While the Cincinnati Bengals’ need a lot of pieces on defense, we can’t completely rule out an offensive pick in the first round.
Pro Football Focus’ Gordon McGuinness has them taking Miami’s Francis Mauigoa in the site’s latest three-round mock draft. Here’s what he wrote:
The Bengals could look to address their defensive woes in Round 1, especially if positional value causes safety Caleb Downs to fall to this spot, but with the way this mock draft has played out, an offensive lineman makes a lot of sense. Mauigoa spent the past three seasons at right tackle but could easily kick inside to guard and start immediately. He is coming off an 85.8 PFF pass-blocking grade on true pass sets in 2025.
According to his Draft profile on NFL.com, Mauigoa is durable, dense, well-balanced, and smooth with patient hands. His issues are primarily related to his angles and bending.
In the second round, McGuinness has the Bengals taking safety Dillon Thieneman out of Oregon.
Thieneman, according to his Draft profile on NFL.com, has high coverage IQ and instincts against the run. However, he has average quickness and needs to work on his man coverage.
Finally, the PFF mock has Cincinnati selecting defensive tackle Domonique Orange out of Oregon State in the third round.
Orange, per his NFL.com profile, is a sturdy nose tackle with long arms and big hands, but he needs to learn how to shed blockers more quickly.