First, at No. 17, the Bengals take a potential replacement for Higgins in Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka. Egbuka had over 1,000 yards receiving and 10 touchdowns in two of his last three seasons. He missed three games in 2023 due to an injury.

The Cincinnati Bengals need quite a bit of help. However, for the first time in quite a while, they aren’t highly expected to go offensive line with their first-round pick. That will be addressed later in the draft,

In the second round, pick No. 49, the Bengals add to the offensive line with Marcus Mbow of Purdue. Mbow is a three-year starter for the Boilermakers, having experience at both tackle and guard. He started all 12 games at tackle this season after missing the second half of the 2023 season with a broken leg.