I’m updating this blog post to point out just how significant this draft was in Bengals history. Five picks from this draft have made significant contributions to the Bengals squad that went to Super Bowl LVI and just missed going to LVII.

ROUND 1-Joe Burrow QB LSU 1ST OVERALL PICK

After putting up numbers that are arguably the greatest season in college football history, Burrow is the clear number 1 rated QB in this class. He is number 2 overall in the draft behind Ohio State pass rusher Chase Young who went number 2 to Washington. Any team in this position chooses one of these two guys. The Bengals are rebuilding so they opted for the franchise QB. One has to wonder if Burrow hadn’t A) won the Heisman; B) been a southern Ohio resident and C) put up the eye popping numbers, whether the Bengals might have opted for the Buckeye D lineman.UPDATE: Burrow has been worth every penny the team pays him.

Round 2-Tee Higgins WR Clemson 33RD PICK OVERALL

Higgins will go down as one of the greatest receivers in Clemson history. As expected there was a run on receivers from a highly talented crop in this year’s draft pool. So Higgins was only rated number 6 at his position. He was ranked 35th among all prospects so he went right about where one might expect. What’s interesting here is that he wasn’t the highest rated receiver on the board when Cincinnati came calling. That was Denzel Mims of Baylor. Many, including me, expected the Bengals to take Mims if for no other reason than the Bengals current WR Coach Bob Bicknell coached Mims at Baylor. Interesting that his voice either was ignored or that he didn’t stick up for a guy who he helped groom to be a 1000 yard receiver. Mims went at the 59th pick to the Jets. The highest rated player on the board was also passed up by Cincinnati. That was Alabama safety Xavier McKinney who went three picks later to the Giants.UPDATE: Higgins has been far better than either Mims or McKinney. In fact while the Bengals’ Jamarr Chase may get more pub, it’s actually Higgins who is key to making this offense work.

Round 3-Logan Wilson LB Wyoming 65th PICK OVERALL

Wilson was rated 84th overall and number 6 at the LB position. The best available player left on the board was Houston OT Josh Jones who went 7 picks later to Arizona. The best available LB was Zach Baun out of Wisconsin. He went 9 picks after Wilson to New Orleans.UPDATE: Wilson has been far better than the players I compared him to. The question now is whether the Bengals will keep him when he hits free agency.

Round 4-Akeem Davis-Gaither LB Appalachian State 107th PICK OVERALL

The Bengals staff got a good look at this guy at the Senior Bowl. He was the 8th rated LB in the draft and the best available LB at this pick. He was number 87 on the overall list. The best available player on the board was Boise State EDGE Curtis Weaver who fell to the 5th round where he was selected by Miami.UPDATE: Davis-Gaither has been a quality depth piece for use by Bengals’ DC Lou Anarumo.

Round 5-Khalid Kareem DE Notre Dame 147TH PICK OVERALL

Kareem was the 125th rated prospect overall. He was number 13 on the DE board. As mentioned earlier Curtis Weaver was the best player and position player available when the Bengals made this pick.UPDATE: Kareem spent most of his Bengal time either injured or on the practice squad. He’s now a member of the Indianapolis Colts.

Round 6-Hakeem Adenji OT Kansas 180TH PICK OVERALL

Adenji played tackle at Kansas but the Bengals appear to be poised to move him inside to Guard so that kind of skews the comparison a bit. Regardless, he was the 138th rated prospect overall. Number 15 at OT. The best available player at this point in the draft was Auburn OT Prince Tega Wanogho who was taken 30 picks later by Philadelphia. Interesting that a team that just drafted their franchise QB in this draft then passed on at least two opportunities to draft a tackle to protect him. Also interesting that they waited until the 6th round to draft any O-lineman. But this team was historically bad on defense last year. And this franchise has had success in the past with late round o-linemen.UPDATE: It’s clear that, even though Adeniji is not currently a regular starter for the Bengals, he has improved enough that we could see him earning more playing time in 2023.

Round 7-Markus Bailey LB Purdue 215th PICK OVERALL

Considering how bad they were at LB in 2019 it’s not surprising the Bengals selected 3 in this draft. Bailey is from the Columbus area. He played at Hilliard Davidson in high school. He was the 168th rated prospect, number 14 at LB. However he was the best LB on the board as the 7th round began. The best overall player on the board also had ties to Columbus, Buckeyes WR K.J. Hill. Hill went 5 picks later to the Chargers.UPDATE: Markus Bailey appeared in every game in both 2021 and 2022. His biggest presense at this point is on special teams.

Using the Consensus Big Board as our template, the Bengals draft class ranked 9th overall.

Here’s the rest of the top 10:

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And again this is not a criticism of the Bengals picks. Just a comparison using certain data. The draft is a crapshoot and there are a multitude of reasons why teams do and don’t make certain picks. It’s just something to look at if we actually have a season in 2020.