Cincy Jungle
The Cincinnati Bengals have invested ten out of their last thirteen picks in the first three rounds on the defensive side of the ball. Some of those picks you could realize at the time, they were picking those players at least a round above where they should be taken. At other times, they have taken players around the range they were expected to go, yet the player has not developed during their time in Cincinnati. It is fair to think they have a problem in both evaluating and developing talent on the defensive side of the ball.
Let’s take a deeper look into the recent draft classes over the past four drafts, with a focus on the defensive players that have been selected.
The Bengals used all three of their first picks on the defensive side of the ball in the 2022 draft. The first player taken was Dax Hill. While many people wanted George Karlaftis with this pick, he was selected one spot prior to the Bengals selection. This was coming off a Super Bowl appearance, yet they were unwilling to trade up above the Chiefs to make that selection.
It isn’t like Hill was projected to go much later in the draft. If anything, he was a good value selection when he fell to pick 31. The illogical part of the whole thing, was taking Hill to be a Jessie Bates replacement. They wasted the first couple of years of Hill’s career by trying to force him into being a safety. He had played slot cornerback during his time at Michigan. While Dax is one of the better picks on this list, he still hasn’t been consistent enough throughout his career to say he has lived up to being a first-round draft selection.
Taylor-Britt looked like a steal in the second round in his rookie season. He was on a trajectory during both of his first two seasons to be a Pro-Bowl talent. Things have completely gone off the rails the past two years. He has been benched on multiple occasions. He was even inactive for a game earlier this season. Taylor-Britt will enter free agency this offseason, being one of the bigger what-ifs from this list. For some reason, why do I feel like it won’t be surprising if he plays well for his next team?
I was doing a live stream on Sports with Strawberry Ice when this pick was announced. I immediately turned my computer off. I felt like this was a reach at the time, and that ended up being the case. Carter was abysmal during his time with the Bengals. To be fair to Carter, the Bengals were trying to move him from playing on the edge more at Florida, to full-time at defensive tackle. That transition didn’t go smoothly his first couple of seasons with the team. That eventually led to the Bengals releasing...
