Projecting when the Bengals would draft a wide receiver
Drafting and developing wide receivers is a strength for the Cincinnati Bengals, and it's been that way a for a while. Beyond the Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins types, Cincinnati has consistently been able to find receivers later in the NFL draft and get quality production out of them. Which is why it's odd how […]
Drafting and developing wide receivers is a strength for the Cincinnati Bengals, and it's been that way a for a while. Beyond the Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins types, Cincinnati has consistently been able to find receivers later in the NFL draft and get quality production out of them.
Which is why it's odd how they haven't attempted to do so in a few years now.
Since making Higgins a second-round pick in 2020, Chase is the only other receiver the Bengals have drafted. The dire need certainly hasn't been there considering Chase, Higgins, and Tyler Boyd continue to form the league's best starting trio, but the club going two-straight years without adding a draft pick to the position room feels off.
The Bengals may not be looking at receiver early in next week's draft, but they're showing a ton of interest later on. The team has been in contact with at least 12 receivers during this pre-draft cycle, and all of them fall below the 70th ranking on A to Z Sports' top 300 big board.
Notable names such as Penn State's Parker Washington, SMU's Rashee Rice, and Cincinnati's Tyler Scott have met with the team, while the vast majority of receivers they've shown interest in aren't expected to be picked until the back half of day three in rounds 5-7.
Listed below are the receivers ranked all the receivers the Bengals have met with this offseason, coupled with their overall rank on the top-300 big board.
| Rank | Player | School |
|---|---|---|
71 | Rashee Rice | SMU |
89 | Tyler Scott | Cincinnati |
112 | Parker Washington | Penn State |
126 | Andrei Iosivas | Princeton |
201 | Charlie Jones | Purdue |
215 | Jalen Moreno-Cropper | Fresno State |
230 | Jadon Haselwood | Arkansas |
267 | Antoine Green | UNC |
Unranked | Tre Tucker | Cincinnati |
Unranked | Matt Landers | Arkansas |
Unranked | Josh Vann | South Carolina |
Unranked | Jalen Brooks | South Carolina |
Tracking visits leads to more than just projecting likely draft picks, it can predict which players are likely targets for PFA signings after the draft. A lot of these players will get calls towards the end of the draft from teams wanting to sign them unless a team swipes them up before the end of the seventh round.
With only seven picks in the draft, this could be the route the Bengals take. A long-term replacement is needed for Tyler Boyd, which could lead to a slot expert being taken in the mid-rounds, but the value would have to exist for that to happen.
A similar situation occurred last year. The Bengals met with several tight end prospects and ended up drafting zero of them because the board didn't fall their way. There's a proven track record regarding their unwillingness to reach for (most) needs, and receiver just isn't pressing enough for them to bend.
It would befit Cincinnati to inject youth into its receivers room while their starting trio is still under contract, but only if the right player is there at the right time.
