The Bengals head to Baltimore on Sunday with a chance to move to 4-2, but Saturday brings a different kind of homework. Across college football, Cincinnati’s front office should have a few names circled as the scouting season keeps rolling on.
This week doesn’t offer quite as many headline matchups as last week, but there are still plenty of eyes on major games like Texas vs. Ole Miss, Kentucky vs.
Vanderbilt, and Utah vs. Houston.
For the Bengals, three prospects stand out.
Lance Heard is one of the cleaner offensive tackle evaluations on the board right now. The Kentucky left tackle transferred from Tennessee ahead of the 2026 season, and the former five-star recruit has taken a clear step forward. His early career with the Volunteers was marked by inconsistency, but this fall he has settled in and looked far more reliable.
The production backs it up. Heard has allowed just 8 total pressures in 7 games played, and he owns an 85.7 pass-blocking grade this season. At 6’6” and 325 pounds, he brings the kind of size NFL teams want on the edge, and the experience is already there too - more than 2,200 career snaps at tackle in the SEC.
That matters for Cincinnati, even with Orlando Brown Jr. on the books. Brown signed a two-year contract extension this offseason, and while his season has been uneven overall, he turned in his best game of the year against the Dolphins.
Left tackle may not be the Bengals’ biggest draft need, but it can’t be ignored. Brown will be 31 in May, and if Cincinnati moves on after the 2027 season, the dead money cap hit would be only $4.6 million.
Protecting Joe Burrow remains the priority, and tackle depth always belongs in the conversation.
Another left tackle worth watching is Utah’s Zereoue Williams. He spent time behind first-rounders Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu before getting his chance, and this season he’s making the most of it. Williams has worked his way into first-round talk after emerging as one of the more intriguing tackles in the country.
At 6’8” and 315 pounds, he has the kind of frame teams dream about. His basketball background shows up in how easily he moves, and the numbers have been strong as well - only 3 pressures allowed through 6 games played.
The upside is obvious, especially considering he didn’t play football from seventh grade until his senior season and is still in his first full-time starting year at Utah. There’s still rawness there, but the ceiling is high enough that he looks like a player with All-Pro potential.
Williams will be in the spotlight this week with Utah’s 10th-ranked team facing 14th-ranked Houston on Saturday night.
The Bengals may also want to keep an eye on the backfield, especially with Chase Brown set to be a free agent after this season. Brown hasn’t exactly taken off this year, so running back could absolutely be on the table when draft season arrives. While Jadan Baugh from Florida remains the top running back prospect, his team is on a bye, which opens the door for Wayshawn Parker to get more attention.
Parker is very much in the mix to be one of the next running backs drafted after Baugh. He looks like a likely Day 2 pick and has already piled up 597 rushing yards this season while averaging 6.7 yards per carry. The more eye-popping number is his 5.18 yards after contact per rushing attempt, a sign of how much damage he does once he gets moving.
He brings more to the table than just straight-line production. Parker can contribute as a receiver, has real elusiveness, and plays with more power than you’d expect from a back listed at 5’10” and 205 pounds. He has three-down potential at the next level, which makes him a name any team searching for a boost to its run game should have on the radar.
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