A mere 15 days before the NFL Draft, and the Bengals.com Media Mock Draft has been pretty much frozen since that mid-January walkthrough.

The top three edge rushers, Ohio State's Arvell Reese, Texas Tech's David Bailey, and Miami's Reuben Bain Jr., have never been available at No. 10. Neither has do-it-all safety Caleb Downs of Ohio State. And the Buckeyes' Fred Warner-like playmaking linebacker, Sonny Styles, hasn't been there in the last three Mocks.

So, we got a little itchy and, word is, so is pretty much the rest of the top ten in their efforts to trade down. As always, good luck trying to find a trading partner because how different is what you get at 10 different than what you get at 15?

But, on the other hand, the Bengals' 10^th pick just could be a last resort for teams shopping for an elite cornerback or tackle or tight end. Or, if you are like some and believe three receivers stand above the rest, No. 10 is a juicy spot.

Old Syracuse friend Rich Cimini, who has covered the Jets longer than TWA, has been kind enough to answer the phone. A Long Island high school Hall of Famer and an instructor at the Cuse's iconic Newhouse School of Communications, Cimini is ESPN.com's estimable beat man for Gang Green.

The Jets have two first-round picks, two second-round picks, and nine in all.

If we go through this again and no Reese, Bailey, Bain, Styles, or Downs, Rich Cimini in New York is the next name.

1.RAIDERS _ QB Fernando Mendoza, Indiana; Consensus

2.JETS _ LB Arvell Reese, Ohio State; Rich Cimini, ESPN.com

Cimini isn't moving off this pick with Reese's versatility and dynamism matching up with the Jets' move to a 3-4.

3.CARDINALS _ DE David Bailey, Texas Tech; Darren Urban, azcardinals.com

The Cards keep thinking up front. If it's not an offensive tackle, it's a pass rusher.

4.TITANS _ DE Rueben Bain Jr., Miami; Paul Kuharsky, paulkuharsky.com

Kuharsky thinks they'd Love to trade back, but for all the same names. Bain. Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love, Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate. Maybe the best offensive tackle. If he can't get out of here, he'll stick with the pass-rusher as the Titans bid to rush with four.

5.GIANTS _ LB Sonny Styles, Ohio State; Tom Rock, Newsday

Giants head coach John Harbaugh was quoting George Bernard Shaw last week at the owners' meetings. At the draft, it looks like he'll borrow a line from Woody Hayes.

6.BROWNS _ RT Francis Mauigoa, Miami; Tony Grossi, ESPN Cleveland

Last Mock, Grossi went with Georgia left tackle Monroe Freeling. Now he thinks they'll just flat out take the highest-ranked tackle and figure out left tackle later. That probably leaves their pick at No. 24 for a speed receiver.

7.COMMANDERS _ RB Jeremiyah Love, Notre Dame; John Keim, ESPN.com

Status quo in Washington with quarterback Jayden Daniels the first piece and Love the next piece.

8.SAINTS _ S Caleb Downs, Ohio State; Jeff Duncan, New Orleans Times-Picayune.

With the loss of Demario Davis and maybe Cam Jordan, Downs not only fits them with his leadership intangibles, but also from a scheme standpoint featuring a hybrid slot cornerback.

9.CHIEFS _ WR Carnell Tate, Ohio State; Jesse Newell, The Athletic

As Rasheed Rice heads into the last year of his rookie deal, Patrick Mahomes gets another one.

10.JETS (From Bengals) _ WR Jordyn Tyson, Arizona State; Rich Cimini, ESPN.com

The Bengals are looking at the draft's two top cornerbacks, LSU's Mansoor Delane and Tennessee's Jermod McCoy. But they want to beef up the front seven, right?

The Jets need a running mate for Garrett Wilson, right?

Let's just do the exercise. The Jets don't have a third-round pick and the Bengals don't have a fifth-rounder, which means it's not exactly an ideal fit on the Jimmy Johnson trade value chart.

But what trade is ideal?

So we'll take the Jets' second-rounder at No. 44 and give them our fourth-rounder at No. 110.

Take it easy. The key is the trade gives the Bengals three of the top 44 picks and four of the top 72 in a draft that appears more uncertain the longer it goes. A fourth-round pick in a draft shortened by NIL just might not mean what it used to.

11.DOLPHINS _ CB Mansoor Delane, LSU; Chris Perkins, Sun Sentinel

First-year head coach Jeff Hafley, a former defensive backs coach and defensive coordinator, gets the best cornerback in the draft.

12.COWBOYS _ CB Jermod McCoy, Tennessee; Todd Archer, ESPN.com

Archer, the highly-regarded former Bengals beat reporter for the late Cincinnati Post, is audibly disgusted by the way this Mock has unfolded. He says if the Cowboys, desperately seeking defense, are faced with something like this, they'd trade up, and that would include with the Bengals at No. 10. He settles on McCoy here simply because of the dearth of defensive value.

13.RAMS _ WR Makai Lemon, USC; Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times

A hometown toy for Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford.

14.RAVENS _ G Olaivavega Ioane, Penn State; Jeff Zrebiec, The Athletic

What an Ozzie Newsome-Eric DeCosta pick here. The Ravens are known for great guard play, but not last year, and on top of that they lost center Tyler Linderbaum in free agency. They brought back John Simpson from the Jets to fill one guard spot and now they get the draft's best one.

15.BUCCANEERS _ Edge Akheem Mesidor, Miami; Pete Prisco, CBS Sports

The Bucs, now with the pick in front of the Bengals, have similar needs as they seek to bolster the edge, as well as replace long-time linebacker Lavonte David.

16.BENGALS (From Jets) _ Edge Keldric Faulk, Auburn; Geoff Hobson, Bengals.com

This paper Bengal has strangely unfolded like last year.

Last year, at No. 15, the Cardinals, with similar needs, took Ole Miss defensive tackle Walter Nolen right before the Bengals took edge Shemar Stewart at No. 16, as part of a run on defensive linemen.

But the position doesn't appear to be nearly as deep here as it was last year, the first hint that trading out of the top ten may not be the way to go.

If you look at a consensus of big boards from Pro Football Focus, Scouts, Inc., and The Athletic, the next three highest-rated players available in this particular Mock are all on offense: Oregon pass-catching tight end Kenyon Sadiq, versatile Utah offensive lineman Spencer Fano and Georgia left tackle Monroe Freeling. That trio just doesn't hit the positional sweet spot.

Or maybe Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman, but it's hard to see the Bengals taking a non-Caleb Downs safety that high.

Some may say it's a reach for a defender like Faulk, but The Athletic has him ranked No. 17. Or, that his two sacks last year are reminiscent of last year's robust debate centering around Stewart's generational athleticism versus his lack of collegiate sacks.

Yet Stewart flashed enough through his injury-laden rookie year to make the Bengals believe they've got a remarkably gifted big man who can consistently get to the quarterback. And, in Faulk, you'd have a guy who is legit NFL size (6-6, 280 pounds), has high grades as a physical AFC Northish run-stopper, and can play up and down the line. That's what he did for Auburn last year, and some argue moving him off the edge more is why he didn't match his seven sophomore sacks of 2024.

More Faulk upside: He's got long arms (34-plus inches) to match a 35-inch vertical leap, and the cyber scouts say his skills and intangibles are older than his age. He turns 21 shortly after the NFL season.

And, remember, the best part of the deal is waiting in the second round with the Bengals' own pick at No. 41 and the Jets' at 44.

So, if you look at various big boards, that may give them a shot at some of the fastest-rising guys in the draft. Look at the PFF big board, and they can walk out of there with Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez and Oklahoma edge R Mason Thomas. Check out The Athletic, and they can nab Texas Tech defensive tackle Lee Hunter, and, in a nod to old friend Jonathan Joseph, South Carolina cornerback Brandon Cisse.

Joseph, one of the Bengals' better picks at No. 24 in the 2006 first round, is a reason they'd have to think long and hard about not taking one of those corners at No. 10. That J-Joe pick began a decade of drafts where they took a cornerback in the first round five times, and they went to the playoffs six times and won three division titles.

Not a direct correlation, but maybe not a coincidence, either. Life always seems to be good when you take a corner in the first round.

But, could you get that cornerback while also trading back for a top 100 pick? Have your cake and eat it, too? That's the dicey part about trading back. You better be sure your bucket of prospects graded in that range has the same number of players as the slots you trade back.

This board gives you the debate in a nutshell. Take one of the top defensive players at their position even though you've already got two starting cornerbacks. Or, trade back and get another player in a draft that runs with similar value in the early rounds.

Another thing to keep in mind? Both cornerbacks, Dax Hill and DJ Turner II, are heading into contract years.

But, also keep this plus in mind with a trade like this: Three top 50 defensive players.

You make the call.