The Cincinnati Bengals were one of the more disappointing teams in the NFL during the 2024 season. Cincinnati finished the regular season 9-8 and missed the playoffs after a terrible losing streak to start the year. As a result, the Bengals fired defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo following the regular season.
Now the Bengals must transition into offseason mode and try to fix what went wrong in 2024.
Unfortunately, that is no easy question to answer. The Bengals certainly seem to think that their defense was a big part of the problem, evidenced by firing Anarumo. This is an easy argument to make, especially because QB Joe Burrow had a career year and WR Ja’Marr Chase had a triple-crown season. There are few places to point fingers on offense.
Therefore, many Bengals fans and NFL analysts alike expect the team to prioritize upgrading their defense during the offseason. Cincinnati needs to upgrade at multiple positions on defense. They may also need to replace linebacker Germaine Pratt, who requested a trade last Wednesday.
The Bengals enter the offseason with roughly $53 million in cap space. That may sound like a lot, but Cincinnati has ambitious plans for the offseason.
Cincinnati wants to re-sign Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Trey Hendrickson to long-term contracts this offseason. Even if the Bengals carefully structure all of those extensions, those new contracts will eat into Cincinnati’s available cap space.
In turn, that may not give the Bengals much wiggle room to invest in new defenders via free agency. Cincinnati may look to the 2025 NFL Draft instead to solve their defensive issues.
But which players might the Bengals be interested in pursuing this spring?
Below we will explore who the Bengals may select in the 2025 NFL Draft according to the PFN mock draft simulator.
Bengals go all offense in the first three rounds of the 2025 NFL Draft
We’ve already established that the Bengals have plenty of needs on the defensive side of the ball. However, that does not stop them from going all in on offensive players during PFN’s simulated mock draft.
Cincinnati gets things started by selecting running back Ashton Jeanty from Boise State in the first round. The Bengals don’t even need to execute a trade for Jeanty to fall into their laps at 17th overall.
How could this be possible? I’ll admit, it does not feel like this could actually happen in real life. After all, his floor as a prospect feels like the 12th overall pick with the Dallas Cowboys.
According to the PFN simulator, the Cowboys pass on Jeanty for Texas WR Matthew Golden.
This feels absurd for multiple reasons. The Cowboys have a huge need at running back and have historically valued running backs higher than other teams. The idea that Dallas would pass on Jeanty for another offensive weapon is almost unbelievable. Especially after Jeanty had a ridiculously productive 2024 season, nearly breaking Barry Sanders’ collegiate rushing record.
Even though it may not happen in real life, adding Jeanty would be a huge win for the Bengals. Jeanty can play all three downs and would make Cincinnati’s running game instantly more dangerous. In turn, that would likely open up the passing game for Burrow, Chase, and friends.
The Bengals would become a downright terrifying offense if Jeanty improved on the running game Joe Mixon used to have in Cincinnati for several seasons.
Cincinnati adds another skill-position player in the second round in tight end Harold Fannin Jr. The tight end out of Bowling Green is a dynamic offensive weapon who does not seem like a traditional tight end. After all, he weighs in at only 230 pounds and plays more like a wide receiver.
It would be interesting to see how the Bengals deploy Fannin Jr. Cincinnati wants to bring back Mike Gesicki and already has Erick All Jr. on the roster.
Regardless, he is another weapon Joe Burrow can use to attack opposing defenses.
The Bengals make a trade in the third round, swapping picks with the Eagles. Philadelphia moves up to pick 81 to select UCLA linebacker Carson Schwesinger. They send picks 96 and 129 to Cincinnati in exchange.
Cincinnati uses pick 96 on yet another offensive weapon, this time selecting TCU wide receiver Jack Bech.
Bech projects as a possession receiver in the NFL, both because of his large frame and his relative lack of explosiveness.
This is the most puzzling pick of the trio because it puts Bech in competition with Andrei Iosivas. If the Bengals actually made this pick, it would be with a training camp battle in mind.
Ultimately, Cincinnati would be much improved on the offensive side of the ball after adding these three players. However, it is hard to agree with the PFN simulator’s approach to Cincinnati’s draft knowing how poor their defense was in 2024.
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