The Beast has been unleashed!
Wrestling fans may remember that epic call from Hall of Famer Jim Ross when Batista defeated Triple H to win his first world championship at Wrestlemania 21, 21 years ago.
That call can also be applied today as “The Beast” draft guide by The Athletic’s Dane Brugler was released Wednesday. Brugler’s guide is, by far, the most comprehensive draft guide on the market. 402 player profiles, over 2,700 players ranked and almost 300,000 words. It’s not called The Beast for nothing.
We’ll do a quick dig-in to the guide here by picking one player among Brugler’s top 10 prospects that should be the pick for the Cincinnati Bengals in the first round of the draft on April 23, where the Bengals hold the No. 10 pick overall.
We’re going to go with Brugler’s No. 4 overall player, Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles.
We recently did a mock draft where the Bengals traded up to No. 5 overall, swinging a deal with the New York Giants, and selecting Styles. Linebacker is arguably the biggest need on defense, and perhaps overall, for the Bengals. Neither rookie from last season, Demetrius Knight nor Barrett Carter, instilled much confidence for the team as they enter their second NFL season. The Bengals may very well have been trying to land a better option at the position in free agency, to no avail.
Styles is viewed as the best pure linebacker in this class — Arvell Reese is seen as both a linebacker and edge rusher, but could have more upside on the ball. Styles would slot right in as a day one starter in the middle of the defense and give the Bengals instant impact. They would also be getting a player who grew up only about two hours northeast of Cincinnati.
Brugler’s quick takeaway on Styles: “Styles is an outstanding size-speed athlete who is comfortable in space, reacts well to what he sees and plays with the physicality to mark up the stat sheet. With elite subpackage value, he has the talent to become an impact linebacker early in his NFL career.”
Styles is a safety in a linebacker’s body. He measured six feet, 4 5/8 inches and 247 pounds at Ohio State’s Pro Day. He ran a 4.46 40-yard dash at the Combine and stood on that, deciding not to run at his Pro Day. He didn’t need to. He put on a show in Indianapolis.
The Bengals have a very small history recently of making moves in the draft. As Paul Dehner of The Athletic notes, the Bengals have gone 21 straight draft picks without making a trade. The last time the Bengals traded their pick was in 2023, when they moved back from No. 92 to No. 95 in a deal with the Kansas City Chiefs, ultimately selecting safety Jordan Battle.
A player like Styles and the need at the position makes this a perfect time to make an aggressive trade up for Styles. As we projected in our mock draft, one possible package could be the Bengals’ third-round pick this year (No. 72) and their third-round pick next year.
Two other players among his top ten that we could note as “honorable mention” are right behind Styles in his top ten, Ohio State safety Caleb Downs (No. 5) and LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane (No. 6).
Brugler’s top ten players are as follows:
- Arvell Reese, Edge/LB, Ohio State
- Jeremiyah Love, RB, Notre Dame
- Fernando Mendoza, QB, Indiana
- Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State
- Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State
- Mansoor Delane, CB, LSU
- David Bailey, Edge, Texas Tech
- Spencer Fano, OT, Utah
- Rueben Bain Jr., Edge, Miami
- Carnell Tate, WR, Ohio State
This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Bengals’ top draft target revealed by ‘The Beast’ draft guide
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