C+
Cincinnati Bengals
A mixed bag for the Bengals, and a C+ to match.
by Kev05555 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 1 steals
· 5 reaches
Boards are made to be trusted, and the Bengals shredded theirs for Jared Brown. He came off 261 spots early, and the room will hear about it. It lands right in the middle: a C+, no more, no less.
Stukes falling to them is the kind of break a good board is built to catch. That linebacker hole did not close this weekend, and it was the biggest one on the wall.
On the needs board they went 6 of 8, with cornerback the one that mattered most.
Not a disaster, not a triumph, just a middling class.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 10 they get a plug-and-play piece up front. A clean fit for the roster.
Tim Keenan III in the 41st pick is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
A market-rate wide receiver, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Malachi Fields. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Bishop Fitzgerald at the 110th overall pick is a conviction pick that outran the value. It adds depth where they could use a little.
The board fumbled Treydan Stukes all the way to slot 189, and they scooped it up. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Jared Brown at pick 199 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
They liked Miles Kitselman enough to skip the value, taking him in the 221st overall pick. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Robert Henry Jr.. A need, and now a little less of one.