B
Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals cashed the board's mistake on Wright: B.
by jzaNe1949 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 7 picks
· 4 steals
· 1 reaches
Somebody in slot 221 was going to get robbed, and it turned out to be the rest of the league. The Bengals sat still while Dae'Quan Wright, the No. 189 name on the board, slid all the way to them, then sprinted to the podium.
Pride Jr. has a lot of ground to make up just to look fairly priced. They will regret leaving linebacker for another day if the season turns on it. Cornerback is handled and the depth chart looks a good deal healthier for it.
Value over need was the throughline, for better and worse.
Good work on the whole, with linebacker the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing Peter Woods in the Round 2 slot. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
They let Germie Bernard come to them and pounced at pick 72. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Fair-plus on Bud Clark, a quiet win that adds up over a draft. A minor itch, scratched.
A clean, defensible pick in No. 189 with a little surplus value in Keagen Trost. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Value said wait; Toriano Pride Jr. in slot 199 says they were not listening. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Circle this one: Dae'Quan Wright at the 221st pick is a fall that decides a draft. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
The board had Harrison Wallace III higher than Round 7, Pick 10, and the wide receiver fell to them anyway. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.