The Cincinnati Bengals struggled defensively and along the offensive line in 2024. Can they solve both of those issues in the 2025 NFL Draft? This team won five games in a row to end the 2024 NFL Season, had an MVP-level season from Joe Burrow, had the wide receiver triple crown winner, the NFL sack leader, and still missed the playoffs!
How insane is that?
Well, that's the Bengals for you. Now yes, there is still hope for this team - it's not like they won four games in 2024. Hitting on a few 2025 NFL Draft picks could truly turn their weakest units around quite quickly. Let's try to fix the Bengals in this mock draft.
Bengals 2025 NFL Mock Draft: Major trenches reinforcements on the way?
17. Derrick Harmon, DT, Oregon
Cincinnati kicks this mock draft off with Derrick Harmon, the talented defensive tackle from Oregon. The Bengals have so many defensive needs that you can't really go wrong at pick 17 - any of the draftable defensive prospects with this selection would greatly help that side of the ball.
49. Wyatt Milum, OG, West Virginia
Now addressing the interior offensive line, Wyatt Milum is likely kicking inside to guard at the next level, and that'd be huge for the Bengals. They do seem to have a solid tackle duo of Orlando Brown Jr and Amarius Mims, but it's time for this team to truly get more stout along the interior.
81. Denzel Burke, CB, Ohio State
Back on the defensive side of the ball in the third round, the Cincinnati Bengals take Ohio State CB Denzel Burke. The front office has missed on a good bit of defensive prospects over the last few NFL Drafts, so this is really about cleaning up the mess made and hopefully landing some starting-caliber players at the next level.
119. Jackson Slater, OG, Sacramento State
We are now flipping back to the offensive side of the ball and again hammering away at the interior offensive line. Jackson Slater might not be an immediate starter, but he could be a starter in waiting and could at least provide some depth during his rookie season. Outside of the talented center in Ted Karras, Cincy could upgrade both guard spots in 2025.
153. Jeffrey Bassa, LB, Oregon
Did we forget that linebacker Germaine Pratt requested a trade? Who knows if the Bengals will actually accommodate that trade, but regardless, they need to keep taking defensive prospects until the unit is fixed. They'll grab Jeffrey Bassa at pick 153 in this mock draft. The LB duo that Cincy has had in Pratt and Logan Wilson is quite solid, but there could be more changes on the horizon.
193. Jarquez Hunter, RB, Auburn
Running back Chase Brown is quite good, so the Bengals don't necessarily need to spend a high pick on that position, but they should still address the room in the 2025 NFL Draft. The RB class is insanely good, so they'll actually use their last pick of this mock draft on Jarquez Hunter from Auburn. In this Bengals mock draft, they allocated their resources on both sides of the ball and tried to get the best of both worlds in fixing their offensive line and parts of their defense.