The Cincinnati Bengals have improved their stock enough, according to Pro Football Focus, to leap the Buffalo Bills in the outlet’s post-2023 NFL draft power rankings.
Prior to the event, the Bills held the fourth-overall spot, one ahead of the Bengals. Buffalo and Cincy have since switched spots.
What it appears to come down to is the replacements each respective team selected at the draft.
For the Bills, all eyes were on the linebacker position. Dorian Williams was tabbed as a Tremaine Edmunds replacement with a third-round pick. It’s unclear if that will actually unfold since Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane hinted the team will ease Williams in, but that’s where the focal point was in PFF’s analysis:
Biggest impact player from the draft: LB Dorian Williams
Pre-Draft Ranking: 4The loss of Tremaine Edmunds is significant for the Bills’ defense, but they were able to retain safety Jordan Poyer and linebacker Matt Milano to maintain some stability. They also boosted their offensive line by signing tackle Connor McGovern, but their other free agency moves have been fairly lackluster.
Edmunds‘ departure in free agency was slightly offset by Buffalo drafting Dorian Williams, who produced a top-10 coverage grade among FBS off-ball linebackers in two of his last three seasons at Tulane.
For comparison’s sake, PFF liked what the Bengals did more in terms of adding replacements in the draft than what the Bills did.
Cincinnati used one of their third rounders on Jordan Battle. The Bengals lost both of their starting safeties, Jessie Bates III and Vonn Bell, in free agency this offseason.
Considering the breakdowns, the difference maker here for PFF and why the outlet had the Bengals jump the Bills.
Here’s how the out explained the Cincinnati selection:
Biggest impact player from the draft: S Jordan Battle
Pre-Draft Ranking: 5After losing two starting safeties in Jessie Bates III and Vonn Bell this offseason, the Bengals were always going to draft at least one. They settled on Alabama’s Jordan Battle, who earned 80.0-plus PFF grades in each of the past three seasons. They also drafted a solid cornerback in DJ Turner, who allowed a catch on just 46.5% of the passes thrown into his coverage and forced 14 incompletions in 2022.
In addition to Cincy, the New York Jets are a noteworthy team in the power rankings. The Jets jumped all the way up from the No. 17 position to sixth right behind the Bills.
Rounding out the rest of the AFC East is the Miami Dolphins at No. 11 and New England Patriots down at 20.
The Kansas City Chiefs ended up taking the top slot as the defending champs. They are followed by the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers, respectively.
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