Top 50 Cincinnati Bengals
If you want to name a team that exemplifies hard luck in the National Football League, it would have to be the Cincinnati Bengals.
Formed in 1968 as the last member of the American Football League, the Bengals joined the NFL with the official merger two years later. Cincinnati always seems to be a team that struggles, but they have appeared in three Super Bowls, losing the first two to the San Francisco 49ers and in 2020 to the Los Angeles Rams. While they have never been a champion, three Super Bowl appearances are the envy of a few teams in the NFL.
This list is up to the end of the 2024 regular season.
Note: Football lists are based on an amalgamation of tenure, traditional statistics, advanced statistics, playoff statistics, and post-season accolades.
Cris Collinsworth used his tall frame (6' 5") to cause physical mismatches often when he played at Florida, and the All-American was able to the same after being drafted by the Bengals with their Second Round Pick in 1981.
David Fulcher made the All-Rookie Team after the Cincinnati Bengals took him with their Third Round Pick in 1986.
Bob Trumpy was a Twelfth Round Pick from Utah, and for anyone drafted that low to have a pro career that lasted twelve seasons is nothing short of incredible.
In 1968, the University of Tennessee’s Bob Johnson was the first player drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals, who was the Second Overall Pick. While you can easily say that he was not a star player, he was durable, and as it turned out, an excellent choice for their first-ever pick.
Carlos Dunlap was a massive part of the Florida Gators team that win the BCS National Championship in 2009. Dunlap was so impressive that he was the National Championship Defensive MVP. This success was parlayed into a Second Round Pick by Cincinnati, who used the Defensive End mostly in pass-rushing situations in his first three seasons before he was a permanent starter…
Reunited, and it feels so good. A year after Ja’Marr Chase won the NCAA National Championship at LSU with Joe Burrow, he was drafted fifth overall by the Cincinnati Bengals, where Burrow was drafted the year before. Chase has delivered, earning Pro Bowls in all four seasons with 5,425 Yards and 46 Touchdowns. Winning the Offensive Rookie of the Year,…
Trey Hendrickson, the 2016 Conference-USA Defensive Player of the Year, was drafted in the Third Round from Florida Atlantic by the New Orleans Saints, but when he signed with the Bengals in 2021 was when he became a star in the NFL. As of this writing, Hendrickson has played excellent pass-rushing football for the Bengals, accumulating 77 Sacks and 71…
Domata Peko was one of the many good football players to come out of Samoa, and after playing his college ball at Michigan State, Peko was taken in the Fourth Round in 2006 by the Cincinnati Bengals.
A defensive star at North Dakota, Jim LeClair, impressed the NFL scouts enough for him to be taken in the Third Round in 1972.
Eddie Edwards was a beast at the University of Miami, where some considered him the best player on the team. The Cincinnati Bengals believed that, and they chose him with their Third Overall Pick in 1977.
Jim Breech had the honor of being a select group of Kickers to be chosen in the NFL Draft when the Oakland Raiders took him in the Eighth Round of the 1979 Draft. His tenure in Oakland was short-lived as the Raiders signed Chris Bahr, and cut Breech. The Bengals would be Breech's landing place, and as of this writing, he has…
Carl Pickens was a two-time SEC Selection at the University of Tennessee, so the Cincinnati Bengals were happy to land him with the Second Round Pick in 1992. Pickens had 555 All-Purpose Yards as a rookie, and he won the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year, so needless to say, his professional start was decent.
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Playing his college ball at Ohio State, Pete Johnson was a Second Round Pick in 1977 by the Cincinnati Bengals.
Joe Mixon was a beast of a Running Back at the University of Oklahoma, though off-field issues likely cost him on Draft Day, where he fell to the Second Round of the 2017 Draft, landing with the Cincinnati Bengals. Mixon was decent as a rookie (628 Rushing Yards, 4 TDs), but he made his expected move to a higher echelon…
One of the most versatile Offensive Lineman in the Cincinnati Bengals history, Bruce Kozaerski played all twelve of his seasons in the National Football League with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Eddie Brown proved to be worthy of Cincinnati’s 13thOverall Pick in 1985 when the Wide Receiver from Miami (FL) had 942 Yards with eight TDs in what would be an Offensive Rookie of the Year season.
Jeff Blake was a backup Quarterback for the New York Jets in his first two seasons in the NFL, but the sixth-place Heisman finisher saw little action. That changed when he signed with Cincinnati and would win the starting job in 1994.
A three-time All-American and College Hall of Famer at LSU, Tommy Casanova was taken in the Second Round by the Cincinnati Bengals in 1972.