One look at the Cincinnati Bengals roster says they will be on the hunt for pass-rushing help in the upcoming 2023 NFL draft.
That doesn’t guarantee they will make a pick to boost this area, but it’s hard to imagine they don’t if they see someone like Brenton Cox Jr. on the board at a good value.
Case in point, Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 reporting the Bengals hosted Cox on a pre-draft visit on Wednesday.
Cox is one of the more interesting and unpredictable prospects in the draft in terms of where he will come off the board, as summed up by NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein:
Former five-star recruit whose dismissals from both Georgia and Florida could hurt his draft stock. On the field, Cox is a linear attacker with heavy hands and the ability to effectively stack and shed blocks. While he has some bend-and-dip athleticism as a rusher, he’s primarily a brute-force attacker currently lacking the game plan or counters to beat offensive tackles possessing a quality anchor. He needs more technique work across the board but has the traits to create advantages for himself on the field. He has the potential to slot in as a rotational 3-4 outside ‘backer, but he needs to convince teams the issues that led to his dismissals from Georgia and Florida won’t resurface in the NFL.
Obviously, the Bengals doing due diligence with limited time before the draft could hint at an interest in Cox at certain spots on the draft board.
As always on this topic, the defense really needs help in terms of interior and edge pass-rushers, things Cox would help reinforce right away.
