact this year, you're either hoping one falls to you in the second round or they're going to have to use their first round pick there. And that's another bit of press. that they have to deal with that we did not really handle in this particular mock draft as far as addressing the edge rusher position. Hey.

The odds of them, honestly, the odds of them going defensive tackle and edge with two of their first three picks, it's not great. I know everyone wants to do it. And it's like, oh, yeah, they're going to go guard defensive tackle edge or edge defensive tackle guard. don't be shocked don't be shocked when that's not the case I'm not sure that it's going to be the case and so prepare yourself and this prepares everyone

we'll of course have an increasing feel for what we expect the Bengals to do as we get closer and closer we usually get one or two picks right when we're trying to project what the Bengals are going to do or three or four sometimes we're off by a round or seven we'll nail the trade down too sometimes James tells me I can't put McKinley Jackson in the third round of our mocks and then we're one less

player than whatever you never called the germane burton that's all i got to say nobody did that's going to do it for this episode of the locked on bengals podcast rip our draft to shreds in the comments if you're watching on youtube until next time thanks for listening hooday and have a good one