The Cincinnati Bengals were more than happy to hold a welcome-to-Cincinnati event for new defensive centerpiece Dexter Lawrence in place of a draft party on Thursday night during Round 1.

Makes sense, but now it’s time to get back to being all-in around Joe Burrow.

Those Bengals hold the No. 41 pick overall in Round 2, the ninth pick on Friday night. And they’ve got hours to chat with the teams at the top of the order about a trade up.

The best draft prospects left on the board for the Bengals right now sure make it feel like a trade up could be worth it.

The prospects on the board make this question a resounding yes.

McDonald is a first-round prospect on most boards who would only help continue to rebuild the front seven.

McNeil-Warren is a guy who probably would have been a first-rounder if the NFL valued the position more.

Both Ponds and Rodriguez would fill more immediate needs. At corner, they have yet to find a true starter in the nickel and need more boundary depth. And linebacker hardly needs explained at this point.

The cost of moving up makes this a no. It usually costs a late second-rounder or some combination of picks in this year and beyond.

The Bengals still have seven picks in this draft and could move future picks to move around if they really have a can’t-miss grade on one of these guys. But they had roughly seven blue-chip grades on prospects at No. 10 and traded that pick away.

And really, we listed five names above. There are more totally worth the No. 41 pick.

The problem with sitting still at No. 41 is if the Bengals miss on their “guy” and instead pick the next guy at the same spot. The Billy Price mistake.

For the Bengals, the optimal route, barring another shocking trade, is best-player-available at pretty much any level of the defense.

This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Bengals’ blockbuster-happy ways should continue with Round 2 trade up