Following the NFL Draft, The Athletic has released a new set of NFL power rankings, with no movement for the Bengals after all of the recent activity, which included bringing in All-Pro defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence.
The Athletic had them ranked 23rd overall, saying this about the Bengals and their draft selection of Cashius Howell.
23. Cincinnati Bengals
Last ranking: 23
Best rookie season: Cashius Howell, Edge, Texas A&M
The second-round pick enters one of the best situations in the league, and, amazingly, it’s on the Bengals defense. Cincinnati rebuilt its defensive front with Dexter Lawrence II, Boye Mafe and Jonathan Allen. Whoever starts at edge opposite Mafe is going to have some clear paths, and it’s going to be either Howell or Myles Murphy.
Even more egregious is having the Pittsburgh Steelers ranked 11th overall. Moving them up 3 spots after the offseason. Excuse my language, but what in the hell have the Steelers done to be a fringe top 10 team in the league, draft Drew Allar in the 3rd round?
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The Ravens also saw a bump up to 12th overall, from their previous ranking of 15th. I guess Trey Hendrickson is automatically a 10x better run defender than he ever was in Cincinnati because he isn’t wearing stripes anymore.
Ultimately, these rankings mean nothing. It is still funny to see how much the national media will move the goalpost on this team. Let me give my opinion below on why they absolutely deserve some credit for what they have done this offseason.
The Bengals went out and added talented veterans to the defense in Boye Mafe, Jonathan Allen, Bryan Cook, and Dexter Lawrence. Then, they added a guy with legitimate pass rush juice in Cashius Howell in the 2nd round.
A lot of critics still complain about a lack of investment in the offensive line, even though they went and signed Dalton Risner back. They return an entire starting line for the first time in the Joe Burrow era. A line that made huge strides under new offensive line coach Scott Peters. What did the Bengals still do?
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They got two of my top 100 prospects outside of the top 100 in Connor Lew and Brian Parker to immediately upgrade the depth on the offensive line, while also giving them potential future starters when Ted Karras and Dalton Risner are no longer here.
Toss in the draft selections of Tacario Davis, Colbie Young, Jack Endries, and Landon Robinson. You can add the veteran signing of Kyle Dugger as a versatile safety/linebacker. I don’t know how all those moves couldn’t add up to at least a few spot ranking bump, but hey, what should we expect from the national media when it comes to talking about the Bengals?
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