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. [3] [4] 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. [5] [6] [3] The team's home games have been held in downtown Cincinnati at Paycor Stadium since 2000. [7]
The NFL draft, officially known as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting", [8] [9] [10] is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. [11] 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. [12]
Since the team's first draft in 1968, the Bengals have selected 68 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. [3] [13] 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. [14] In the most recent draft, held in 2024, the Bengals chose Georgia tackle Amarius Mims. [15]
The Bengals have drafted at least one player in the first round every year except for 1989. [14] Only one of the team's first-round picks—Anthony Muñoz—has been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. [16]
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 |