B
Cincinnati Bengals
Good, not great, for the Bengals: B.
by [email protected] ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 3 steals
· 3 reaches
There is reaching, and then there is Harold Perkins Jr. at Round 3, Pick 8. The Bengals jumped the board by 62 and dared it to prove them wrong.
Leaving tight end unaddressed is the roster risk they will have to answer for in the fall. The Coleman value carries more weight than any single miss elsewhere. They went 6 of 8 on their needs, which is most of what a draft is for.
Nearly every premium pick went to that side of the ball.
A workmanlike haul that should hold up just fine.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 10th overall pick they get a sticky cover corner. Exactly the need they had to hit.
Value with a capital V on Peter Woods in Round 2, Pick 9, a genuine coup. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They reached into another round for Harold Perkins Jr., and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. A need, and now a little less of one.
The board had Jonah Coleman higher than No. 110, and the running back fell to them anyway. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Aamil Wagner slid further than he should have, and slot 189 is lovely value for the offensive lineman. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They paid sticker price for Pat Coogan in the 199th pick, and that is fine. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
They went early on Kaden Wetjen in No. 221, and the value did not follow. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They paid up for Aiden Fisher at the Round 7 slot when waiting would have done the job. It fills a real need, too.