Cincinnati Bengals looking to host pass rusher extroardinaire in Montez Sweat

The Cincinnati Bengals are serious about upgrading their pass rush through the draft.

The latest evidence of this is the fact that they hosted defensive end Montez Sweat for an official pre-draft visit on Monday night. The Bengals are far from the only team that has hosted the Mississippi State star. Sweat is also far from the only defensive end Cincy has hosted before the 2019 NFL Draft.

Bengals are looking to upgrade the defensive line

There have already been a ton of mock drafts for the Bengals already, most have them looking to upgrade their offense in the first round.

There are even a couple of Mock Drafts that have them taking a real superstar like Kyler Murray with their first pick.

It's not clear if Sweat would be replacing an offensive pick in the first round, or whether the team is hoping they can get this kind of a pass rusher in the second round. Wherever they think they can get him, it appears they believe he might be available.

Montez Sweat was someone who showed just how good he could be in the combine. As Bengals Wire reports, he absolutely blew people away with his performance during the pre-draft workouts.

Despite the fact that the Mississippi State star stands at 6'6 and weighs in at 260 pounds, he ran an astounding 4.41-forty yard dash. While there isn't a ton of call for defensive ends to run 40 yards, it still shows that he can certainly move around the field quite well.

He also managed to post a 36-inch vertical jump.

It's clear the Cincinnati Bengals are seeing him as someone who is a heck of a pass rusher. That should really be a surprise when you look at the numbers he's put up, especially since he arrived in the SEC.

Montez Sweat by the numbers

The defensive end started his career at Michigan State but was nothing more than a backup during his very limited time there.

As a true freshman, he appeared in one game and did flash some of the talent that would make him the specimen he is today.

In that one game, he had four tackles and a sack. After the 2015 season, he transferred out of the Big Ten and into the SEC at Mississippi State. Whether it was the year off where he had to sit and wait, or simply that the Bulldogs were able to unlock his potential.

Whatever the cause, he started to look like a star the minute he stepped foot on the field. In 2017, Sweat recorded 48 tackles and 10.5 sacks. If that wasn't good enough, he followed up that performance with 53 tackles and 12 sacks as well as a fumble recovery.

It wasn't those numbers alone that made Montez Sweat such an obvious draft prospect, but it's hard to claim that his dominating the SEC didn't play a pretty big part in why the Cincinnati Bengals are now looking at taking him with one of their earlier picks.