INDIANAPOLIS _ First of all, over here at the NFL scouting combine, every team talks to every top prospect. If not this week, in the coming weeks. It's not news, only due diligence.

Secondly, let's cut corners at No. 10.

As in, what if the Bengals can't get that pure edge rusher (Texas Tech's David Bailey), or that edge who can also bring an edge to the interior pass rush (Miami's Ruben Bain Jr.), or that monstrously versatile safety (Ohio State's Caleb Downs) when they pick at No. 10?

The top cornerbacks are going to be sitting right there in Tennessee's Jermod McCoy and LSU's Mansoor Delane. And some evaluators believe Clemson's Avieon Terrell of Clemson is right there, too.

You can hear Bengals fans' screaming already.

The strength of the Bengals' defense is the corner tandem of Dax Hill and DJ Turner II. And McCoy's ACL rehab is a painful reminder of how 2014 first-rounder Cedric Ogbuehi's ACL tear seemed to doom his career from the start.

But things seemed to be rolling pretty well for the Bengals' defense when they picked five first-round cornerbacks in the 11 drafts between 2006 and 2016, a stretch the Bengals hit the top 10 four times and the top 11 five times in NFL total defense.

Although McCoy has hasn't played football for 13 months since he tore his ACL, his 6-0, 193 pounds that stick make him just the kind of man-to-man cornerback the Bengals covet. Unlike Ogbeuhi, McCoy tore his ACL as early as you can in the offseason when he jumped for a ball in a January 2025 workout, and he doesn't have to worry about the big frame of a lineman slowing rehab.

Plus, while the Bengals hope to extend both Hill and Turner this offseason, they're the only starting outside cornerbacks on the team. Both played full seasons last year after missing significant time in 2024. Translation: you can never have enough corners, particularly if the big man you want isn't there where he's ranked.

Nothing wrong, as the Bengals discovered taking corners first, staying true to the board and taking the best player instead of a need. Earlier over here this week at the combine, Director of Player Personnel Duke Tobin warned of those needy drafts.

"In general, what I prefer is staying with the bucket of player we evaluate of worthy of that pick and not going down," Tobin said. "In that bucket, sometimes we'll take need. It's a conversation if need (is) more important.

"There are times when maybe we had guys at the bottom of a bucket and guys at the top of a bucket and went with immediate need. It's always a temptation. When we do that and it doesn't work out, that's my fault."

McCoy and Delane said all the right things when they spoke to the media Thursday morning from side-by-side podiums. "I can do everything," said McCoy, who doesn't plan to work out here but at his pro day next month. "Ready to play again, to be honest with you."

Meanwhile, Delane, who allowed a miserly 13 catches and six first downs last season, says he's so physical he'd rather play middle linebacker.

"It was tough, but I had a big leadership role," said McCoy of his lost season. "So I couldn't step away and kind of be distant. I had to make sure I was pouring into guys in the room. We had young guys that had to step up. I had to make sure that they understood the standard in the room."

The Bengals understand the standard of a top 10 pick. As long as it's the best player, it doesn't matter how many you already have at that position.

"When you're as high as we are in the top 10," Tobin said, "you can't eliminate any position. You have to be open-minded to taking the guy that's clearly the best football player."

Ful-Rock Endorses Downs

A big topic over here is the super safety/nickel/cornerback in the mold of the Ravens' Kyle Hamilton and the Chargers' Derwin James. Everyone just has to have one now, and Ohio State's Downs is projected to be the next one, even though Hamilton is 6-3, James is 6-2, Seattle rookie Nick Emmanwori is 6-3, and Downs barely goes 6-0. The size apparently doesn't bother the Bengals. They view him as an elite processor.

And David Fulcher, the greatest safety the Bengals ever had, is a big fan of Downs and says the Bengals should grab him. He prefers to look at the dimensions of a Pro Football Hall-of-Fame safety from the previous generation in Troy Polamalu.

"Troy (5-10, 207) probably was about the same size. It's about having instincts," Fulcher said Thursday. "I was one of those guys who had the instincts. I knew where the football was going. Can Downs be that kind of guy? Yeah. Look at the conference he played in. Look at where he comes from. He's a guy that impacts games."

Fulcher was a Super safety 40 years before Downs. In 1986, that meant a safety with 31 career interceptions who played the run like a Pro Bowl linebacker. In 2026, that means a safety who can go in the slot and attack the line of scrimmage and everything in between

"Different game. Not as much running. But they're gifted today. I would go get him," Fulcher said. "I saw him do some good stuff for Ohio State. This is one of those picks that's not the best player in the draft. It's at a position of impact."

Downs also met the media Thursday morning and, as expected, came off as quite impressive. He sounded and looked more like an Ohio State history professor with his glasses and references to turn-of-the-century Hall-of-Famers Polamalu and Ed Reed. Not to mention Bob Sanders, the Colts safety whose career ended in 2011 shy of Canton. But he didn't escape Downs.

"He made some crazy plays," Downs said.

Downs speaks softly, but there's no question he left media, coaches and scouts with the impression that he's an alpha male leader of men. On Thursday, Bengals assistant head coach and special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons spoke of how well the players at the top of the draft interview.

"It's really easy to see when you talk to the top players in the draft. If I didn't know who they were, if they didn't have a name or a number, and it was just a face, but you only knew the position that he played," Simmons said. "You listen to them talk for 20 minutes, you understand why they're the top players. They're the smartest. They can regurgitate information, they can communicate. It's very easy to see why they're good players, because they look a certain way, they talk a certain way, and they communicate a certain way."

All you had to do was hear Downs talk about his killer versatility and how he'll bring a culture change to any defense that has him.

"I feel like being able to play in multiple positions is what makes people useful, makes people special," Downs said. "So being able to play in the box, being able to play in the deep part of the field, being able to play slot, nickel, or dime, I feel like that makes people unique."

Operation: Success

Simmons and his assistant, Ben Jacobs, helped lead the combine's showcase for specialists on Wednesday. When it was over, Simmons probably felt as good as he has in five years about his operation between kicker, punter, and long snapper.

He already felt good going in because kicker Evan McPherson is coming off a career-best 89.3 field-goal percentage with only three misses, one from 67 yards and another with a ball not used for kicking. The final piece, signing undrafted long snapper William Wagner out of Michigan last year, worked well.

This is going to be the first time in four years the Bengals go into a second straight Opening Day with the same kicker, punter, and long snapper.

Simmons points to how much punter/holder Ryan Rehkow worked on his holding in the offseason last year after a rookie year he was asked to hold with a new technique.

"He went out and bought a JUGS machine out there in Utah, and his wife was running the machine," Simmons said. "I never looked at so many snaps (on tape) in the preseason."

"He just needed time on task. He needed just to continue to work. It's something that people take for granted, but it's a big factor in the success of a guy that's kicking it. The more consistently he can see the ball in the right spot. It's honestly amazing. From the time the ball is snapped until the time that Evan kicks, it's 1.25, 1.27 seconds, and he really gets Evan one full stride to actually see the ball where it's supposed to be. When (McPherson) has a trust that the ball is going to be exactly where it needs to be, it means he can swing freely, he can cut it loose."