The Cincinnati Bengals entered the 2026 NFL Draft with a clear mission: keep building around Joe Burrow while reloading a defense that needed more juice, more depth, and more long-term answers.
After trading their first-round pick for DT Dexter Lawrence, Cincinnati finally got on the board in Round 2 and came away with a class built around pass-rush help, rare length at corner, offensive line depth, and a few Day 3 swings with real upside.
Here is the Bengals’ full 2026 draft class, along with grades and analysis for every pick.
Cincinnati Bengals 2026 Draft Class
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | School |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 41 | Cashius Howell | EDGE | Texas A&M |
| 3 | 72 | Tacario Davis | CB | Washington |
| 4 | 128 | Connor Lew | C | Auburn |
| 4 | 140 | Colbie Young | WR | Georgia |
| 6 | 189 | Brian Parker II | OT | Duke |
| 7 | 221 | Jack Endries | TE | Texas |
| 7 | 226 | Landon Robinson | DT | Navy |
Round 2, Pick 41: Cashius Howell, EDGE, Texas A&M
Grade: B+
The Bengals’ first pick of the 2026 NFL Draft went exactly where most fans expected the front office to focus: defense. Although many expected a linebacker or cornerback at this pick, the Bengals opted for the best player available over need.
Cashius Howell gives Cincinnati a badly needed injection of pass-rushing talent. He spent three seasons at Bowling Green before transferring to Texas A&M, then broke out in 2025 as the SEC Defensive Player of the Year and a First-Team AP All-American while finishing second in the SEC with 11.5 sacks.
Why the pick makes sense
The Bengals have needed to improve their pass rush for a handful of seasons now. Cashius Howell provides just that. The tape, traits, and production as a pass rusher are all elite.
What I like
Howell has rare explosiveness, first-step get-off, and bend to turn the corner as a pass rusher. According to Todd McShay, at the NFL Combine, Next Gen Stats measured Howell at 14.52 MPH while turning the corner in his pass-rush drill. That was the fastest pass-rush speed in the drill since All-Pro Will Anderson in 2023.
His best pass-rush move is a ghost move where he threatens the long arm, pulls it back, and dips around the OT in a flash. Howell’s bend and flexibility allow him to win with this move often.
When it isn’t the ghost move, Howell utilizes a cross chop to win the outside corner. He also uses a nasty inside move and spin move to keep OTs who overset on their toes.
Howell has an advanced pass-rush bag to go with his explosiveness, and he knows how and when to use each move. Once he bends the corner or wins inside, Howell has elite pursuit speed to track down QBs and finish.
What concerns me
The concerns are obvious with Howell: size, length, and run defense.
Howell has below-average size at 6’2.5”, 253 pounds. He also has outlier length with 30.25-inch arms, which is 0th percentile. This is the main reason Howell was not a first-round pick.
As a run defender, Howell struggles to anchor, set the edge, and get off blocks with his weight and length. He is often good at avoiding blocks and slipping into the backfield to make a play, but if a blocker gets his hands on Howell in the run game, he is typically overmatched.
Will he ever be good enough as a run defender to be an every-down player, or is he just a designated pass rusher? The lack of length has not prevented Howell from consistently producing at a high level at both Bowling Green and Texas A&M when it comes to pressures and sacks. I am confident that will continue in the NFL, but will Howell be able to win against the league’s top OTs with his lack of length and power as a pass rusher? The margin of error shrinks at the next level.
Final thoughts
I really like this pick for the Bengals.
Cincinnati has completely overhauled its defensive line this offseason with Boye Mafe, Jonathan Allen, Dexter Lawrence, and Cashius Howell. It went from a major weakness to the identity of the defense.
Howell gives them a type of speedy, bendy pass rusher that was not currently on the roster. I expect him to contribute immediately as a pass rusher on passing downs. Despite the lack of length, Howell’s elite traits and multiple years of production in the SEC are worth betting on.
Round 3, Pick 72: Tacario Davis, CB, Washington
Grade: C+
Cincinnati doubled down on defense in Round 3 with one of the longest corners in the class.
Tacario Davis measured just under 6-foot-4 with 33 3/8-inch arms, giving the Bengals a rare size profile at cornerback. He spent three seasons at Arizona before transferring to Washington, finishing his college career with 95 tackles, three interceptions, and 25 passes defended.
Why the pick makes sense
The Bengals had a real need at cornerback with DJ Turner and Dax Hill as the only starting-level CBs on the roster. Both Turner and Hill are entering the final year of their rookie contracts. Turner feels like a must re-sign after his breakout, but the front office may be hesitant to pay Dax too.
Even with those two, the Bengals’ third outside corner has played 500+ snaps almost every year of the Zac Taylor era. The depth in the room needed reinforcements.
What I like
Tacario Davis possesses rare size and length for the position. He also has great long speed with a 4.41 40-yard dash.
Davis uses his length well in press coverage to swallow up WRs early in the route. It also shows up when making plays on the ball at the catch point.
Davis’ best season came in 2023 at Arizona, where he starred as a 19-year-old in a Power Four conference. His 84.9 PFF coverage grade and 12 PBUs were among the best in the country.
Davis uses his length to his advantage as a tackler and has just a 6.0% career missed tackle rate. His length and speed combination are best utilized in press man and off-zone coverage.
What concerns me
As you can guess, a 6’4” corner is not the most nimble lateral mover compared to your typical 5’11” corner. Shifty route runners can give him issues when he has to mirror them.
If you want to play a lot of off-man coverage, Davis will likely get exposed trying to stay with WRs without being able to get hands on them at the line to disrupt them.
After a great 2023 season, Davis was not as productive in his final two college seasons.
Final thoughts
It is easy to see why Al Golden was a fan of Tacario Davis. Golden had a very similar lanky outside CB in Cam Hart at Notre Dame, and Hart has had a strong start to his career as a starting outside corner for the Chargers.
Golden wants to play a lot of man coverage, and Tacario Davis’ press coverage ability gives the Bengals an answer to bigger WRs such as DK Metcalf. Cincinnati, more than most teams, may be able to use Davis mostly in press man and Cover 3, which limits the chances of him getting routed up in off-man coverage.
I’d feel better taking a player with this profile in Round 4, but the potential is there for Davis to have a Tariq Woolen-esque career as an outside corner in Cincinnati.
Round 4, Pick 128: Connor Lew, C, Auburn
Grade: A
This was a massive win for the Bengals, who did not have a backup center on the roster and lacked depth across the offensive line.
Connor Lew is a young, athletic center prospect who can sit behind Ted Karras and develop instead of being forced into the lineup right away. Lew was a Freshman All-American selection in 2023, started every game at center in 2024, and started seven games in 2025 before suffering a season-ending ACL injury.
Why the pick makes sense
After cutting backup center Matt Lee this offseason due to injury, the Bengals lacked a real option at backup center. Starting center Ted Karras is 33 years old and entering the final year of his contract.
Lew, who is coming back from an ACL injury and is on track to be ready for training camp, does not need to be rushed back. He gets a year to learn behind a 10-year veteran and team captain in Karras.
What I like
At just 20.7 years old, Connor Lew is one of the youngest players in the entire draft. Heading into the season, he was viewed as the top center in the class and a fringe first-round pick.
A torn ACL ended his junior season and lowered his draft stock, but Lew is still a very good talent.
Despite his age, Lew is a high-IQ center who is great at picking up stunts and knowing his assignments in the run game. He has good athleticism and is at his best as a zone run blocker who can execute reach blocks and get to the second level.
He is a good puncher and striker in pass protection, which likely got the attention of Bengals OL coach Scott Peters. Lew has the upside to be a good starting center at the next level.
What concerns me
No player wants to deal with a torn ACL, and although Lew is ahead of schedule and on track for training camp, a shortened offseason is tough for a rookie.
On the field, Lew’s biggest flaw is his average power. He struggles to move bigger DTs in the run game, and his anchor in pass protection is just okay. He has added weight to his frame, but he will likely never be a mauler as a gap-scheme blocker.
Final thoughts
This is one of my favorite picks of the draft for the Bengals.
Being good as an 18-year-old offensive lineman in the SEC is a nearly impossible task, but Lew did just that. There is a reason he was a consensus top-40 player entering the 2025 season. He was also voted a captain at Auburn despite being an underclassman.
Learning behind Ted Karras for a year as both a player and leader is a perfect situation for Lew. He adds depth to a Bengals OL room that was in desperate need of it, and he has the chance to be a good starting center during his rookie contract.
Round 4, Pick 140: Colbie Young, WR, Georgia
Grade: D+
Receiver was not the most pressing need for the Bengals, but they clearly wanted to add another big body to the room.
Colbie Young brings size at nearly 6-foot-5 and 218 pounds. Across four seasons at Miami and Georgia, he totaled 116 catches for 1,437 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Why the pick makes sense
The Bengals are still looking for a WR3 to truly step up and take that role as a plus player.
Andrei Iosivas has had a decent run as a late Day 3 pick, but he has never taken a big step and is entering the final year of his rookie deal. Colbie Young has the upside to be a high-end WR3 with dominant physical traits.
What I like
Colbie Young looks like he was built in a lab to play outside WR in the NFL. He has a massive frame and catch radius that he uses to his advantage.
He excels as a downfield weapon and is a threat to beat cornerbacks on double moves. Unlike a lot of receivers his size, Young is surprisingly good with the ball in his hands after the catch. He is slippery, strong, and tough to bring down.
Bengals OC Dan Pitcher has preached the need to add more explosive plays to the offense, and Young has an ability to do exactly that.
Young was described by scouts, coaches, and teammates as someone with high football character, a great teammate, and a student of the game.
What concerns me
Like many big WRs, Young struggles to gain separation on underneath routes. He is somewhat reliant on contested catches and gadget plays to succeed. He has solid speed but is not an absolute burner.
Young has dealt with off-field issues, including misdemeanor charges of assault and battery on his ex-girlfriend that led to him being suspended for the final nine games of the 2024 season. The accuser later retracted her statement and the charges were dropped.
Young then missed a chunk of the 2025 season with a fractured leg, but fought hard to make it back for the CFP game against Ole Miss.
Young is 23.8 years old, which is on the older end for WRs in this class. His best season was at Miami in 2023, but suspension and injury prevented him from getting a full season in either of the past two years at Georgia. His career production is underwhelming.
Final thoughts
While I agree the Bengals needed to add a WR in this draft, taking Colbie Young in the 4th round was too rich for me.
I see the vision with Young. I really do. You don’t have to squint too hard to see Ole Miss DK Metcalf. The physical skill set and upside flashes are tantalizing, but drafting a 23.8-year-old WR with underwhelming production and off-field concerns is not a profile I want to bet on at this point in the draft.
Round 6, Pick 189: Brian Parker II, OT, Duke
Grade: A
Brian Parker II gives the Bengals another swing at offensive line depth with true five-position flexibility.
A local product, Parker played at St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati before going to Duke. He was named Second-Team All-ACC in both 2024 and 2025 and Third-Team AP All-American in 2025. He allowed just four sacks across 1,345 pass-blocking snaps, per Pro Football Focus.
Why the pick makes sense
The Bengals returned all five starting offensive linemen from 2025 but entered the draft with a serious lack of NFL-caliber depth across the room.
After adding Connor Lew in Round 4, the Bengals doubled up with the versatile Brian Parker II, who was expected to be gone in the first 100 or so picks. This was an ideal overlap of need and value in Round 6.
What I like
Parker is a tough, durable, experienced lineman who started his final 32 college games and logged over 2,300 snaps at the college level.
He was a sturdy pass protector all three years he started in college. His run blocking took a leap in 2025, and Parker finished the season graded top 10 among OTs in both run blocking and pass blocking per PFF.
Despite playing only left and right tackle at Duke, Parker actually started at left guard and center in high school for St. X. At the East-West Shrine Bowl, Parker snapped and went through drills at both center and guard to show he still had that versatility.
He is best suited for the interior at the next level but can play OT in a pinch. Parker has good size and length for an interior lineman. He is a high-IQ player who has a feel for picking up stunts and blitzes and has clean footwork.
He has elite grip strength and power at the point of attack. He also has some nastiness in the run game to drive defenders out of gaps and torque to finish. He is an above-average athlete for his size.
What concerns me
The longest and strongest DEs could give Parker trouble at times. In my opinion, his worst game of 2025 came against Clemson, where top-40 pick TJ Parker used his length and power to give Brian Parker issues throughout the game in pass protection.
His anchor struggles at times when elite power rushers get into his chest. While he is an above-average athlete, Parker is not the rangiest in space. That can be mostly negated by a move inside, but it is why he could have issues if kept at OT full-time.
Final thoughts
This pick was the best value of the draft for the Bengals.
Brian Parker has the size, tools, and intangibles to be a plus starter on his rookie deal in Cincinnati. In 2026, he will provide good depth at multiple spots for an O-line room that needs it.
The G-C-G interior combo of the future could very well be Fairchild-Lew-Parker, all of whom were high school wrestlers and elite producers for Power Four programs at the college level. None of the three are currently older than 22.
Add in 23-year-old Amarius Mims, who made a giant leap in the second half of 2025, and the future of this offensive line finally looks bright in Cincinnati.
Round 7, Pick 221: Jack Endries, TE, Texas
Grade: A-
This is the kind of seventh-round pick that is easy to talk yourself into.
Jack Endries spent three seasons at Cal before transferring to Texas. In 2024, he led Cal with 56 receptions for 623 yards and earned Honorable Mention All-ACC honors. He then started all 13 games for Texas in 2025, tallying 33 receptions for 346 yards and three touchdowns.
Why the pick makes sense
The Bengals’ current TE room is full of one-dimensional players.
Drew Sample and Cam Grandy are pure blocking TEs, while Mike Gesicki and Tanner Hudson are essentially slot WRs. Erick All provided a unique dual element to the room in 2024, but he has dealt with multiple significant knee injuries and surgeries and is difficult to count on moving forward.
Endries has the potential to fill that Erick All role as a TE who can add a new dynamic to the offense as both a move blocker and receiver.
What I like
At 6’4.5”, 245 pounds, Endries has average size for the position with good speed and explosiveness, including a 4.62 40-yard dash and 36-inch vertical.
While he is not a dynamic man-coverage beater, Endries has the speed to separate and the feel to find pockets in zone coverage. He has some of the most reliable hands in the class with just a 0.9% drop rate over his final two college seasons.
He was Fernando Mendoza’s top receiver at Cal in 2024 with 623 yards. He has a great production profile for a college TE.
He entered the portal for his redshirt junior season after Mendoza did the same. Endries went to Texas, where the Longhorns used him in a more traditional TE role. Although his receiving production dipped, this was a blessing for his NFL future.
Texas used him frequently in-line, in the backfield, and moving across the formation as a blocker. Endries had the highest PFF run-blocking grade of his career while playing in a more strenuous blocking role than he did at Cal.
What concerns me
Endries is not the biggest TE, and he has poor length for the position. He likely will never be able to play as a true Y-TE like Drew Sample because he just is not built to handle DEs at the point of attack in the run game.
While he is a good athlete, he is not a twitchy, dynamic route runner who can burn safeties in man coverage. He has great hands but is nothing special with the ball in his hands after the catch.
Final thoughts
Endries is another great value in this Cincinnati draft class. Most evaluators had him as a fringe 4th- to 5th-round player. Getting him in the 7th is a steal.
Endries can be a safety blanket for Joe Burrow with his good athleticism and reliable hands. More importantly, he can fill the missing role of a move TE who can block and be used creatively on the move in the run game while still threatening defenses as a receiver.
In a league that is moving more toward heavier personnel every year, Endries is a valuable asset to this Bengals offense.
Round 7, Pick 226: Landon Robinson, DT, Navy
Grade: B
The Bengals closed the draft with a fun defensive line swing.
Landon Robinson is undersized at 5-foot-11 and 293 pounds, but his production and background are hard to ignore. He was named American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 2025 after leading Navy with 8.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks.
Why the pick makes sense
The Bengals have completely revamped their defensive line this offseason and continue to add competition to a suddenly deep DT room with Landon Robinson.
Robinson provides a unique skill set and some elite pass-rushing ability. He will challenge former Day 2 picks Kris Jenkins and McKinnley Jackson for a spot on the 53-man roster.
What I like
The first thing that stands out with Landon Robinson is his elite explosiveness as a pass rusher. He is a freak athlete in every sense of the word, and it shows up on the field.
Robinson wins with get-off, quickness, and quick hands to swipe past guards. He does well to avoid blocks in the run game and has an elite motor to chase down ballcarriers.
Robinson had good production as a pass rusher throughout his career with at least 4.0 sacks in each of his final three seasons.
His discipline, drive, and work ethic are unquestioned as not just a part of the Naval Academy, but a team captain. He is committed to making the most of his limited frame.
What concerns me
The limitations with Robinson are fairly clear and obvious. His size and strength are poor for the position. He struggles to anchor in the run game even at the AAC level.
His poor length makes it hard for him to shed blocks when linemen get their hands on him. Robinson mostly relies on his explosiveness to win as a pass rusher.
Navy played a fairly easy schedule, and Robinson did not record a pressure against the top OL he faced in 2025: Notre Dame.
While EDGEs can get away with deficiencies as run defenders, it is pretty hard to find a role in the NFL as a DT if you are a liability against the run. You cannot play on early downs, and on passing downs you better be special, or a team may prefer to kick an EDGE inside to rush on third down.
Can Robinson become an adequate enough run defender or special enough pass rusher to be worthy of a roster spot in a deep DL room? That will be the question come training camp.
Final thoughts
I like this flier with the last pick of the Bengals draft.
Bengals DL coach Jerry Montgomery coached Robinson at the East-West Shrine Bowl, and the Bengals had multiple points of contact with him throughout the process. Clearly, they loved what they saw from the Navy product.
He is an outlier from a size perspective, but he does have some rare athletic traits that could keep him around and give him a role at some point. It is also fair to bet that he may be able to add some mass to his body now that he is away from Naval Academy training and focused on football full-time. This could help him become a functional run defender.
At worst, Robinson gives Kris Jenkins a serious wake-up call to fight and earn his spot on the roster in a vital training camp. At best, Cincinnati finds Geno Atkins-lite.
Overall Bengals Draft Grade: B+
This draft is going to be judged through two lenses.
The first is the top of the class. Cashius Howell and Tacario Davis have to become real contributors for a defense that needed more young difference-makers. Howell has the cleanest path to early snaps as a pass rusher, while Davis gives Cincinnati a rare size profile at corner if the development hits.
The second is long-term offensive planning. Connor Lew looks like a clear developmental successor to Ted Karras, Brian Parker II gives them another flexible option up front, and Jack Endries adds a legitimate move tight end to the roster. Colbie Young gives the receiver room a big-body swing at WR3, while Landon Robinson adds another high-motor interior defender to the defensive line room.
My initial read: this class, along with the Dexter Lawrence trade, was built around resetting the trenches and adding developmental traits. That makes sense for where the Bengals are. Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins are the identity of this team. The question is whether this aggressive offseason gave the supporting cast enough help to push Cincinnati back into serious AFC contention.
Final Grade: B+
Favorite Pick: Connor Lew
Best Value: Brian Parker II
Biggest Swing: Tacario Davis
Most Important Pick: Cashius Howell
Player I’m Most Excited to Watch: Cashius Howell
Blog in the Back with Kelley and Lou 
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