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As the 2016 NFL Draft is now just a week away, the Cincinnati Bengals are finishing up meeting with notable prospects.
One of the top defensive lineman in this class is Mississippi State's Chris Jones, and he's recently visited the Bengals.
I'm told 6-foot-6, 310 pound #HailState DL Chris Jones recently visited the #Jaguars, #Bengals, #Ravens and #Seahawks.
— Rand Getlin (@Rand_Getlin) April 20, 2016
The 6'6", 310-pound Jones ended his Mississippi State career with 102 tackles, 18.0 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks in his three-year career, which included 16 starts in 39 games played. This past season, Jones racked up 36 tackles, 7.0 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks before declaring for the draft.
Ranking-wise, Jones is the 45th-overall prospect by CBS Sports and 24th overall by NFL.com. Still, it's hard to see the Bengals spending a first-round pick on Jones, but it doesn't look like it'd be that big of a reach either.
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Here's another interesting thing to consider with Jones: NFL.com's Lance Zierlein compares Jones to Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Jordan Phillips, who they took with the 52nd-overall pick in last year's draft.
That came one pick before...the Bengals. And Phillips may have very well been the pick had he still been on the board with Cincinnati on the clock. I remember Bengals beat writer Geoff Hobson saying several times on radio appearances and in articles that Phillips was someone Cincinnati really liked and were strongly considering with the 53rd-overall pick had he been there.
At one point, Hobson even mocked Phillips to the Bengals with the 21st-overall pick. But not only did the Bengals not get Phillips, but they failed to get a guy even like him in the draft. Marcus Hardison was taken in Round 4, but he's more of a hybrid tackle/end that you don't want getting a lot of tackle snaps on base downs.
So now that we're into the 2016 draft without a young and promising tackle one the roster behind Geno Atkins and Domata Peko, guys like Jones are going to be heavily considered by the Bengals at various points in the draft.