Where can the Bengals find interior disruptors?
The Cincinnati Bengals‘ need for an interior pass rusher is a tale as old as time and only slightly younger than the one about their need for help on the offensive line.
In this article, I will identify four players who should be available on Day 2 of the draft and could help to remedy this situation.
But first, here is a disclaimer.
The sack numbers posted by the players mentioned in this article are far from eye-popping, but one should consider this: none of the four defensive tackles currently on the Bengals roster had four sacks in a single season of their college football careers.
Even former Bengals Larry Ogunjobi, who was the last person to give their interior pass rush some juice, only had three in his best collegiate season.
Additionally, despite the fact that they all played four seasons of college ball, none of them had 10 sacks in their college career. Jenkins and Slaton had less than five in their career.
Now, let’s take a quick snapshot of the players in this article by comparison.
Omarr Norman-Lott’s 9.5 sacks in his two seasons at Tennessee are more than any current Bengals DT put up in four years of college.
Rylie Mills’s 7.5 seasons last year are as many as Jackson McKinnley had in four years at Texas A&M.
Aeneas Peebles’s 6 sacks in 2023 and T.J. Sanders’s 4.5 sacks in 2023 each best any single-season collegiate performance by a current Bengals DT.
So, try to have an open mind.
Omarr Norman-Lott – Tennessee – 6’2” 290
Omarr Norman-Lott is an undersized defensive tackle who has not demonstrated the strength to be an every-down player, and yet he had 9.5 sacks over the last two seasons as a rotational player for an SEC team.
What he lacks in power, he makes up for with athleticism. He is quick off the ball and extremely smooth in the hips. While he plays on the interior, he displays the type of bend that is highly desirable from edge players. His hands are also very quick and aid him in getting off blocks.
If he can develop a power move to set up his speed moves, he could be special. The Bengals are deep on the defensive interior with players who possess power and can stop the run but lack Norman-Lott’s ability to pressure the quarterback. That might just make the Bengals his ideal landing spot, as he would provide value as a pass-rush specialist while developing into a more complete player.
Omarr Norman-Lott
T.J. Sanders – South Carolina – 6’4” 297
While T.J. Sanders is strong against the run, he is not quite as physical as you would like to see as a pass-rusher.
He wins with quick hands and feet, often stunting into another gap. He doesn’t have much of a bull rush and tends to make plays in the backfield by avoiding blocks rather than defeating them. What he has shown as a run-stopper seems to indicate that there could be more to his pass-rush game, but he has not demonstrated it as yet.
Sanders had four sacks in 2024 and 4.5 sacks in 2023. He could be a good change-up on the Bengals’ defensive interior and develop into a starter.
TJ Sanders
Rylie Mills – Notre Dame – 6’5” 291
Rylie Mills is an ascending player who was named team captain and leaped to 7.5 sacks in his final season at Notre Dame after never having four in a single season prior to that. Unfortunately, that season ended prematurely after he tore his ACL in the playoffs while making his final sack for the Irish.
It stinks that he is coming off an injury, but within that stinkiness lies value, as the Bengals could likely get him on Day 3 as a result.
Those two paragraphs checked a lot of boxes for the Bengals:
- Ascending
- Production
- Team Captain
- Experience playing in big games
- Played for Al Golden (“Golden’s Boy” if you will)
- Value
Mills is relentless. He is not an athletic freak, but he is a strong, energetic force who plays above his physical gifts. He is a big-time fit for the Bengals’ defense.
Rylie Mills ️
Aeneas Peebles – Virginia Tech – 6’1” 282
My player comp for Aeneas Peebles is Tim Settle, and I made that comparison without even realizing that Settle went to Virginia Tech.
Both Settle and Peebles are relentless personifications of a bowling ball.
Peebles is a penetrator with a fast first step who does an excellent job of disengaging from blocks. In fact, it is very surprising that he only had three sacks last season after watching his film,
He did post a 6-sack season at Duke in 2023 and swatted down 5 passes over the last two seasons.
Aeneas Peebles