ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. sees the writing on the wall — the Cincinnati Bengals need serious help at linebacker.
To help in this pursuit, Kiper has the Bengals taking LSU linebacker Devin White in the first round of his latest mock draft:
11. Cincinnati Bengals
Devin White, ILB, LSUNew coach Zac Taylor still doesn’t have a defensive coordinator, so this is a tough pick to project. I’m sticking to my best-player-available philosophy here, as White is the No. 4 prospect on my board. He is the best inside linebacker in this class, a three-down player with excellent speed and athleticism and the ability to diagnose plays and get to the ball carrier. Middle linebacker Preston Brown, who signed a one-year deal with Cincinnati last offseason, is a free agent, and he’s coming off a major knee injury. White is a plug-and-play replacement.
It’s good to hear Kiper considers White the best player available by the time the Bengals stroll to the podium. In recent years, it seems the Bengals have leaned more into need than value in the first round and it has yet to pay off.
White easily looks like the proper balance between the two and would make for an easy starter as a rookie.
The Bengals need to rebuild the majority of the linebacker core, so drafting White and bringing back someone like Preston Brown would be a good way to lock down the interior spot for possibly a long time.
