The Cincinnati Bengals have a regrettable history of signing athletes who have legal problems. We’ve all heard a lot of jokes about the orange and black stripes on the jerseys having a different purpose, even though that is undoubtedly a wide generalization. Cincinnati might be forced to bring in players of that kind once more in 2024, despite a protracted and occasionally traumatic past of doing so.
Although the 6’4′′, 362-pound prospect from Texas has been widely discussed—and properly so—as a significant red flag for a draft pick this season, he might be in luck. An OWI would often result in a player being benched for one or two rounds, as clubs question whether a player can bounce back from a significant criminal conduct at such a formative time in their lives. However, in terms of interior defensive lineman, this season is unlike any other.
Cincinnati is the ideal illustration of that: the team possesses tremendous pass-rushing ability on the inside of their defensive line but nothing in the way of run stopping after allowing elite nose tackle D.J. Reader depart during free agency. That is not good news for a squad that ranked 31st in the NFL the previous year in terms of rushing efficiency.
Cincinnati will need to take a risk on Sweat and hope he doesn’t make any more legal missteps in the future if they want to have any shot defensively the following season.
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