NFL Draft prospect strongly connected to the Bengals makes news for the wrong reason at the wrong time

As one of the top defensive tackle prospects in this year's NFL Draft class, Sweat has been viewed as a likely target for the Bengals. They showed interest in him at the NFL Scouting Combine, head coach Zac Taylor was present at his pro day, and he came into town for his aforementioned visit.

Does his arrest change all of that? It's fair to speculate if there were already concerns to begin with.

Per The Athletic's Dane Brugler, Sweat's pre-draft meetings have involved him discussion his "partying" from his early days at Texas. Interested teams would have already had some intel on Sweat's history. 

Sweat being opening about it was a critical step towards establishing trust with future employers.

Topics like these are why teams use top 30 visits strategically. The meetings are a means to get to know the prospects better and make final confirmations, as well as gauging their preparedness for NFL life. 

Sweat's meeting with the Bengals likely involved getting more concrete info on his past, as well as seeing his current physical state. The 22-year old measured in at 366 pounds at the Combine. How they felt about him last week matters more than how they feel about what happened to him Sunday, but the timing of Sweat's arrest is doing him no favors here.

The Bengals have taken chances on potential character risks before, like drafting Joe Mixon when many teams removed him from their boards, but not so much in the Zac Taylor era. It's far more likely that the Bengals will avoid Sweat than prioritize selecting him unless he's available far later than expected.