Bengals make familiar first-round decision in expert's latest mock draft
The first-round of the 2022 NFL Draft ended somewhat surprisingly. The Green Bay Packers doubled up on Georgia defenders Quay Walker and Devonte Wyatt, Cole Strange shockingly went to the New England Patriots, and the Cincinnati Bengals took a safety in Dax Hill. While the contract situation for Jessie Bates III at the time was […]
The first-round of the 2022 NFL Draft ended somewhat surprisingly. The Green Bay Packers doubled up on Georgia defenders Quay Walker and Devonte Wyatt, Cole Strange shockingly went to the New England Patriots, and the Cincinnati Bengals took a safety in Dax Hill.
While the contract situation for Jessie Bates III at the time was definitely a hot topic, the idea of the Bengals drafting his heir replacement with a first-round pick, on a collegiate slot cornerback nonetheless, was never seriously discussed by analysts leading up to the draft.
The Michigan alum became the next first-round defensive back for Cincinnati, and there's an opportunity for the franchise to repeat the same decision this year.
In his latest mock draft, ESPN's Matt Miller slotted the Bengals with Hill's former teammate at Michigan, DJ Turner, for pick No. 28. Turner was the sixth cornerback to go off the board, just three picks after Emmanuel Forbes went, and four picks after Deonte Banks.
"If you're looking for one position that needs an upgrade to get the Bengals back to the Super Bowl, it's cornerback. And Turner—who ran a combine-best 4.26 seconds in the 40-yard-dash—has the tools to be great. He dominates at the line of scrimmage in press coverage and has the speed to run in-phase with the best receivers in the AFC." – Matt Miller on Turner
There's a lot to like about Turner's game. He came away with 20 passes defensed and three interceptions in two years as a starter for the Wolverines, and posted the fastest 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine like Miller stated.
He did all of this despite weighing under 180 pounds and having very little length in his frame. He measured in at 178 with 30 3/4" arms at the Combine with a 73 3/8" wingspan.
Turner's lack of ideal size is precisely why he's not projected to go in the first round. Miller isn't the first one to go off the board this early, but the consensus has him going somewhere on Day 2 of the draft. The consensus board has him ranked 56th overall, and the A to Z top-300 board has him at 41st.
Should the Bengals select Turner anywhere in the draft, they could reunite him with Hill in the secondary, but at which position? Would they feel comfortable leaving him outside where he played in college, or would they want him to transition into the slot and eventually take over for Mike Hilton there? These questions are why he may not go as early as Miller projects here.
If it does occur, there's even more history that would repeat. The Bengals drafted Leon Hall out of Michigan back in 2007, and transitioned him to the slot. That decision paid off immensely as he became one of the NFL's first dominant slot defenders when the league was seeing more and more 11 personnel offenses take off.
Turner would undoubtedly be intriguing, but there are way more likely paths for the Bengals to take in the first round.
