Cincinnati Bengals Defense Adds Elite Talent in Post NFL Combine Mock Draft

CINCINNATI — The Bengals selected their most popular draft fit so far this cycle in the latest mock draft from Yahoo! Sports. Analysts Nate Tice and Charles McDonald had Ohio State star safety Caleb Downs going to Cincinnati at Pick 10.

"Cincinnati needs defense," the article stated. "Downs is arguably the best player in the draft. Whoever is the top defensive player available here, the Bengals should take him without thinking much about it. Downs’ position is the only reason he’s available here as safeties tend to slide down the board relative to their consensus rankings."

It could be a great pick if his health holds up the rest of this decade. A rough injury report came out this week by Cory Kinnan, but Pat McAfee poured cold water on the report after talking to NFL teams.

"We go to a couple of NFL teams, and we try to get a little follow-up on what we have heard," McAfee said on his show about Downs having a degenerative ACL. "Multiple NFL teams have told us there is nothing in the medical that would deter us from bringing Caleb Downs in, especially with how great a football player he is. It feels like this is a part of this entire process, and who knows what's real and what isn't, but we do know that, like this kind of made its run on the internet."

Ohio State Buckeyes defensive back Caleb Downs speaks during the Cotton Bowl Media Day at AT&T Stadium in Dallas prior to the College Football Playoff matchup against the Miami Hurricanes on Dec. 29, 2025. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Downs is the consensus seventh-best player on the Mock Draft Database's big board and the best safety overall. He's steadily risen up draft boards over the past two years.

He could change the Bengals' defense, but the medical boxes have to get checked first. Cincinnati will surely put him through all the right tests there when they likely bring him for an official pre-draft visit across the next month-plus.

Check out the full mock draft here.

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