Somebody in the Round 3 slot was going to get robbed, and it turned out to be the rest of the league. The Bengals sat still while Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, the No. 51 name on the board, slid all the way to them, then sprinted to the podium.

They covered a lot of ground and still skipped interior defensive lineman, which is a strange place to end up. Jonathan Allen gives the group a proven body among the projects. The dealing nudged the ledger their way without much fuss.

It is a bet on later, and a defensible one for a team playing the long game.

Bottom line, with Carnell Tate leading the way, this is a class that should pay off fast and rarely be regretted.