D-
Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals won the night they stopped Leonard from sliding. Grade: D-.
by K ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 11 picks
· 3 steals
· 2 reaches
You can lose a draft before you make a pick. The Bengals did it at the trade table, overpaying to chase players the board did not price nearly as high.
They will regret leaving cornerback for another day if the season turns on it. It is not that Moore is a bad player; it is that the Bengals had louder needs to answer first.
They are betting Stover proves the room right and everyone else wrong. They banked enough surplus on Leonard to cover a lot of smaller sins.
In the end, a class the front office will want to grow past quickly.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 17 they get a long-term starter on the line. A clean fit for the roster.
In the 24th pick they get a home-run threat at receiver at fair value. The biggest hole, addressed.
Byron Murphy II in Round 2, Pick 17 is early enough to raise a brow, if not a full objection. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
The needs board was loud and they turned it down, spending pick No. 82 on Rod Moore with cornerback, tight end and other spots unsolved.
A want over a need in slot 117: Cade Stover adds a TE-EDGE while cornerback, tight end and other spots keeps waiting.
Donovan Jackson in pick 135 lands just on the right side of the ledger. A need, and now a little less of one.
MarShawn Lloyd in the 154th pick is a bargain the rest of the room will envy. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
They paid sticker price for Ainias Smith in pick 173, and that is fine. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
You do not let a quarterback like Riley Leonard reach Round 6, Pick 20 and blink. They did not. The roster fit checks out.
Landon Jackson slid further than he should have, and slot 238 is lovely value for the edge rusher. A minor need, but a need all the same.
No drama and no debate, Zion Nelson went about where he belonged in the Round 7 slot. It patches a soft spot without any drama.