CINCINNATI -- It doesn't matter where Zac Taylor addressed reporters this offseason.
Whether it was inside the massive Indiana Convention Center at February's combine or a stone's throw from the beach at the annual league meeting in Palm Beach, the Bengals head coach harped on the need for more contributions from the team's defensive line.
Of course, Cincinnati received plenty from edge rusher Trey Hendrickson last season. He led the NFL in sacks with 17.5, reached the Pro Bowl for the fourth straight year and was one of the team's first All-Pro selections in nine years.
What Hendrickson can produce is common knowledge. So is his unknown status with the team. Hendrickson has a year remaining on his contract but has requested a trade amid a desire for a long-term deal that has gone unfulfilled.
As the Bengals prepare for the draft, the conversation is bigger than Hendrickson and 2025. As things currently stand, the Bengals have just two edge rushers under contract for 2026 -- Myles Murphy and Cedric Johnson.
"Just generally speaking, we want more out of our front on defense," Taylor told local reporters at the combine in February.
A couple of months later, and after the Bengals made moves in free agency, Taylor expounded on the topic. He pointed to edge rushers Joseph Ossai and Cam Sample as reasons for optimism that the defensive line can be better next season.
Al Golden, who served as the team's linebackers coach during its Super Bowl run in 2021 before becoming Notre Dame's defensive coordinator, has been another factor cited for the defense's improvement. Golden was hired for the same role in Cincinnati after leading Notre Dame to the College Football Playoff title game.
"We highly respect him and he obviously had success at Notre Dame, so hopefully he can build on that and get us going in a good direction," Bengals executive team president Katie Blackburn told select reporters on April 1 at the annual league meeting.
Blackburn, Taylor and director of player personnel Duke Tobin have all vouched for the young players on the roster and the hope in their collective ascendance.
But when it comes to defensive end, which is one of the league's most-valued positions outside of quarterback, Cincinnati doesn't have anything secured past this season.
Of the two currently under contract for 2026, Johnson was a sixth-round draft pick last season who totaled one sack. Murphy, the team's 2023 first-round selection, has three career sacks. All of those were during his rookie season.
Taylor is hopeful Murphy can round into form and produce at a higher level. The former Clemson standout suffered a knee injury last season that forced him to miss the first four games of 2024.
As things stand, the 25-year-old Ossai is the front-runner to replace the recently retired Sam Hubbard as the starting option opposite of Hendrickson. Ossai had a career-high five sacks last season.
For Bengals assistant Jerry Montgomery, who was hired this offseason to coach the defensive line, the type of edge rushers who best fit the Bengals is one who can "affect the quarterback at a high level." Those who fit that category have to beat experienced offensive linemen in multiple ways.
"You got to have a guy that, (number) one has great traits -- get-off, bend at the top of the rush," Montgomery told ESPN. "And then, do they have a power element to their game?"
Traits and athletic attributes are very important, Montgomery said. And that is true when looking at the draft profile for defensive linemen the Bengals have drafted over the last five years.
According to NFL Next Gen Stats, four of the six edge rushers drafted during that span have an athletic score of 80 or greater. Seven players in this year's draft class cross that threshold, including those potentially available at No. 17 overall to the Bengals such as Marshall's Mike Green, Texas A&M's Shemar Stewart and Boston College's Donovan Ezeiruaku. Of those three, Ezeiruaku had the most production. According to ESPN Research, he led all defensive linemen last season with 13.5 sacks against Power Four opponents.
If the Bengals decide to go with a defensive end in the first round or at any point in the draft, it could solve an issue that will become prominent after this season. But don't overlook what Cincinnati needs immediately, too, especially in a year with championship expectations.
"Anybody that we bring in," Montgomery told ESPN, "we're bringing in to help."