B-
Cincinnati Bengals
Good, not great, for the Bengals: B-.
by Emeritus ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 2 steals
· 5 reaches
There was a run on nobody at that position, and the Bengals started one anyway for Marvin Jones Jr., 111 picks ahead of schedule.
However the rest shakes out, Lew at that price is a win they earned. They covered a lot of ground and still skipped tight end, which is a strange place to end up.
In sum, a sturdy weekend with one asterisk, the tight end spot they never got to.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 10 they get a sticky cover corner. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
Josiah Trotter in Round 2, Pick 9 is early enough to raise a brow, if not a full objection. A need, and now a little less of one.
Christen Miller in the 72nd pick is a bargain the rest of the room will envy. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Connor Lew in slot 110 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
A conviction pick on Aaron Graves at the Round 6 slot that the board grades a round light. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Tyler Onyedim this early at pick 199. A minor itch, scratched.
They paid a round early for Isaiah Jatta in slot 221, more than the board wanted. It fills a real need, too.
Marvin Jones Jr. in the 226th pick is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.