Draft Review: Cincinnati Bengals

Austan Kas

Editors’ Note: As part of our ongoing post-draft coverage, we’re doing our very best to leave no stone unturned and bringing you draft recaps from each and every NFL franchise. Make sure you’re ready for your dynasty league rookie draft by staying up on all these articles, checking out our rookie SWOT series, rookie draft guiderookie rankings, rookie draft cheat sheet and mock draft rooms. There are simply no better resources out there for dynasty fantasy football enthusiasts.

As we continue our team-by-team draft recaps, we land on the Cincinnati Bengals, who have drafted well in recent years. The Bengals were expected to address the receiver position in the draft after losing Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu in free agency. Cincinnati did just that, snagging a pair of wideouts, including one in the second round. Outside of those two selections, Cincinnati spend a lot of draft capital on the defensive side of the ball.

Round 1, Pick 24 — William Jackson III, Cornerback

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A junior college player who finished his career at Houston, Jackson had five picks and a national-best 23 pass breakups as a senior in 2015. As the stats say, he’s adept at playing the ball, and at 6-foot, 189 pounds, he has good size for the position. The Bengals picked right after a run of receivers, and it’d be interesting to know if they would have taken Josh Doctson, Corey Coleman, Will Fuller or Laquon Treadwell if they were available.

Round 2, Pick 55 — Tyler Boyd, Receiver

Cincinnati got its wideout by nabbing Boyd in the second round. Boyd was a huge recruit and a devy darling after a superb freshman season at Pittsburgh, but his stock slipped a little — in the real draft and in the dynasty community — following a somewhat pedestrian final season with the Panthers. Boyd didn’t help his cause by testing poorly at the combine. Still, he is in a great situation and will likely see plenty of action this fall in what should be a very good Cincinnati offense.

Round 3, Pick 87 — Nick Vigil, Linebacker

Playing middle linebacker for the Aggies of Utah State, Vigil racked up the sixth most tackles (144) in the nation last season, 13 of which were for a loss (three sacks). It’s extremely rare to find a middle linebacker with that many tackles behind the line of scrimmage, which tells you about his ability to diagnose plays and react quickly. Along those lines, Vigil recorded the best 20-yard shuttle time at the combine. At 6-foot-2, 239 pounds, he will likely need to pack on some bulk if he wants to play in the interior in the NFL, or he could be shifted to an outside linebacker spot.

Round 4, Pick 122 — Andrew Billings, Defensive Tackle

Interior defensive lineman Domata Peko is entering a contract year for the Bengals, and they may have snagged his replacement in Billings. Likely a two-down run-stuffing force, Billings slid in the draft and was a nice value pick for Cincinnati. A star at Baylor, Billings was co-Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2015, and he’s known for his record-setting exploits as a powerlifter. NFL.com had him rated considerably higher than where he was taken. He’s also very young, having just turned 21. Billings could end up being a massive bargain for the Bengals.

Round 5, Pick 161 — Christian Westerman, Guard

Westerman is another player who was expected to be drafted sooner, with NFL.com grading him as the draft’s 11th-ranked offensive lineman, regardless of position. These players always seem to fall in the lap of good teams, don’t they? Westerman was a highly-rated recruit who initially attended Auburn before transferring to Arizona State. There is a lot in this world I know very little about, and offensive line play is one of those things. According to NFL.com, he has “outstanding athleticism and movement skills.”

Round 6, Pick 199 — Cody Core, Receiver

Core has the size and speed to be an intriguing prospect, but he was never able to consistently produce at Ole Miss. At 6-foot-3, 205 pounds, Core ran a 4.47 40-yard dash, which puts his Height-Adjusted Speed Score on Playerprofiler.com in 84th percentile. He’s good after the catch, and he can go up and make plays on contested throws. Cincinnati certainly doesn’t have the league’s strongest wideout corps, but Core’s route running is extremely raw. Simply put: he is a project. He’ll need to provide value as a special teams player to lock up a roster spot, but he’s at least a name to remember in case he puts it all together.

Round 7, Pick 245 — Clayton Fejedelem, Safety

As a resident of Big 10 country, I have the “pleasure” of getting to watch Illinois “football” on some lonely Saturday afternoons. Fejedelem and Josh Ferguson made it only mildly terrible. Fejedelem is a very, very poor man’s Mark Barron in this way: he can absolutely bring the thunder as a tackler, but he gets exposed in coverage. Safeties who can’t cover don’t play safety for long, either getting released or changing positions. At 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, Fejedelem may be able to convert to an outside linebacker, but he’s going to have to make hay on special teams to survive early on.

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