Make no mistake – the 2023 NFL Draft is a very important one for the Super Bowl chances for the Cincinnati Bengals. With Joe Burrow and the offense having gotten even better this offseason, and a defense that made big strides last year, the sky is the limit for this AFC contender.
Currently, the Bengals have seven selections in the NFL Draft, one per round, and all selections are their original picks. With no compensatory selections added to their allotment, general manager Duke Tobin and head coach Zac Taylor will need to work with what they have if they want to move around the draft.
An often forgotten-about element of having a solid draft class is not only which players you do draft, but which players you don’t draft. Not buying into the pre-draft hype has saved plenty of teams from wasted draft picks, and the Bengals are hoping to do that this April.
The following players are players that, while they are solid and could hold roles for Cincinnati, would be smarter to avoid.
Dalton Kincaid
TE – Utah
Controversial to include a tight end as an avoidable prospect, the Bengals do desperately need to find some tight end talent in April’s NFL Draft. It just shouldn’t be Utah’s Dalton Kincaid.
Kincaid is the best receiving threat in the draft, and his tape from Utah puts that on full display. But it’s his lack of blocking talent that is concerning and something that should give the Bengals’ brass pause.
Slotting in behind Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Tyler Boyd in the passing hierarchy, plus having signed Irv Smith Jr. this offseason, Cincinnati should instead go after more of a two-way threat at TE, like Notre Dame’s Michael Mayer, who is a much more well-rounded prospect and can more than hold his own in the run game, helping set the edge with his blocking.
Emmanuel Forbes
CB – Mississippi State
Cornerback may not be a huge area of need for the Bengals, but with Chidobe Awuzie still coming back from his ACL tear suffered in October 2022, a player like Emmanuel Forbest may be of interest.
Having met with Forbes at the combine, there is mutual interest between both parties – but that is as far as it should go. On the skinnier side (166 pounds), Forbes is actually more physical than you would expect for a corner, which has led to him making a name for himself down at Mississippi State.
But his acclimation to the NFL may become injury-riddled at his current playing weight, especially with how often he is willing to stick his nose into plays. Forbes has the coverage skills to fit into pretty much any NFL defense, but if Cincinnati wants to add a CB talent in the second or third round, they should look elsewhere.
First-Round Running Backs
This may be a cop-out answer, but this year’s class of running backs only has room for one true first-round selection, Bijan Robinson. Unless Robinson falls into the lap of the Bengals at Pick 28, they need to 100% avoid an early RB selection.
The ongoing legal situation surrounding Joe Mixon, combined with Samaje Perine leaving for Denver this offseason, leaves the RB depth chart with a lot of question marks. But to utilize their top selection on an RB is not a smart move made by contending teams, which is what the Bengals would like to continue to identify as.
Jahmyr Gibbs and Zach Charbonnet are the top members of Tier 2, and both could be second-round options for the Bengals, a more reasonable landing spot for their talent. First-round running backs rarely live up to their draft capital, and having that fifth-year option attached to a depreciating asset is something a team wishes they didn’t have to worry about.
Follow Us
Subscribe