The Michigan Wolverines will travel to Oklahoma Saturday night to face the Sooners. This match-up features two teams ranked inside the top twenty.
There are plenty of draft-eligible prospects that could be of interest for the Cincinnati Bengals during the 2026 NFL draft.
Jake Browning is entering the final year of his contract. The Bengals could look to the draft in finding a long-term solution to back up Joe Burrow going forward after the season.
John Mateer transferred to Oklahoma from Washington
State this offseason. He was one of the most highly sought-after recruits in the country. Mateer is a dual-threat quarterback who threw for over 3,000 yards and rushed for another 800 yards during the 2024 season. He combined to put up 44 total touchdowns on the season.
In week one, he went 30 for 37 with 392 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception, throwing the football. He added another touchdown and 24 yards rushing on the ground. Michigan will offer a much tougher challenge on defense than what Illinois State did in week one. If he has a big game this week against the Wolverines, he will enter a lot of Heisman conversations.
A couple of the weapons for Mateer will be Jaydn Ott at running back and Deion Burks at wide receiver.
Ott is a transfer from Cal that has over 3300 yards for his college career entering the season. His biggest asset is his patience and vision with good burst through the hole. Injuries have slowed him down a bit over the past year. He received limited action in the first week, but is expected to see the field a lot more against Michigan.
Injuries plagued Burks for the majority of the 2024 season as well. He was limited to only five games during the 2024 season. Now that Burks is healthy, he looks like the player he was at Purdue in 2023. Burks was able to put up 7 catches for 88 yards and a touchdown this past week. He has great acceleration, and his ball tracking ability is one of his biggest strengths as a prospect. There will be concerns with his size and durability at only 5’9” and 180 pounds.
If the Bengals are in the market for an offensive guard after the season, they could be interested in Oklahoma’s Febechi Nwaiwu. At 6’4” and 339 pounds, Nwaiwu is a physical presence on the interior offensive line. He plays with an aggressive and attacking mindset, constantly looking to finish through the whistle. Originally a walk-on at North Texas, he has worked for every opportunity he now has as a potential draft prospect for the NFL.
There are several defensive prospects to keep an eye on that could be Bengals targets from Oklahoma. One of those is R. Mason Thomas. Thomas is an undersized edge rusher who will likely be limited to being a pass rush specialist in the NFL at 6’2” and 249 pounds. He posted an impressive 31.3% win rate on true pass sets according to PFF in 2024, with 9 sacks on the season. He does have a high missed tackles for his career. Taking Thomas would be an outlier for what the Bengals have preferred in a size profile for the edge position.
Gracen Halton is a defensive tackle prospect for the Sooners. He is quick off the snap. He put up 5 sacks in 2024 while playing in a rotational role.
Samuel Omosigho is a linebacker prospect from Oklahoma. He moved to inside linebacker this season. He is an excellent athlete as a former safety. He played only 18 snaps in the first week of action, but still had 8 tackles and a sack. This is a player with high upside who should continue getting better as he gets more comfortable at his new position as an inside linebacker.
Lastly for the Sooners, Robert Spears-Jennings is a safety prospect. The Bengals could be losing Geno Stone after this season to free agency. They also have more questions than answers entering the season at the position. Spears-Jennings is a violent finisher who posted an elite PFF grade of 93.1 as a run defender. He is a reliable tackler, with under a 10% missed tackle rate for his career.
The Cincinnati Bengals are fairly set entering the 2025 season at running back. They have Chase Brown, Tahj Brooks, and Samaje Perine. That position is one you are always looking to continue adding talent at, though.
The Michigan Wolverines have an exciting prospect that transferred to them from Alabama in Justice Haynes. Haynes had a monster game in week one with 159 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns. He averaged a ridiculous 9.9 yards per carry. Haynes has great contact balance, is decisive when making cuts, and has displayed great vision.
If the Bengals want to continue collecting tight ends, they will want to keep their eyes on Marlin Klein. He has good size at 6’6” and 250 pounds. He is finally getting his chance to be the go-to guy for the Wolverines after spending the past few seasons behind Colston Loveland. Early returns show a player ready to break out at the position this season. He had 6 catches, 93 yards, and a touchdown against New Mexico in the first week of the season.
The Bengals recently added Mike Pennel after trying to put a waiver claim in for Jordan Jefferson at defensive tackle. They will likely be looking to add to that position again during the 2026 draft. Rayshaun Benny is a defensive tackle prospect for the Wolverines. He has had to patiently wait his turn playing behind top 50 players like Kris Jenkins, Kenneth Grant, and Mason Graham the past couple of seasons. Even in a rotational role, he was credited with 20 pressures during the 2024 season. He is powerful at the point of attack as a run defender. His 1.4% missed tackle rate is among the best in all of college football.
Michigan also has a pair of talented linebackers this season. Jaishawn Barham will miss the first half of the game after a targeting penalty against New Mexico. He is a quality run defender who is one of the better blitzing linebackers in college football this season.
They will be forced to lean on another talented linebacker in the first half, in Ernest Hausmann. Hausmann had 8 tackles in week one. That type of production wasn’t surprising after he put up 89 tackles, 2 sacks, and an interception in 2024. He has excellent range, instincts, and pursuit speed for the position.
Cam Taylor-Britt is entering the last year of his contract for the Bengals. They could be in the market to add another cornerback fairly early in the draft. Jyaire Hill is a player I keep expecting to have a true breakout season for the Wolverines. He has excellent length, speed, and active hands at the catch point. He doesn’t always play as fast as his timed speed, though, and he can be overpowered against the run.
As he continues gaining more experience, I do expect this to be a player worth monitoring as a future draft prospect. The Bengals do love their Michigan defensive backs.
Another Michigan defensive back is Rod Moore. Moore missed all of the 2024 season with a torn ACL and torn meniscus. After a couple of surgeries, he is back practicing with the Wolverines recently. It is unclear if he will be available to play this week against Oklahoma. It would be a big boost if he could get back out there. Moore has 141 tackles and 6 interceptions for his college career.
Which prospects intrigue you most in this game?
The majority of the draft-eligible talent for Michigan this year is on the defensive side of the ball. Derrick Moore is a senior defensive end. He tallied 37 pressures in 2024 with a 35.5% win-rate on true pass sets per PFF. He has 11 career sacks. He has great pursuit speed for a player weighing almost 260 pounds. He hasn’t been as reliable of a run defender as he should be at that size to this point of his career.
Rayshaun Benny is a defensive tackle for the Wolverines.
