The Bengals do something wild in NFL’s ‘dress rehearsal’ mock draft

One of the most enjoyable mock drafts annually is the fake one the NFL puts out, dubbed the “dress rehearsal” mock draft.

The rehearsal is a scripted event involving all 32 teams each year to make sure that things are running smoothly before the live event itself on Thursday.

Said event uses real draft prospects, but they are mostly late-round prospects and priority undrafted free agents, hence the No. 1 overall pick being an offensive lineman from Toledo.

At No. 29 in the dress rehearsal (it will be 28 on draft day due to Miami forfeiting a pick, but all teams are included in the rehearsal), the Cincinnati Bengals selected Minnesota defensive back Jordan Howden.

Howden is a late-round prospect projected as safety depth and a possible impact player on special teams, so keep him in mind — it would be pretty funny if the dress rehearsal accurately predicted one of the picks the Bengals make very late in the process.

Dianna Russini of ESPN provided the whole fake draft:

For this draft dress rehearsal on Tuesday, the NFL sends out a script. Below is the mock draft for tomorrow sent out by the league to all teams. pic.twitter.com/Uep4uzF51c

— Dianna Russini (@diannaESPN) April 24, 2023