Priority No.1 for the Cincinnati Bengals this offseason is to try and keep wide receiver Tee Higgins long-term. Priority No. 1B, if you will, is to find help on the edge getting to the quarterback.
Trey Hendrickson led the league this season with 17.5 sacks. No other Bengals player had more than five. The Bengals could stand to add some help for Hendrickson, especially if they decide to move on from Sam Hubbard.
The Bengals do just that in the latest mock draft from ESPN’s Matt Miller. Not just in round one but also in round two.
First, at No. 17, the Bengals go with Shemar Stewart of Texas A&M. Stewart is fresh off a strong week in Mobile, Alabama at the Senior Bowl. Pro Football Focus’ Max Chadwick named Stewart the best edge defender.
“The lack of talent around Trey Hendrickson on the Bengals’ defense was a huge reason Cincinnati missed the playoffs for a second straight season,” wrote Miller. Along with a new defensive coordinator, we should expect several key defensive additions in the offseason.
Stewart is a tough evaluation. He checks every box, from his 6-foot-5, 281-pound size to his speed and power. But he had only 1.5 sacks in the each of the past three seasons. That’s something teams must dig in on in the coming months. If the Bengals can unlock that next-level talent, he’d give them inside-outside pass-rush ability.”
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If the Bengals can get past the lack of production on the stat sheet, they can grab themselves one of the best athletes at this position in this draft and create what would be a great duo in Hendrickson and Stewart.
But you can never have enough good pass rushers, especially in a division that has Lamar Jackson and a conference that has Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Justin Herbert, to name a few. As such, we have the Bengals double-dipping at the position in this mock, going with JT Tuimoloau of Ohio State at No. 49.
“If the Bengals are able to keep free agent receiver Tee Higgins, they’d be able to go heavy on defense in the draft. Tuimoloau had 10.5 sacks in a great senior season and would be a player capable of starting on day one for a defense that finished 26th in defensive EPA.”
A rotation of Hendrickson, Stewart and Tuimoloau would be a great problem to have for new defensive coordinator Al Golden.