Caleb Downs would have been there for Cincinnati Bengals, but they made the right call

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The Bengals made a big bet that’s been dissected across the NFL universe and felt with a juiced-up jolt in Cincinnati. Before Lawrence’s big splash last Saturday, the dream scenario for fans attending this party wasn’t to see a 340-pound man shake his pelvis. It was Caleb Downs. The idea of adding the Ohio State safety felt like the perfect piece for a Bengals defense in need of leadership, playmakers, versatility and intelligence, all traits Downs brought in droves. Those traits will go to the Dallas Cowboys, who traded up one spot with the Miami Dolphins to ensure they landed Downs. Bengals fans will be watching his Cowboys career closely with a knowledge of what could have been by keeping him in-state. The all-in move by the Bengals placed against the idea of Downs, or even Miami pass rusher Rueben Bain, should be judged one thought and one thought only. Sometime this December, when the Bengals host the Kansas City Chiefs, who would they rather have on the roster trying to stop Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid — Lawrence or Downs? The answer is Lawrence, and it’s not close. The Bengals putting one of the game’s best interior defenders next to the ball brings the immediate impact necessary to win a championship. They don’t have time to think about the long game here. Not in the current state of the franchise. They need to win this year or the long game could be a long rebuild with new pieces all over the staff and roster. The offseason has been executed that way at every step. Downs makes sense in the plans of most franchises and would have made sense for the Bengals in most years. Just not now. That’s a fact worth dancing over. The Bengals made their splash on the defensive line, and the AFC North countered appropriately. The Browns, Ravens and Steelers all took offensive linemen in the first round (Cleveland added wide receiver KC Concepcion at No. 24). There are two ways to look at this. Obviously, the Bengals are far from the only team with pass rushers to worry about. Trey Hendrickson, Myles Garrett, T.J. Watt and company ensure as much. Yet, the North is rebuilding for the war in the trenches. That’s one aspect of this that will probably always be the case among these teams. The other element piles on to a theme that the Bengals must take advantage of this season. Nobody in the division brings more continuity or more opportunity to start fast. Not only will the other three teams have new head coaches and coordinators, but now add a rookie offensive lineman learning the ropes to protect the quarterbacks at every single team. Cincinnati’s veteran additions and re-imagined pass rush would love to get early matchups in the division to try and take advantage, but generally, this only adds to the pressure of the Bengals’ first month. Prior to the knee issue showing up for Tennessee corner Jermod McCoy, he was a part of the conversation for the No. 10 selection. Now, after a medical issue surrounding the knee that kept him out of last year, he wasn’t picked in the first round. The Bengals and the rest of the league might have backed off him at the top of the draft, knowing he may need another procedure on the knee that had a torn ACL that kept him out of last season. The second round could be a different story. The fact that Dax Hill and DJ Turner are already in place takes away some of the concern about his health early in the season. McCoy could be worth the gamble if they think he can get close to full health even by the midpoint of the season. The question is how bad the knee is, considering he just ran a 4.38 at his pro day, and how willing are the Bengals to take on risk in a win-now season? The idea of the Bengals trading back at 41 to add picks was aided by the trend at the back of the first round. Teams were trading nearly every pick, the signal for a ton of maneuvering that’s expected in the middle portion of a draft that features a lot of players who will be graded similarly. Teams seeking specific needs will be willing to come up and a lot of teams, like the Bengals, will have interest in moving back, considering the depth of talent. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms