List of Cincinnati Bengals first-round draft picks

Anthony Muñoz, the Bengals' 1980 first round pick and Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee

The Cincinnati Bengals are a National Football League (NFL) franchise founded as an expansion team of the American Football League in 1968. They joined the National Football League as a result of the 1970 AFL–NFL merger.^[1] The Bengals' first draft selection was Bob Johnson, a center from the University of Tennessee. The team's most recent first round selection was Darqueze Dennard, a cornerback from Michigan State University. The Bengals have selected the number one overall pick in the draft three times. They have also selected the second overall pick two times and the third overall pick four times. The team's four selections from the University of Alabama are the most chosen by the Bengals from one university.

Every year during April, each NFL franchise seeks to add new players to its roster through a collegiate draft known as "the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting", which is more commonly known as the NFL Draft. Teams are ranked in inverse order based on the previous season's record, with the worst record picking first, and the second worst picking second and so on. The two exceptions to this order are made for teams that appeared in the previous Super Bowl; the Super Bowl champion always picks 32nd, and the Super Bowl loser always picks 31st. Teams have the option of trading away their picks to other teams for different picks, players, cash, or a combination thereof. Thus, it is not uncommon for a team's actual draft pick to differ from their assigned draft pick, or for a team to have extra or no draft picks in any round due to these trades.

The Bengals traded their 1989 first round draft pick to the Atlanta Falcons for Atlanta's 1989 second round, fourth round, and tenth round draft picks.^[2][3]

Key

†	Enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame
*	Selected number one overall

Selections

Two-time Heisman trophy winner Archie Griffin was one of the Bengals' first round picks in 1976

Carson Palmer was the first overall pick of the 2003 NFL Draft

A.J. Green was the Bengals' first round pick in 2011

Year	Pick	Player name	Position	College	Notes
1968	2	Johnson, BobBob Johnson	C	Tennessee	AFL All-Star, #54 retired by Bengals.[4]
1969	5	Cook, GregGreg Cook	QB	Cincinnati	AFL Rookie of the Year[5]
1970	7	Reid, MikeMike Reid	DT	Penn State	2-time Pro Bowler, 2-time All-Pro.[6]
1971	15	Holland, VernonVernon Holland	OT	Tennessee State
1972	2	White, ShermanSherman White	DE	California
1973	15	Curtis, IsaacIsaac Curtis	WR	San Diego State	4-time Pro Bowler, 3-time All-Pro[7]
1974	23	Kollar, BillBill Kollar	DE	Montana State
1975	14	Cameron, GlennGlenn Cameron	DE	Florida
1976	11	Brooks, BillyBilly Brooks	WR	Oklahoma
	24	Griffin, ArchieArchie Griffin	RB	Ohio State	2-time Heisman Trophy winner[8]
1977	3	Edwards, EddieEddie Edwards	DE	Miami
	8	Whitley, WilsonWilson Whitley	DT	Houston
	22	Cobb, MikeMike Cobb	TE	Michigan State
1978	8	Browner, RossRoss Browner	DE	Notre Dame
	16	Bush, BlairBlair Bush	C	Washington
1979	3	Thompson, JackJack Thompson	QB	Washington State
	12	Alexander, CharlesCharles Alexander	RB	Louisiana State
1980	3	Muñoz, AnthonyAnthony Muñoz†	OT	USC	11-time Pro Bowler, 9-time First-Team All-Pro, 2-time Second-Team All-Pro, 3-time Offensive Lineman of the Year, Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee[9]
1981	10	Verser, DavidDavid Verser	WR	Kansas
1982	26	Collins, GlenGlen Collins	DE	Mississippi State
1983	25	Rimington, DaveDave Rimington	C	Nebraska	2-time Outland Trophy winner, Lombardi Award winner[10]
1984	7	Hunley, RickyRicky Hunley	LB	Arizona	College Football Hall of Fame inductee
	16	Koch, PetePete Koch	NT	Maryland
	28	Blados, BrianBrian Blados	OT	North Carolina
1985	13	Brown, EddieEddie Brown	WR	Miami	1-time Pro Bowler, 1-time Second-Team All-Pro, NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year[11]
	25	King, EmanuelEmanuel King	LB	Alabama
1986	11	Kelly, JoeJoe Kelly	LB	Washington
	21	McGee, TimTim McGee	WR	Tennessee
1987	17	Buck, JasonJason Buck	DL	BYU
1988	5	Dixon, RickeyRickey Dixon	DB	Oklahoma
1989	—	No pick	—	—	The Bengals traded their first round draft pick to the Atlanta Falcons[3]
1990	12	Francis, JamesJames Francis	LB	Baylor
1991	18	Williams, AlfredAlfred Williams	DE	Colorado	1-time Pro Bowler, 1-time First-Team All-Pro[12]
1992	6	Klingler, DavidDavid Klingler	QB	Houston
	28	Williams, DarrylDarryl Williams	DB	Miami
1993	5	Copeland, JohnJohn Copeland	DE	Alabama
1994	1	Wilkinson, DanDan Wilkinson*	DT	Ohio State
1995	1	Carter, Ki-JanaKi-Jana Carter*	RB	Penn State
1996	10	Anderson, WillieWillie Anderson	OT	Auburn	4-time Pro Bowler, 3-time First-Team All-Pro, 1-time Second-Team All-Pro[13]
1997	14	Wilson, ReinardReinard Wilson	LB	Florida State
1998	13	Spikes, TakeoTakeo Spikes	LB	Auburn	2-time Pro Bowler, 1-time First-Team All-Pro[14]
	17	Simmons, BrianBrian Simmons	LB	North Carolina
1999	3	Smith, AkiliAkili Smith	QB	Oregon
2000	4	Warrick, PeterPeter Warrick	WR	Florida State
2001	4	Smith, JustinJustin Smith	DE	Missouri	5-time Pro Bowler , 1-time First-Team All-Pro[15]
2002	10	Jones, LeviLevi Jones	OT	Arizona
2003	1	Palmer, CarsonCarson Palmer*	QB	USC	2-time Pro Bowler, Heisman Trophy winner[16]
2004	26	Perry, ChrisChris Perry	RB	Michigan	Doak Walker Award winner[17]
2005	17	Pollack, DavidDavid Pollack	LB	Georgia	Chuck Bednarik Award winner, Lott Trophy winner, Lombardi Award winner, 2-time Ted Hendricks Award winner[18]
2006	24	Joseph, JohnathanJohnathan Joseph	DB	South Carolina	2-time Pro Bowler, 2-time Second-team All-Pro
2007	18	Hall, LeonLeon Hall	DB	Michigan	1-time Second-team All-Pro[19]
2008	9	Rivers, KeithKeith Rivers	LB	USC
2009	6	Smith, AndreAndre Smith	OT	Alabama
2010	21	Gresham, JermaineJermaine Gresham	TE	Oklahoma	2-time Pro Bowler[20]
2011	4	Green, A. J.A. J. Green	WR	Georgia	3-time Pro Bowler[21]
2012	17	Kirkpatrick, DreDre Kirkpatrick	DB	Alabama
	27	Zeitler, KevinKevin Zeitler	OG	Wisconsin
2013	21	Eifert, TylerTyler Eifert	TE	Notre Dame
2014	24	Dennard, DarquezeDarqueze Dennard	CB	Michigan State	Jim Thorpe Award winner[22]
2015	21	Ogbuehi, CedricCedric Ogbuehi	OT	Texas A&M

Footnotes

1. "Historical Moments". sportsecyclopedia.com. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
2. "1989 NFL Draft Pick Transactions". prosportstransactions.com. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
3. "Pro Football Draft History: 1989". profootballhof.com. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
4. "Bob Johnson". pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
5. "Former AFL Rookie of the Year, Bengals QB Cook dies". nfl.com. January 28, 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
6. "Mike Reid". pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
7. "Isaac Curtis". pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
8. "Heisman Winners". heisman.com. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
9. "Anthony Munoz". pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
10. "Dave Rimington". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
11. "Eddie Brown". pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
12. "Alfred Williams". pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
13. "Willie Anderson". pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
14. "Takeo Spikes". pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
15. "Justin Smith". pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
16. "Carson Palmer". pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
17. "Chris Perry". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
18. "David Pollack". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
19. "Leon Hall". pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
20. "Jermaine Gresham". pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
21. "A.J. Green". pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
22. "Darqueze Dennard". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 1 August 2014.

References

• "Cincinnati Bengals Draft History". Pro-Football-Reference. Retrieved 2014-08-01.
• Alder, James. "NFL Draft Basics:Determining Order of Selection". About.com. Retrieved 2014-08-01.