Mel Kiper Jr. and Field Yates have a little wager going as they debated with Mike Greenberg on who the Cincinnati Bengals are taking with the No. 17 pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.
Mel Kiper Jr. and Field Yates Are at Opposite Ends of the Spectrum
First Draft, hosted by Greenberg, Yates, and Kiper Jr., examined Kiper’s fourth and final mock draft of the year with a breakdown of his first-round picks.
When it came to discussing the Bengals, Kiper Jr. and Yates debated whether Cincinnati would get an offensive lineman to help support Joe Burrow or whether they would take a defensive player like linebacker Jihaad Campbell from Alabama.
Campbell was a first-team All-SEC with 119 total tackles with the Crimson Tide in 2024.
“Yep, I got to think, and we got a little wager on this Field; it’s got to be a defensive player,” Kiper said. “Jihad Campbell, if you feel like the medical is okay, your medical staff says, “Hey, the shoulder will be fine. He’ll be ready to go by the start of training camp.”
Kiper said that if there were no injury concerns with the shoulder, Campbell would be in the 10-15 range as a pick.
“He’s smart,” Kiper said. “He can be the leader of your defense. You can play him off the edge and get some sacks that way. He can give you up the gut pressure. He’s a sideline to sideline range.”
KEEP READING: NFL Analyst Reacts to Mel Kiper Jr’s Updated Top 10,
Yates said the Bengals should go defense on all but one of their six picks in this draft and that taking a guard at some point would be smart.
Yates felt that Campbell’s beginning range is 17 and that the early second round is the end of his range to be selected.
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