The first Bengals.com 2025 Media Mock Draft hits the streets just as the Bengals hit the pavement in their preparation for next week's NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis.
For the last two weeks, the scouts have introduced the coaches to the prospects they've gotten to know across several years. They've walked them through the highs and lows and maybes as they prepare to sit down with them during the biggest mass job interview this side of Silicon Valley.
While the staff's combine notebooks were being put together by Bengals player personnel assistant Debbie LaRocco, Bengals.com reached out to the beat reporters for the teams drafting ahead of them to get a sense for which players are going to be gone before Cincinnati is on the clock at No. 17 in the first round.
Far from science. Indeed, it may be closer to science fiction. But we're just trying to get an idea of the universe that could be lingering beyond the Cardinals' pick at No. 16.
Not exactly the Milky Way, just seeking a North Star.
1.TITANS: EDGE Abdul Carter, Penn State; Paul Kuharsky, Paul Kuharsky.com
They apparently don't see a viable quarterback option available at the top, so old friend Brian Callahan gets the third first-round edge rusher for the Titans since Jevon Kearse in 1999 and Derrick Morgan in 2010.
2.BROWNS: QB Cam Ward, Miami; Tony Grossi, ESPN Cleveland
Hard to believe, but out of the 40 quarterbacks or so who have started for the Browns since they got back into the league in 1999, No. 1 overalls Tim Couch and Baker Mayfield are their only top-10 quarterbacks.
3.GIANTS: QB Shedeur Sanders, Colorado; Mike Eisen, Giants.com
Prime's kid in New York? You can't make this stuff up.
4.PATRIOTS: WR Travis Hunter, Colorado; Karen Guregian, MassLive
A Heisman Trophy two-way player will keep the legions of New England media hopping.
5.JAGUARS: DT Mason Graham, Michigan; Michael DiRocco, ESPN
The Jags' 28th-ranked defense struggled inside. This pick changes the interior.
6.RAIDERS: WR Tetairoa McMillian, Arizona; Vincent Bonsignore, Las Vegas Review-Journal
Vegas may still be figuring out a quarterback, but they get another dynamic running mate for record-breaking rookie tight end Brock Bowers.
7.JETS: CB Will Johnson, Michigan; Rich Cimini, ESPN
Gang Green is looking for a defensive tackle, middle linebacker and safety. But with D.J. Reed expected not to return in free agency, they also need some spice opposite Sauce Gardner.
8.PANTHERS: EDGE Jalon Walker, Georgia; Joe Person, The Athletic
They were last in defense and next-to-last in pressures. Walker brings a hybrid element to the 3-4 that has been missing since Frankie Luvu left in free agency.
9.SAINTS: RB Ashton Jeanty, Boise State; Jeff Duncan, The Times-Picayune
There's the Boise State connection with his new head coach Kellen Moore. It conjures up memories of old Saints head coach Sean Payton summoning Alvin Kamara in the third round of 2017.
10.BEARS: T Will Campbell, LSU; Brad Biggs, The Chicago Tribune
Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams was sacked a Bears-record 68 times, and they're close to starting from scratch up front. They're looking for foundational pieces in the draft and free agency.
11.49ERS: TE Tyler Warren, Penn State; Matt Maiocco, NBC Sports Bay Area
While the 49ers have bigger needs on the offensive and defensive lines, here's a talent who can be a great chess piece in head coach Kyle Shanahan's offense.
12.COWBOYS: EDGE Mykel Williams, Georgia; Todd Archer, ESPN
Help for Micah Parsons with Demarcus Lawrence maybe not returning and Sam Williams coming off a torn ACL.
13.DOLPHINS: S Malaki Starks, Georgia; Chris Perkins, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
With starting safeties Jevon Holland and Jordan Poyer not looking like they may be in the plans, they'll probably try to draft one and sign one in free agency.
14.COLTS: CB Jahdae Barron, Texas; Mike Chappell, Fox59
Old friend Lou Anarumo's new defense is going to have a busy offseason getting squared away. They're looking to beef up the corner for him, where Kenny Moore II is 30 on Opening Day and the other starter is 2023 seventh-rounder Jaylon Jones.
15.FALCONS: EDGE Mike Green, Marshall; D. Orlando Ledbetter, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Matt Judon Era needs reinforcements. They finished in the middle of the pack in sacks and pressures, and no one had more than six sacks.
16.CARDINALS: T Josh Simmons, Ohio State; Darren Urban, azcardinals.com
Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon wants to build his lines in the mold of where he rose to prominence, Philadelphia, and now he can bookend Simmons with fellow Buckeye tackle Paris Johnson under new Cardinals offensive line coach Justin Frye, their coach at Ohio State.
17.BENGALS: DT Walter Nolen, Mississippi; Geoff Hobson, Bengals.com
Not exactly a stunner. The 6-3, 305-pound Nolen has appeared in more Bengals' mock drafts than Mel Kiper Jr. The mocks feel like this is a draft where they could end up taking the best defensive lineman available, be he an edge or a tackle.
But the Bengals couldn't even tell you themselves as they prepare for Indy. That's how early the process is for the teams right now, even though it's the Mock midseason.
Still, after sifting through various big boards and taking a look at where others have mocked to No. 17, a good chunk of the universe believes the Bengals may very well be staring at Nolen on April 24 when the first round gets to them.
It certainly would be an unconventional move. When they took edge Myles Murphy two years ago, he was the first defensive lineman the Bengals had taken in the first round since Justin Smith in 2001.
Nolen would be the first defensive tackle they selected in the first round since Dan Wilkinson went No. 1 overall 31 years ago.
So would Michigan's Kenneth Grant and Oregon's Derrick Harmon, other D-tackles projected to the Bengals.
You've got to love the dimensions of the 6-6, 342-pound Grant. Just what the doctor ordered, right? That massive, young and disruptive nose tackle they need in the AFC North to team with promising rookies Kris Jenkins and McKinnley Jackson, right?
Perhaps.
There are shades of Wilkinson. Inconsistent production and yet he'll tear up the combine with freakish athleticism.
Here's what you have in Nolen, according to NFL.com:
"Ability to pressure the pocket. Creates three-down value. Sets up his edge-to-edge rush challenges." One NFC scout told the site, "Nobody questions how talented he is and how hard he plays. Super twitched up and really explosive."
Nolen didn't play in the Senior Bowl, but he was absurd in the three practices and showed why draftnicks have been saying he's a problem to block one-on-one. The key there is a three-down player.
Also in the universe could be Ohio State's 6-3, 327-pound run-stuffer Tyleik Williams, rated as high as 20 on the ESPN Big Board compared to Grant at 43.
Now, if it's edgers you want to give Murphy and NFL sack leader Trey Hendrickson help, there is no shortage of them here if the draft unfolds like this.
There's the Texas A&M duo of Shemar Stewart and Nic Scourton, Tennessee's James Pearce Jr., and fast-rising Donovan Ezeiruaku of Boston College.
The draftnicks say Stewart's 6-6, 290 pounds are chiseled "out of granite." It makes him the prototype 4-3 pass-rusher, but it doesn't match his PFF production of three years with just six sacks and 12 hits on the quarterback. Some, such as NFL.com, believe he'll take two years to develop into a good starter.
His partner, the 285-pound Scourton, isn't rated as highly but had better PFF numbers with an 80 pass rush grade compared to Stewart's 67.
The 243-pound Pearce and the 247-pound Ezeiruaku just aren't heavy enough to fit how the Bengals have run their defense lately. New defensive coordinator Al Golden likes pressure and could change things up at times to use good pass rushers. But one of the reasons head coach Zac Taylor hired Golden is because he's familiar with the heavies of the rough-and-tumble AFC North.
Yet these guys appear to be in the universe, as well as players at other positions. Prospects who have been mocked to the Bengals at 17 range from Alabama guard Tyler Booker, Michigan tight end Colston Loveland, Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden III, and South Carolina safety Nick Emmanwori.
History says the Bengals are going to get their guards and safeties later. They've never taken either one as high as 17. Free agency is a factor if they're in the market for a wide receiver or tight end at that point, but they've said their hope is to retain their current players at those spots.
One thing is for sure. The sky won't look the same in 15 days.
