In today’s college football, nothing is a given. Back in the day, a player passing up nearly $50 million fully guaranteed would have had them institutionalized. In 2026, it’s just another day. That reality has played out as Dante Moore, a probable top-three pick, has elected to return to Oregon for his senior season. This isn’t Cardale Jones or Matt Barkley returning to school and failing to take advantage of the hype. This is the probable second-overall pick heading back to school, putting that lucrative contract at risk. Sure, this could be an Andrew Luck situation where his stock didn’t take a hit. However, this year’s crop of quarterbacks is considerably weaker than what next year’s is expected to be. He would have been QB2 this year. What will his fate be in a deeper class?
One of the teams not in the quarterback market is the Cincinnati Bengals. While the Bengals’ fate is not tied to Moore or any other quarterback, the crop of players available at 10 will be different now.
The NFL Draft Quarterback Shakeup Makes Things Interesting for the Bengals
The Caleb Downs Dream
There is a considerable amount of overlap between Ohio State and Bengals fans, so the possibility of Caleb Downs in Cincinnati is about as exciting as anything. Downs is a day-one, plug-and-play leader of men who, despite the positional value, is well worth a top-10 pick. He will hear his name called incredibly early in April’s draft; the question will be whether or not he will be there for the Bengals at 10.
Just as it has been ever since picking Joe Burrow, the Bengals could use as many quarterbacks drafted as possible. Getting Downs seems less likely now, but the dream is still there.
The “draft players not positions” crowd is at odds with those who believe in positional value. A pick on a safety that early seems hard to swallow because they don’t tend to have the same impact as an elite tackle, receiver, or EDGE. However, tell that to the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens have picked two first-round safeties, and both have turned out alright.
Downs is as sure-fire a prospect as there is in this year’s draft. By some miracle, if he’s there at 10, the Bengals must run the card in.
Root For Chaos
If there is one thing the NFL Draft is, it’s unpredictable. While some folks have made their money predicting these things, once the obvious ones are out of the way, all Hell breaks loose. This year, to this point, the only obvious is that Fernando Mendoza will go first overall. Of course, that is assuming he declares, considering he still has a year of eligibility remaining. It’s not a given anymore that college players will forgo remaining seasons thanks to NIL (ie, Moore).
If Mendoza returns to school, as unlikely as it would be, it would usher in the most chaos.
Even then, how many other quarterbacks are top-10 picks? Ty Simpson declared for the draft, much to the chagrin of Tennessee or Miami (FL)’s tampering efforts, but is he really a top-10 pick? Garrett Nussmeier? Trinidad Chambliss? Cade Klubnik? Drew Allar? Yeah, it’s not looking great.
In reality, the only positions completely off the board at 10 for the Bengals are quarterback and wide receiver. The team will likely add to the wide receiver room later in an attempt to find a reliable WR3, but you don’t do that in the top 10 of the draft. In most mock drafts, the top 10 will have one or two quarterbacks, three EDGEs, two wide receivers, two tackles, and a defensive tackle in the mix for the top of the board.
Ideally, the Bengals are active enough in free agency that BPA is the move, whether that is Francis Mauigoa (tackle from Miami (FL)), Spencer Fano (tackle from Utah), Jeremiyah Love (running back from Notre Dame), or any of the top defenders.
Early Wishlist
As of now, the wishlist for Bengals fans is:
- Arvell Reese (long shot)
- Caleb Downs
- David Bailey
- Rueben Bain Jr.
- Peter Woods
Sonny Styles could be that hard-hitting defender to make an impact, but the team used two draft picks on linebacker and both played a lot last year, signalling that they are both in the plans for the future. Corner is also an option with potential CB1 Mansoor Delane on the board. The Bengals may be set at corner with Dax Hill and D.J. Turner, and using a top-10 pick on a third corner would seem odd.
Even then, a tight end like Kenyon Sadiq would be fun, but that is only if the Bengals wholly address the defense in free agency, AND the board falls in a way that they don’t like their options. At 10th overall, you’d have to be incredibly picky to not like an available player.
At this point, the Bengals are hoping for Simpson and/or another quarterback to shoot up the draft boards, plus both top-end receivers to go. There is a very real possibility that the Bengals end up panicking and pigeonholing themselves into a Shemar Stewart or Billy Price again.
There is still all kinds of time between now and the 2026 NFL Draft. A lot will happen. Underclassmen have decided if they will stay in school or head off to the NFL. Now, we get to sit back, enjoy the playoffs, and wait for free agency chaos to kick off with the “legal tampering period” in like six weeks or so.