The Cincinnati Bengals are one of the harder teams to project in the 2023 NFL draft.
While some of the positions of need are easy to figure out, the exact order of how the Bengals go about addressing those is tough to say.
That makes a list outlining the best Day 2 fits for every team from Pro Football Focus’ Michael Renner very interesting. There, South Dakota State tight end Tucker Kraft is the pick for the Bengals:
Kraft gives the Bengals another legit separator who can win against man coverage. He’s a fluid receiver who excels after the catch, tallying 25 broken tackles on 92 receptions in the past two seasons.
It’s easy to project almost any tight end to the Bengals given the fact they lost three to the open market and Irv Smith Jr. has been the only addition so far.
Kraft is an interesting one though, as he checks in at 6’5″ and 254 pounds and has proven himself both as a receiver and blocker, which is the sort of balance the coaching staff probably wants.
And if nothing else, Kraft’s name coming up here stresses how deep the draft class is at the position, which keeps Round 1 wide open for the team.