The Cincinnati Bengals were such an odd team during the 2024 NFL season. Joe Burrow put up an MVP-level campaign under center while having the league’s leading wide receiver in Ja’Marr Chase, yet the squad posted a 9-8 record and missed the playoffs. After starting the season 1-4, Burrow led the team to a turnaround. It isn’t off base for the Bengals to start a season slow, but this big of a hole early on proved too much to get out of.
The defense was Cincinnati’s kryptonite, and they’ve got to improve in that aspect in the offseason if they want to return to a contending-level team.
The NFL Draft is one key way the Bengals will be able to improve their defense as they’ve got salary cap implications when looking to free agency to build the team.
In The Athletic’s recent 2025 NFL Mock Draft, Cincinnati uses the No. 17 overall selection to land Georgia edge rusher Mykel Williams, according to Dane Brugler.
“Last year, the Bengals drafted a toolsy offensive lineman from Georgia in the first round (Amarius Mims),” Brugler wrote. “They flip to the other side of the ball and do it again in this mock. Williams looked like a future top-10 pick as a freshman, but he didn’t quite reach dominant status over his three seasons in Athens. The talent, however, is there for him to grow into a game-wrecker off the edge.”
Georgia has produced many highly talented NFL players, and looking to their defense is a great way to source young talent with star potential.
Williams was superb during his time in Athens, totaling 14 sacks and playing part in the program’s 2022 National Championship campaign as a freshman.
Adding a winner like Williams, who was a disruptor in the backfield despite only accruing 14 sacks. He was often shaking up and rattling opposing quarterbacks with the pressure he was bringing.