Cincinnati Bengals 2026 NFL Draft Needs, Picks & Depth Chart

Subscribe to the Sharp Football Email Newsletter to receive all our 2026 NFL content:

Subscribe to our newsletter:

Leave this field empty if you're human:

 

No matter how well they did in free agency, all 32 NFL teams head into the 2026 NFL Draft with holes to fill on the roster.

Leading into the draft, we will identify the top needs for every team and break down the depth chart position by position.

What are the Bengals' top positions of need heading into the 2026 NFL draft?

Cincinnati Bengals Needs: Top Positions of Need in 2026

1. Edge Rusher
2. Defensive Back
3. Linebacker

Explore all of our 2026 NFL Draft content:

Pre-Order The Best Analytical 2026 Football Preview

Don't miss out on Warren Sharp's 500+ page preview of the 2026 NFL season.

The preview is unlike anything you have ever seen, featuring stunning visualizations built with the reader in mind.

This preview shares insights into players, coaches, teams, and philosophies with one goal in mind: to get you prepared for the 2026 NFL season by delivering the smartest information in the fastest, most direct way possible.

Pre-order the 2026 Football Preview now!

Cincinnati Bengals 2026 Draft Capital

The Bengals have the 15th-most draft capital according to our Sharp Football Draft Value.

Our Sharp Football Draft Value is a valuation of draft capital based on a combination of average performance delivered and average dollars earned on second contracts.

Cincinnati Bengals Mock Draft Predictions

Find out who our top-rated experts expect the Bengals to draft:

• Brendan Donahue's 2026 NFL Mock Draft – Complete first round breakdown from the #2 most accurate mock drafter over the last five seasons.
• Ryan McCrystal's 2026 NFL Mock Draft – Complete first round breakdown from the #20 most accurate mock drafter over the last five seasons.

Cincinnati Bengals Offense: Depth Chart, Analysis & Draft Needs

Rich Hribar breaks down the offensive depth chart by position for the Cincinnati Bengals, identifying areas where the team could improve in the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft.

Quarterback

1. Joe Burrow
2. Joe Flacco
3. Josh Johnson

Joe Burrow was once again impactful when on the field, completing 66.8% of his passes for a 6.6% touchdown rate.

The rub once again was keeping him on the field.

The Bengals went 5-3 with Burrow in 2025 and 1-10 without him.

Missing 10 games with a toe injury, Burrow has now missed significant time in three of his first six seasons.

The Bengals have to keep Burrow on the field since they are no longer in the grace period with him against the cap.

Burrow is slated to count for $48 million this season, while clearing $50M per year over the remainder of his contract through 2029.

The offense at least did not completely fall apart when they transitioned to Joe Flacco, who they brought back for his age-41 season.

Joining the Bengals midseason and making six starts, Flacco completed 61.7% of his passes for 13 touchdowns and 4 interceptions.

Running Back

1. Chase Brown
2. Samaje Perine
3. Tahj Brooks
4. Gary Brightwell
5. Kendall Milton

Chase Brown built on his second-year breakout by totaling 301 touches for 1,456 yards and 11 touchdowns last season.

Things got off to a rocky start, as Brown averaged only 50.7 total yards per game with 1 touchdown through six weeks while the offense floundered.

He then averaged 104.7 yards from scrimmage per game over the final 11 weeks (8th among running backs), reaching at least 90 total yards in nine of those games.

Brown has been hit-or-miss in terms of efficiency, but he has handled a heavy workload as the starter in each of the past two seasons while showing ability as a pass catcher.

His 35.8% success rate as a runner last year ranked 37th among 49 backs with 100 or more rushes, but he gained yardage on 88.4% of his runs, which ranked sixth.

Only De’Von Achane (145), Bijan Robinson (140), and Jahmyr Gibbs (129) have more receptions than Brown (123) among running backs the past two years.

Brown is set to be an unrestricted free agent after 2026.

Behind Brown, Samaje Perine was a serviceable complement and contributor.

Perine handled 101 touches for 469 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Perine will turn 31 this September and is only signed for 2026.

With both Brown and Perine in the final years of their current contracts, the Bengals have used a pre-draft visit with Jeremiyah Love, but that is likely just doing their homework in case he is there at No. 10 overall, which is against the current odds.

They have also used visits on Kaelon Black and Jayden Ott.

That could also be extra homework as those are two backs who were not invited to the NFL Combine.

Tahj Brooks was selected in the sixth round last spring but was used sparingly as a rookie.

Brooks played 47 offensive snaps, handling 17 touches for 54 yards.

Wide Receiver

1. Ja’Marr Chase
2. Tee Higgins
3. Andrei Iosivas
4. Mitchell Tinsley
5. Charlie Jones
6. Ke’Shawn Williams
7. Kendric Pryor
8. Xavier Johnson
9. Jordan Moore
10. Dohnte Meyers

Ja’Marr Chase was excellent again in 2025.

Chase led the NFL in targets (185), catching 125 passes for 1,412 yards and 8 touchdowns.

Still in the apex of his career (he turned 26 in March), Chase is signed through 2029, with this being his most palatable cap hit remaining.

Chase is set to count $26.2 million against the cap this season, but that then balloons to $33.4 million and $41.4 million in the following two seasons, before a new deal is likely worked out when he counts $53.2 million against the cap in the 2029 season.

Tee Higgins took a step back from his massive 2024 due to quarterback play, going from 6.1 catches for 75.9 yards per game down to 3.9 catches for 56.4 yards per game in 2025.

He still caught 11 touchdowns, giving him double-digit scores in each of the past two seasons.

Higgins once again missed multiple games last year, the third season in a row he has missed multiple games.

Given the continued absences for Higgins, the Bengals should continue to throw more ammunition at their wide receiver depth, especially since the offense remains among the highest 11 personnel units in the league.

The Bengals ranked ninth in 11-personnel rate (64.2%) in 2025.

Outside of Chase and Higgins, there is not much here.

The only other wide receiver on the roster currently signed beyond 2026 is Dohnte Meyers, who has not played a snap.

Tight End

1. Mike Gesicki
2. Drew Sample
3. Erick All
4. Tanner Hudson
5. Cam Grandy

The Bengals use their tight ends as a Voltron-type unit.

They have had defined roles for Mike Gesicki as a slot receiver, Drew Sample in the run game, and an ancillary asset that can play inline in 12 personnel in both passing and run downs.

Sample played 53.5% of the snaps, with the Bengals running the ball 48.7% of the time on those snaps.

Gesicki played 28.9% of the snaps, with a pass rate of 82.8% on those snaps.

The loss of Noah Fant (34% of the snaps and a 40% run rate) gives room for Erick All to return and contribute.

All showed some life in that role as a rookie with 20 catches over his first nine games in 2024, but he then suffered an ACL injury that forced him to miss the entire 2025 season.

Staying on the field has been an issue for All going back to college.

This was his second ACL injury.

Going back to his college career, All has failed to play a full slate of games in each of his past five seasons.

All and Gesicki are the only guys here signed beyond 2026.

Offensive Line

LT: Orlando Brown, Javon Foster
LG: Dylan Fairchild
C: Ted Karras, Matt Lee, Jacob Bayer
RG: Dalton Risner, Jalen Rivers
RT: Amarius Mims, Cody Ford, Andrew Coker

2025 was another season where the Cincinnati offensive line was below the fold.

They finished 26th in the collective pass-blocking grade at Pro Football Focus last season.

ESPN ranked them 28th in pass-block win rate (58%).

They were also relatively healthy.

Their starters played together for 52.4% of the snaps, which was the eighth-highest rate in the league.

This is a unit that can be upgraded in terms of collective production, but I do not believe the Bengals will be aggressive in this draft, as for better or worse, their 2026 starters are largely set up.

Both tackles, Orlando Brown and Amarius Mims, are under contract for multiple seasons, although both have had their concerns.

Both were outside of the top 40 graded tackles per Pro Football Focus.

Brown allowed 46 pressures (7th most) and a 6.8% pressure rate (54th).

He also had 10 penalties, which was tied for the 10th-most at the position.

Mims did make some strides in year two, going from a 5.9% pressure rate to 5% last season.

Ted Karras took every snap at center last season.

He will be 33 and is in the final year of his contract.

Dalton Risner missed three games last year, but he was the highest graded lineman on the team, coming in 27th among guards.

Risner only allowed a 3.4% pressure rate (15th).

Dylan Fairchild was selected in the third round last year, making 15 starts as a rookie.

Fairchild allowed a 4.9% pressure rate (46th).

Cincinnati Bengals Defense: Depth Chart, Analysis & Draft Needs

Raymond Summerlin breaks down the defensive depth chart by position for the Cincinnati Bengals, identifying areas where the team could improve in the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft.

Defensive Line

1. Jonathan Allen
2. T.J. Slaton Jr.
3. B.J. Hill
4. Kris Jenkins Jr.
5. McKinnley Jackson
6. Jordan Jefferson
7. Howard Cross III

The Bengals had one of the worst run defenses in the league last season, allowing 5.2 yards per carry to running backs (31st).

They ranked 29th in yards before contact allowed per RB run and 27th in explosive run rate allowed on those carries.

The top trio from last year along the defensive line is back, with B.J. Hill, T.J. Slaton, and Kris Jenkins combining for over 1,500 snaps.

Hill and Slaton recorded a lot of tackles, ranking eighth and 26th in tackle rate on running plays among qualified defensive linemen, but neither consistently made plays in the backfield.

All three of Hill, Slaton, and Jenkins ranked outside the top 80 among qualified pass rushers in pressure rate.

It is not surprising, then, that Cincinnati added Jonathan Allen in free agency.

Allen did not bring much more as a pass rusher than last year’s group, but he ranked fifth among qualified linemen in run stuffs with the Vikings last season.

Slaton is set to be a free agent after this year, but the other three are signed through 2027.

Even so, Allen and Hill are older, and the defensive line could use an injection of talent regardless of the contract situation.

Edge Defenders

1. Boye Mafe
2. Myles Murphy
3. Shemar Stewart
4. Cedric Johnson
5. Isaiah Foskey

The Bengals ranked 24th in pressure rate (33.4%) and 22nd in sacks (35) last season.

Trey Hendrickson tied for third on the team in sacks despite playing just seven games, and he left for the Ravens in free agency.

One of the players ahead of him in sack count was Joseph Ossai, who also left in free agency.

The Bengals did make a splash in free agency, signing Boye Mafe away from the Seahawks.

Mafe only had 2 sacks last season, but he had a respectable 12.7% pressure rate, and he was much better the previous two seasons.

Cincinnati has spent recent first-round picks on Myles Murphy (2023) and Shemar Stewart (2025).

Murphy took a step forward last year in extended playing time, but he still has a career 10.4% pressure rate with 8.5 sacks in 47 games.

Stewart had something of a lost rookie season thanks to a holdout and two separate injuries.

He finished with 1 sack over eight games.

The Bengals will obviously hope for more from Stewart in year two, and Cedric Johnson made some plays on limited snaps last year.

Still, despite the investments in both free agency and the draft made along the edge, this looks like a primary position of need.

Linebacker

1. Demetrius Knight Jr.
2. Barrett Carter
3. Oren Burks
4. Joe Giles-Harris
5. Shaka Heyward
6. Liam Anderson
7. Antwaun Powell-Ryland

The Bengals did not get good play out of their linebackers last season, though both were thrust into major roles as rookies.

Both Demetrius Knight and Barrett Carter ranked outside the top 75 qualified linebackers in run stuff rate, and neither ranked inside the top 40 in tackle rate on run plays among that same group.

Carter allowed 9.9 yards per target and a 115.8 quarterback ranking in coverage.

Knight was better in those metrics, but he still was not a plus defender against the pass.

Oren Burks represents veteran depth, but he has been a rotational option and special teamer throughout his career.

Given they relied on rookies last year to disastrous effect, the Bengals’ best course of action is probably to add a veteran late in free agency while hoping for improvement from their young options.

That said, the play was so bad last year that a high draft pick could be justified.

Cornerback

1. DJ Turner II
2. Dax Hill
3. Jalen Davis
4. Ja’Sir Taylor
5. Josh Newton
6. DJ Ivey
7. Jalen Kimber
8. Bralyn Lux

Not just bad against the run, the Bengals also ranked 29th in yards per attempt allowed and 28th in EPA per pass allowed.

Cam Taylor-Britt left in free agency, but he played just 348 snaps last season.

Dax Hill and DJ Turner were the primary options at corner last season, and both played reasonably well.

Hill allowed just 6.0 yards per target in his coverage, and Turner had his best season with 6.4 yards per target allowed.

Jalen Davis also had success covering the slot late last season, though he is 30 and has played 698 career snaps on defense.

The Bengals likely want Hill to handle that role if they can find another option on the outside.

Free agent addition Ja’Sir Taylor has struggled to force his way into the defensive lineup throughout his career.

On top of the depth questions, both Turner and Hill are scheduled to be free agents after the season.

The Bengals have youth here – both Josh Newton and DJ Ivey are also still on their rookie contracts – and got better play from their corners last year than the overall numbers would suggest, but this still looks like a short and long-term need.

Safety

1. Bryan Cook
2. Jordan Battle
3. Kyle Dugger
4. Daijahn Anthony
5. PJ Jules
6. Russ Yeast

The Bengals made a big addition to the safety group in free agency, signing Bryan Cook away from the Chiefs.

A second-round pick by the Chiefs in 2022, Cook has been a quality starter the last two years and should be a big improvement over what the Bengals got out of Geno Stone the last two years.

They also added Kyle Dugger to the mix at safety.

Dugger had some good seasons early in his career, but he has struggled the last couple of years including with both the Patriots and Steelers in 2025.

He should be the third option behind Cook and Jordan Battle, a 2023 third-round pick who is entering the final year of his rookie deal but could get an extension.

Cook’s addition means this is not a glaring area of need, but it would not be surprising if the Bengals added talent to this group, especially if Caleb Downs falls to them in the first round.

2026 Depth Chart Analysis & Team Needs for All 32 NFL Teams