With the 17th pick in the Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft, the Cincinnati Bengals select…
We’re getting closer and closer to the Detroit Lions’ pick in our 2025 Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft, where POD commenters get to act as NFL general managers.
We’re currently at Pick 17 in the draft, owned by the Cincinnati Bengals. Somehow, the Bengals have missed the playoffs for the past two seasons, when everything looked like they were going to be the next AFC team to challenge the Chiefs. Last year, they nearly were able to pull themselves out of a 1-4 hole, but their 9-8 record wasn’t good enough to make the postseason.
Now it’s up to POD commenter Piotr S. to pull the Bengals back into relevancy.
Before we get to the pick, make sure you catch up on the previous 16 selections with our POD Community Mock Draft tracker.
With the 17th pick in the Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft, the Cincinnati Bengals have selected…
Mike Green, edge rusher out of Marshall.
Here’s Piotr S. explaining the pick:
The Bengals made the splashiest move of the offseason signing Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins to four-year deals at the same time. Now in the draft, it’s imperative that they invest in the defense, so they don’t end up losing four games again while scoring over 30 points.
Mike Green, the defensive end from Marshall, is a 6-foot-3, 251 pounds reigning AP Second-Team All-American and Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year. His FBS-leading 17 sacks, 23 tackles for a loss, and absolutely coming out party at the Senior Bowl (ask Josh Conerly Jr. about that, or maybe, don’t…) had him skyrocket up media boards. He’s a fun player to watch the film on, with a violent play style and non-stop motor that dominated the Sun Belt. He then backed it up with elite 3-cone (6.85 sec) and short shuttle (4.25) numbers at his pro day. The early talk coming out of the Senior Bowl was that Green’s production and talent was validated against higher level competition and the question now wasn’t “is he a first round selection?” but “how high could he go?” Top 10 didn’t seem far-fetched at all, especially in this draft where the talent after the top 3-5 is tough to differentiate.
So, why would a highly productive and talented defensive end still be available at the Bengals pick at 17? Well, Green has the dreaded character concerns label relating to two sexual assault accusations back in 2022 when he was at the University of Virginia. Green took the unique approach to openly discuss the situation at his podium slot at the Combine, and all charges were eventually dropped.
Nonetheless, Green’s character will be a concern for all the teams in the NFL, not just the Bengals. The reason I believe that the Bengals would be okay taking a chance on him is that their defense is devoid of top-notch talent outside of a disgruntled Trey Hendrickson. They need run stuffers in the middle, but that can wait until the second or third round. Mike Green has the talent to make a dynamic pass rushing duo with Hendrickson, and that might be the quickest way to competence for the defense. And with all the money invested in Chase, Higgins, and Burrow, the window for the Bengals to win is now.
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