INDIANAPOLIS \_ First of all, over here at the NFL scouting combine, every team talks to every top prospect. If not this week, in the coming weeks. It's not news, only due diligence.
Secondly, let's cut corners at No. 10.
As in, what if the Bengals can't get that pure edge rusher (Texas Tech's David Bailey), or that edge who can also bring an edge to the interior pass rush (Miami's Ruben Bain Jr.), or that monstrously versatile safety (Ohio State's Caleb Downs) when they pick at No. 10?
The top cornerbacks are going to be sitting right there in Tennessee's Jermod McCoy and LSU's Mansoor Delane. And some evaluators believe Clemson's Avieon Terrell of Clemson is right there, too.
You can hear Bengals fans' screaming already.
The strength of the Bengals' defense is the corner tandem of Dax Hill and D.J Turner II. And McCoy's ACL rehab is a painful reminder of how 2014 first-rounder Cedric Ogbuehi's ACL tear seemed to doom his career from the start.
But things seemed to be rolling pretty well for the Bengals' defense when they picked five first-round cornerbacks in the 11 drafts between 2006 and 2016, a stretch the Bengals hit the top ten four times, and the top 11 five times in NFL total defense.
Although McCoy has hasn't played football for 13 months since he tore his ACL, his 6-0, 193 pounds that stick make him just the kind of man-to-man cornerback the Bengals covet. Unlike Ogbeuhi, McCoy tore his ACL as early as you can in the offseason when he jumped for a ball in a January, 2025 workout, and he doesn't have to worry about the big frame of a lineman slowing rehab.
Plus, while the Bengals hope to extend both Hill and Turner this offseason, they're the only starting outside cornerbacks on the team. Both played full seasons last year after missing significant time in 2024. Translation: you can never have enough corners, particularly if the big man you want isn't there where he's ranked.
Nothing wrong, as the Bengals discovered taking corners first, staying true to the board and taking the best player instead of a need. Earlier over here this week at the combine, Tobin warned of those needy drafts.
"In general, what I prefer is staying with the bucket of player we evaluate of worthy of that pick and not going down," Tobin said. "In that bucket, sometimes we'll take need. It's a conversation if need (is) more important.
"There are times when maybe we had guys at the bottom of a bucket and guys at the top of a bucket and went with immediate need. It's always a temptation. When we do that and it doesn't work out, that's my fault."
McCoy and Delane said all the right things when they spoke to the media Thursday morning from side-by-side podiums. "I can do everything," said McCoy, who doesn't plan to work out here but at his pro day next month. "Ready to play again, to be honest with you."
Meanwhile, Delane, who allowed a miserly 13 catches and six first downs last season, says he's so physical he'd rather play middle linebacker.
"It was tough, but I had a big leadership role," said McCoy of his lost season. "So I couldn't step away and kind of be distant. I had to make sure I was pouring into guys in the room. We had young guys that had to step up. I had to make sure that they understood the standard in the room."
The Bengals understand the standard of a top ten pick. As long as it's the best player, it doesn't matter how many you already have at that position.
"When you're as high as we are in the top 10," Tobin said, "you can't eliminate any position. You have to be open-minded to taking the guy that's clearly the best football player."