After the Cincinnati Bengals built a young and well-rounded roster, they had the luxury to adjust their strategy for the 2022 NFL Draft.
In 2019, the Cincinnati Bengals needed a starting left tackle and a starting linebacker, so they added Jonah Williams and Germaine Pratt. In 2020, the Bengals drafted Joe Burrow, Tee Higgins and Logan Wilson to start. In 2021, the Bengals did the same thing with Ja’Marr Chase.
Since the Bengals addressed the offensive line so aggressively in free agency, they entered the 2022 NFL Draft without a critical need at any of their starting positions. As a result, the Bengals were able to draft with a different approach.
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“Maybe you go into the draft sometimes feeling that pressure to find a starter,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said. “We feel like now we can get the right players at the right positions who can come in here and compete to start, compete to play a solid role, compete for the future.”
Bengals trade up for Cam Taylor-Britt and Zach Carter
On Friday, the Bengals traded up in the second round for Nebraska cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt and then selected Florida defensive tackle Zach Carter in the third round. One day after drafting safety Dax Hill –– who will play a versatile hybrid role in 2022 before stepping into a long-term starting role -– the Bengals added two more defensive players who support their vision for the present and the future.
The Bengals now have two distinct waves of players on their defense. There’s the veteran core of starters, including Trey Hendrickson, Sam Hubbard, Chidobe Awuzie, Mike Hilton and Jessie Bates III. And there’s the new core of young players, including defensive end Joseph Ossai, linebacker Logan Wilson and the Bengals’ three new rookies.
With Hill, Taylor-Britt and Carter, the Bengals added three players who are positioned to contribute in 2022 alongside the Bengals’ veterans and then compete for featured roles for the future.
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“A coach’s best friend is competition,” Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo said. “We’ve got some guys that are slotted that played a lot of good football for us. These (rookies) will come in and support those guys, and we’ll see how it goes from there. They’re going to provide good depth for us for sure.”
The Bengals have prioritized depth in the secondary since Taylor and Anarumo joined the coaching staff. Trae Waynes was the Bengals No. 2 cornerback behind William Jackson III when he signed in 2020.
In 2021, the Bengals spread money between Awuzie and Hilton in free agency to add even more depth, and they brought in a former starter in Eli Apple to come off the bench.
Before Friday, though, the Bengals had only used one seventh-round pick since 2019 on the defensive backfield. In 2022, they built for the present and the future in the secondary by drafting Hill and then Taylor-Britt on Friday. Behind Awuzie and Hilton, the Bengals now have developmental pieces with the experience to contribute as role players from Week 1 of the 2022 season.
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Taylor-Britt’s speed, length and man-to-man skills make him an NFL-ready prospect in the eyes of the Bengals’ coaching staff. The Bengals entered the draft needing another cornerback who could compete for a starting role, and they traded up to be a player who fits that vision.
“We want guys who are able to play man-to-man, because when it comes right down to it, when the rubber hits the road, they have to be able to guard a receiver and stop them from catching the ball,” Anarumo said. “He has proven he can do that.”
If Apple beats Taylor-Britt in the training camp competition, Taylor said he would still expect Taylor-Britt to have a role in 2022. The Bengals played against multiple secondaries last season that were decimated with injuries and had to call up players from the bench and even from the practice squad.
Coming off the bench, the Bengals would have a second-round pick in Taylor-Britt as well as Tre Flowers, who was a four-year starter at the position with the Seattle Seahawks.
“As a 17-game season goes on, and you go into the playoffs, that depth is critical,” Taylor said. “We play so many different things where there’s going to be six — sometimes seven (defensive backs) — out on the field at one time,” Anarumo added. “No other position on the field, offense or defense, is going to do that. It’s just so critical to have depth there, for sure in today’s NFL.”
Beyond this season, Awuzie and Hilton are the only cornerbacks that the Bengals have under contract. The Bengals made a more aggressive move than they usually do in the draft by trading up for Taylor-Britt, which demonstrated their confidence in him becoming a long-term starter.
Bengals looking for Carter to strike a balance
“What we didn’t want to do is say that we were going to take a corner, and then take one that we don’t feel good about and cross our fingers that he pans out,” Taylor said. “We felt good about this one, and he fit a need for us as well.”
The Bengals are looking for Carter to strike a similar balance between short-term production and long-term opportunity.
Anarumo stressed Carter’s production level as a pass rusher playing in the SEC in Florida. Carter has experience pressuring the quarterback at a high level, and the Bengals have snaps up for grabs for a player who can do that.
![Florida Gators defensive lineman Zachary Carter (6) brings down Florida State Seminoles running back Lawrance Toafili (9) in the first half. The Florida Gators hosted the Florida State Seminoles Saturday November 27, 2021 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida. [Doug Engle/Ocala Star-Banner]2021](https://cdn.cincylink.com/pub/content/uploads/sites/27/2022/05/Why-the-Bengals-took-Cam-Taylor-Britt-and-Zach-Carter-in.JPG)
The Bengals often use five defensive lineman fronts, and Anarumo also looks for pure pass rushers who can slide to the interior and rush past an offensive guard on passing downs.
Carter played that role at Florida, and he could do the same for the 2022 Bengals.
“It’s the way he got to the quarterback,” Anarumo said. “We value that over everything when you’re looking at guys like that. Again, when you’re doing it in the SEC, you’re doing it at the highest level. He has shown he can do it.”
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The Bengals recently signed defensive tackle B.J. Hill to a contract extension, but the Bengals didn’t have another interior pass rush specialist on the roster. Carter has an opportunity to fill that role and continue to earn more snaps with his production.
“We feel very good, especially with this last pick,” Taylor said. “We walked out of there feeling like, ‘OK, we accomplished not only value with the right players.’ They hit some spots that we knew we needed some depth. We weren’t going to reach for guys, so some guys that we felt good about were there and (we) took them. And so, you walk away feeling like you’ve hit some needs and found the right value. I think it has been a successful two days for us.”
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