Should the Bengals pursue Louis Nix at defensive tackle?

If you’ve watched the Bengals’ defense, or read Cincy Jungle enough, you’ll know that the nose tackle position in the Bengals' 4-3 alignment has been the weak link on the defensive line.

Domato Peko has been mediocre for a while, and the Bengals’ third round pick from the 2012 draft, Brandon Thompson, has never emerged as more than a backup.

This year many Cincy Jungle readers were pining for the Bengals to replace Peko with Texas Longhorn Malcolm Brown via the draft. A year ago, it was Notre Dame defensive tackle Louis Nix (among others).

After selecting Darqueze Dennard in the first round and Jeremy Hill in the second round in 2014, the Bengals were seemingly interested in drafting a big defensive lineman with their #88 overall selection.

Unfortunately for the Bengals, Will Sutton (6’1", 303 lbs), Louis Nix (6’2", 331 lbs), Kareem Martin (6’6", 272 lbs), and Khyri Thornton (6’3", 304 lbs) were all drafted at #82, #83, #84, and #85 respectively.

The Bengals were undeterred, and drafted Will Clarke (6’6", 271 lbs), who was seen as something of a reach at the time. Had Houston not traded up to pick a few spots ahead of the Bengals to grab Nix, perhaps the Bengals would have been selecting him in the third round.

After Nix was selected in the 2014 draft by the Texans, he missed his entire rookie season with a wrist injury that sent him to IR. Now healthy, Nix was stuck behind Vince Wilfork at NT, on a Texans’ roster only willing to carry one NT this year. On Friday, it was announced that Nix was cut by the team.

Nix is young, has the big frame you want from the defensive tackle lining up over the center/guard, and likely has more upside than either Thompson or Peko.

Should the Bengals sign Louis Nix, and say goodbye to either Thompson, Peko or another DT?

Nix is practice squad eligible. So at the very least, should the Bengals try to sign Nix to their practice squad if he doesn't get claimed off waivers between now and Sunday?