A new nose tackle hasn't walked through the doors of Paycor Stadium since DJ Reader left the Cincinnati Bengals for the Detroit Lions. Expect that to change after the NFL Draft.
Top 30 visits keep rolling in for the Bengals as former Texas defensive tackle T'Vondre Sweat was in town Wednesday for a visit, per his Instagram.
Sweat has been pegged as a fit in Cincinnati the entire offseason, even back when Reader leaving was a mere possibility rather than the bed they've made. He profiles as a true A-gap player at the next level after developing into college football's most dominant run defender in 2023. He posted the highest run-defense grade out of all interior defenders last year, per Pro Football Focus, before measured in at 6-5 and 366 pounds at the NFL Scouting Combine.
There's not many interior defenders in this class like Sweat that project as true nose tackles, but former Texas A&M's McKinnley Jackson might have the goods for the job. Jackson is also slated to visit the Bengals this week, per Sportskeada's Tony Pauline.
Jackson is a stout 6-2 and 326 pounds per his combine measurements, and he uses that build well on the field. His run-defense grade ranks in the 90th percentile for this class, per PFF.
Along with Jackson, NFL Draft analyst Justin Melo reports that former Auburn defensive lineman Justin Rogers is yet another future nose tackle scheduled to check out Cincinnati shortly.
The Bengals will be able to find these three players all over the draft. Sweat is ranked 56th on the Consensus Big Board and is a projected late second round pick. McKinnley is ranked further down at 117th and may go off the board early in the fourth round. Rogers will be lucky to be drafted at all with his ranking of 267th.
Somewhere in the draft, Cincinnati will be able to find a nose tackle to help replace what they lost with Reader, if that's their plan. Not many NFL teams still utilize a true nose on defense.
Special players like Reader made it possible for the Bengals, who appear very interested in keeping the scheme intact with another nose on the way.
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