The storm has passed with Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase, but the 2025 NFL Draft could ruin the team’s future just as much if they don’t take it as seriously.
The Cincinnati Bengals are through the wide receiver pressure cooker. For more than a year, questions surrounded what their wide receiver room would look like.
In the end, after Joe Burrow’s campaigning, the team figured out a solution. Both Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins received a huge payday.
However, with the tense Higgins and Chase negotiations over, attention turns away from the veterans to the new blood set to join the team in the 2025 NFL Draft. While other teams pour over Shedeur Sanders, Cam Ward, and the rest of the 2025 NFL Draft’s best quarterbacks, the Bengals will look for other pieces.
Here’s a look at what the Cincinnati Bengals need to do with their top three picks in the 2025 NFL Draft.
#1 – Round 1, Pick 17: Benjamin Morrison, CB, Notre Dame
The Bengals had one of the lowest ranked defenses in 2024. In 2025, the team will need to pour a lot of resources into fixing the issue. Nothing would say that louder for the Bengals than spending their first-round pick on the best cornerback they can get their hands on.
In 2022, Benjamin Morrison logged six interceptions. In 2023, he led the conference with ten passes defended. He also logged five tackles for loss. As a cornerback, tackling an offensive player behind the line of scrimmage is commendable. He would serve as a much-needed boost.
#2 – Round 2, Pick 49: Shemar Turner, DT, Texas A&M
Trey Hendrickson is still under contract for another year but with the pass rusher on the wrong side of 30 and a defense needing help, the Bengals should spend their second pick on the pass rush. Even if Hendrickson lands the fancy new contract keeping him around, he will eventually need help and someone ready to step up once he declines.
Shemar Turner logged 17 total negative tackles for Texas A&M in 2023. If he can do that for the Bengals in 2025, the investment would be a pick well spent. He also logged 115 tackles in college, so he can get running backs and perhaps the occasional receiver on the ground as well.
#3 – Round 3, Pick 81: Cam Skattebo, RB, Arizona State
The best way to mask a troubled defense is to keep it off the field. That means running the ball much more. Drafting Cam Skattebo would give the team a chance to do that.
Skattebo rushed for 1711 yards and 21 touchdowns in his final college season. He also caught 45 passes for 605 yards and four touchdowns. Whether the Bengals would need Skattebo to catch passes on the perimeter or hammer the defensive line, Skattebo could do that.
Adding Skattebo would also help keep Joe Burrow upright and healthy, which would be smart because he’s had trouble staying healthy at times in his career.
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