Bengals reach boldly in expert's mock draft
The NFL Draft never plays out like it's expected to. Surprises are inevitable early and late. This is especially true for teams picking late in the first round. Boards begin to branch off from a generally-agreed upon consensus, and players end up landing or falling out of the first round seemingly out of nowhere. Could […]
The NFL Draft never plays out like it's expected to. Surprises are inevitable early and late.
This is especially true for teams picking late in the first round. Boards begin to branch off from a generally-agreed upon consensus, and players end up landing or falling out of the first round seemingly out of nowhere.
Could Northwestern defensive lineman Adetomiwa Adebawore be one of those surprises? One expert seems to think so.
In his official seven-round mock draft, The Athletic's Dane Brugler slotted Adebawore to the Cincinnati Bengals' 28th overall pick.
Surprised? You should be. Adebawore is No. 74 on Pro Football Network's Industry Consensus Big Board done by Arif Hasan.
The reason he's ranked so low is because of everything that isn't related to testing numbers. Adebawore, standing at 6-2, 282, is a bit on the small size a defensive tackle, which is why he played mostly on the edge for Northwestern. His production was promising, but his overall technique is still raw, making a switch from the edge to inside that much more riskier.
As Brugler mentions, everything else about Adebawore is promising, and the Bengals are in the market for interior defensive linemen with burst. No one in this class has that like Adebawore.
"From his standout performance at the Senior Bowl to elite testing numbers at the combine, no player has aced the pre-draft process quite like Adebawore. Like most teams, the Bengals are searching for explosive defensive linemen on the interior, and the Northwestern three-technique could fill that role."
When watching the end of the Bengals' last two seasons, the bolded statement has been very apparent. Cincinnati has needed pass-rushing depth between their edge rushers to help close out games defensively, and their current crop of defensive tackles just doesn't have that.
Adebawore's value in the rotation will be obvious, but is it worth reaching that far? In fairness, notable names linked to the Bengals, Darnell Wright, Michael Mayer, Dalton Kincaid, and Bryan Bresee, were already off the board in Brugler's mock. Emmanuel Forbes was still on the board, however, and that pick would be far more likely.
The positive about this pick is that if it hits, it will hit big. Adebawore's potential is sky-high, and someone who runs a 4.49 40-yard dash at over 280 pounds can't be taken lightly. The Bengals will definitely value that size, speed, and explosion combination with Adebawore, but maybe not this early in the Draft.
Brugler later mocked UCLA running back Zach Charbonnet, and Alabama offensive lineman Tyler Steen to Cincinnati. Check out the full mock here.
