The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference North Division. Founded as an expansion team of the American Football League (AFL) in 1968, they joined the NFL as a result of the 1970 AFL–NFL merger. The team's home games have been held in downtown Cincinnati at Paycor Stadium since 2000.

The NFL draft, officially known as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting", is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. The draft order is determined based on the previous season's standings; the teams with the worst win–loss records receive the earliest picks. Teams that qualified for the NFL playoffs select after non-qualifiers, and their order depends on how far they advanced, using their regular season record as a tie-breaker. The final two selections in the first round are reserved for the Super Bowl runner-up and champion. Draft picks are tradable and players or other picks can be acquired with them.

Since the team's first draft in 1968, the Bengals have selected 69 players in the first round. The team's first-round pick in their inaugural draft was Bob Johnson, a center from the University of Tennessee; he was the second overall selection. The Bengals have drafted number one overall four times and selected Dan Wilkinson in 1994, Ki-Jana Carter in 1995, Carson Palmer in 2003, and Joe Burrow in 2020. In the most recent draft, held in 2025, the Bengals chose Texas A&M defensive end Shemar Stewart.

The Bengals have drafted at least one player in the first round every year except for 1989. Only one of the team's first-round picks—Anthony Muñoz—has been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Player selections

+ Key Symbol Meaning Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame * Selected number one overall Position abbreviations C Center DB Defensive back DE Defensive end DL Defensive line DT Defensive tackle G Guard LB Linebacker NT Nose tackle QB Quarterback RB Running back T Tackle TE Tight end WR Wide receiver

+Cincinnati Bengals first-round draft picks by season Season Pick Player Position College Notes 1968 2 C Tennessee Received two first-round selections, among other selections, as an expansion team. Traded a pick to Miami Dolphins. 1969 5 QB Cincinnati 1970 7 DT Penn State 1971 15 T Tennessee State 1972 2 DE California 1973 15 WR San Diego State 1974 23 DE Montana State 1975 14 DE Florida 1976 11 WR Oklahoma Pick received from Philadelphia Eagles 24 RB Ohio State 1977 3 DE Miami (FL) Pick received from Buffalo Bills 8 DT Houston Pick received from Philadelphia Eagles 22 TE Michigan State 1978 8 DE Notre Dame Pick received from Philadelphia Eagles 16 C Washington 1979 3 QB Washington State 12 RB Louisiana State Pick received from Washington Redskins 1980 3 T USC 1981 10 WR Kansas 1982 26 DE Mississippi State 1983 25 C Nebraska 1984 7 LB Arizona 16 NT Maryland Pick received from New England Patriots using pick from Tampa Bay Buccaneers 28 T North Carolina Pick received from New England Patriots using pick from Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1985 13 WR Miami (FL) 25 LB Alabama Pick received from Seattle Seahawks 1986 11 LB Washington 21 WR Tennessee Pick received from Denver Broncos 1987 17 DL BYU 1988 5 DB Oklahoma 1989 Moved down draft order in trade with Atlanta Falcons 1990 12 LB Baylor 1991 18 DE Colorado 1992 6 QB Houston Moved down in trade with Washington Redskins 28 DB Miami (FL) Moved up draft order in trade with Washington Redskins 1993 5 DE Alabama 1994 1 * DT Ohio State 1995 1 * RB Penn State Moved up draft order in trade with Carolina Panthers 1996 10 T Auburn 1997 14 LB Florida State 1998 13 LB Auburn Pick received from Washington Redskins 17 LB North Carolina 1999 3 QB Oregon 2000 4 WR Florida State 2001 4 DE Missouri 2002 10 T Arizona 2003 1 * QB USC 2004 26 RB Michigan Moved down draft order in trades with Denver Broncos and St. Louis Rams 2005 17 LB Georgia 2006 24 DB South Carolina 2007 18 DB Michigan 2008 9 LB USC 2009 6 T Alabama 2010 21 TE Oklahoma 2011 4 WR Georgia 2012 17 DB Alabama Pick received from Oakland Raiders 27 G Wisconsin Moved up draft order in trade with New England Patriots 2013 21 TE Notre Dame 2014 24 DB Michigan State 2015 21 T Texas A&M 2016 24 DB Houston 2017 9 WR Washington 2018 21 C Ohio State Moved down draft order in trade with Buffalo Bills 2019 11 T Alabama 2020 1 * QB LSU 2021 5 WR LSU 2022 31 DB Michigan 2023 28 DE Clemson 2024 18 T Georgia 2025 17 DE Texas A&M 2026 Pick traded to New York Giants

See also Cincinnati Bengals draft history History of the Cincinnati Bengals List of Cincinnati Bengals seasons

Notes

References