The Cincinnati Bengals’ 2026 NFL mock draft opens with a surprise that feels like a necessity. With the No. 10 pick, Cincinnati is projected to take Francis Mauigoa, a blocker whose size, hand strength and movement could give the club a rare first-round answer up front.
The pick lands in a scenario that assumes the Bengals have already flagged Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy for his ACL and may miss on the top defensive targets on their board. In that setup, Mauigoa becomes the offensive line move that fits the moment. The article says Cincinnati would love to add a legitimate swing tackle behind Orlando Brown Jr. and Amarius Mims before the draft gets late, and Mauigoa brings the kind of traits that could make that possible. He has large hands, acceptable length and quality play strength, and he is agile enough to stay outside at tackle while also offering a path to move inside to guard. His older brother, Frederick, briefly spent time with the Bengals in 2020, adding a small family link to a pick that would otherwise be about need and timing.
That matters because the Bengals are described as heavily interested in the top defensive prospects, and most of the nine teams ahead of them share that interest. If the board breaks badly, the mock draft argues, Cincinnati may have to take the best offensive lineman available rather than wait on defense. That is a notable shift for a team the article frames as having a rare first-round chance to shore up the front five.
The rest of the seven-round projection keeps leaning into the same problem: Cincinnati needs more answers in the middle of the roster and on the line of scrimmage. Indiana nickelback D’Angelo Ponds is projected as a Day 2 target to give the Bengals a new nickelback, while Jeremiah Trotter’s youngest son, Trotter, is still only 21 years old and is cast as the kind of wrecking ball Cincinnati needs to do what Demetrius Knight Jr. could not on the line of scrimmage. Trey Zuhn III, who mostly played left tackle for Texas A&M and also got some run at center, is described as a frame that points to the interior at the next level and a player who could eventually take over for Ted Karras. The article also says addressing the pass rush this late would not be ideal, but Trey Moore is presented as a Day 3 option as a quick and flexible EDGE-LB hybrid type.
Kaelon Black, described as Roman Hemby’s running mate, is another name Cincinnati visited with, but the text cuts off there. That unfinished note fits the larger shape of the mock: the Bengals can dream about defense, but if the top names are gone, the draft may push them toward the line, and Mauigoa is the kind of pivot that would make sense when the board forces the issue.
