Draft History: Lone Hall of Famer tops Bengals list of top picks
Draft History: Lone Hall of Famer tops Bengals list of top picks
This year’s first pick belongs to the Bengals, so it is fitting that this series starts with Cincinnati. Ohio State defensive end Chase Young and LSU quarterback Joe Burrow are the early favorites to be the top overall pick, and no matter who the Bengals choose, they want the pick to have a career that rivals the production of the players on the first list while avoiding the pitfalls of those on the second. Here is a look at the best and worst draft picks in the history of the Cincinnati Bengals.
BEST
10. Carlos Dunlap, DE (Round 2, Pick 54 in 2010) – The two-time Pro Bowler tops the franchise list with 20 forced fumbles and 81½ sacks, including a career-high 13½ in 2005. Dunlap also totaled 472 tackles, and he returned two interceptions and a fumble for a touchdown.
9. Geno Atkins, DT (Round 4, Pick 120 in 2010) – Atkins was taken two rounds after Dunlap, and the two have been together on Cincinnati’s defensive line ever since. Atkins ranks second behind Dunlap with 75½ sacks, including three seasons with 10 or more.
8. Reggie Williams, LB (Round 3, Pick 82 in 1976) -Williams ranks fifth in team history with 41 sacks, despite playing the stat not being recognized by the NFL for half his career. He played 206 games, had 23 fumble recoveries and 16 interceptions and won the league’s Man of the Year Award in 1986.
7. Max Montoya, G (Round 7, Pick 168 in 1979) – Montoya only reached the playoffs twice with Cincinnati, but both times, the team played for the league title (losses to San Francisco in Super Bowls XVI and XXIII. He was a stalwart at right guard, playing in 157 games over 11 seasons.
6. T. J. Houshmandzadeh (Round 7, Pick 204 in 2001) - With respect to other top receivers the Bengals drafted (Chad Johnson, A. J. Green, Carl Pickens, Isaac Curtis, Chris Collinsworth, Darnay Scott and Eddie Brown), Houshmandzadeh is the only one selected later than pick 37. He ranks fourth on the all-time franchise list with 507 catches, eighth with 5,782 yards and sixth with 37 touchdowns. The seventh-round pick made his only Pro Bowl after leading the NFL with 112 receptions in 2007.
5. Bob Trumpy, TE (Round 12, Pick 301 in 1968) – Back when the NFL Draft was 17 rounds, the Bengals found a gem in Trumpy, who tops the franchise list for tight ends with 4,600 yards and 35 touchdowns. He was a four-time Pro Bowler who was selected to his lone All-Pro team with a career-best 835 yards and nine scores in 1969.
4. Lemar Parrish, CB (Round 7, Pick 163 in 1970) - Parrish ranks fifth in team history with 25 interceptions, and he has four return touchdowns. He went to six Pro Bowls with the Bengals and two more with the Redskins, including his lone All-Pro selection in 1979. Parrish recovered 10 fumbles and brought back three for scores in Cincinnati.
3. Ken Riley, CB (Round 6, Pick 135 in 1969) - Despite posting a franchise-best 65 career interceptions in 15 years in the NFL, Riley somehow never made a Pro Bowl. He had a career-high nine picks in 1976 and eight more (including two touchdowns) in his final season (1983), when he was named to his only All-Pro team.
2. Ken Anderson, QB (Round 3, Pick 67 in 1971) – Anderson holds the franchise mark with 32,838 passing yards (although Andy Dalton is one season away from taking over the top spot). He earned 1981 MVP and Offensive Player of the Year Awards after posting career highs with 3,754 yards and 29 touchdowns. The four-time Pro Bowler led the Bengals to an appearance in Super Bowl XVI and was selected as the NFL’s Man of the Year in 1975.
1. Anthony Munoz, T (Round 1, Pick 3 in 1980) - Unlike most other picks that will probably make these lists, this is definitely not a “diamond in the rough.” Munoz was taken third overall in 1980, but he is the only player in the Pro Football Hall of Fame who played primarily with the Bengals. From 1981-91, Munoz was selected to 11 straight Pro Bowls and earned nine All-Pro selections. The 1991 NFL Man of the Year Award winner started 184 games in 13 seasons, played in two Super Bowls and even caught four touchdown passes.
WORST
10. (tie) Mike Cobb, TE (Round 1, Pick 22 in 1977) and Pete Koch, NT (Round 1, Pick 16 in 1984) - Cobb played 13 games and did not catch a pass in his one season in Cincinnati before being traded to the Bears. After four years in Chicago, he played two seasons in the short-lived USFL but did not return to the NFL after the new league folded. Koch is a former player turned actor and fitness guru. He played all 16 games as a reserve in 1984, then spent three seasons with the Chiefs and one more with the Raiders before leaving the NFL in 1989.
9. Reinard Wilson, LB (Round 1, Pick 14 in 1997) - Wilson played in 93 games over six seasons but started just 23. He made 15 starts and had six sacks in 1998 and set a career-high with nine sacks in 2001. Wilson signed with the Buccaneers in 2002, but did not play a game for Tampa Bay.
8. Greg Cook, QB (Round 1, Pick 5 in 1969) - To be fair, the entire quarterback class in this draft stunk (James Harris, an eighth-round pick by the Bills, was the only Pro Bowler, making it in 1974 with the Rams), but Cook had the makings of a good NFL career. Cook was inserted as the starter after three games and went 3-0 before feeling a pop in his shoulder during a game against Kansas City. He missed the next three games but returned to throw for 1,854 yards and earn the United Press International Rookie of the Year Award. However, the “pop” turned out to be a torn rotator cuff and a partially detached bicep, forcing Cook to retire. Three operations later, he tried to come back in 1973, but that lasted just three pass attempts before he left the NFL for good.
7. Ricky Hunley, LB (Round 1, Pick 7 in 1984) - The Bengals took the two-time All-American and future College Football Hall of Famer from Arizona, but the two sides never reached a contract agreement. Cincinnati traded Hunley’s rights to Denver for three picks, two of which turned into wide receiver Tim McGee and safety David Fulcher, who were key pieces of a team that went to Super Bowl XXIII. Hunley lasted seven seasons with the Broncos, Cardinals, and Raiders, amassing just three interceptions and 2½ sacks.
6. David Verser, WR (Round 1, Pick 10 in 1981) - That pick 37 mentioned under the Houshmandzadeh entry was Cris Collinsworth, who was selected the next round after Verser. Although he was taken as a wide receiver out of Kansas, the Bengals used him primarily as a kick returner. He had 1,310 yards in returns but managed just 23 receptions and three touchdowns in four years.
5. Rickey Dixon, S (Round 1, Pick 5 in 1988) - Dixon played in 73 games, but started just 32 in five NFL seasons. He had six career interceptions, while Eric Allen (pick 30) totaled 54 and Cris Dishman (pick 125) had 43.
4. Jack Thompson, QB (Round 1, Pick 3 in 1979) - In a draft that included Phil Simms (drafted at pick 7 by the Giants) and Joe Montana (pick 82 by the 49ers), the Bengals instead went with Thompson, a Washington State product known as the “Throwin’ Samoan.” Thompson went 4-17 as a starter in Cincinnati before going to Tampa Bay.
3. Ki-Jana Carter, RB (Round 1, Pick 1 in 1995) - Carter is labeled a “bust,” but he was more a victim of injuries. He tore a ligament in his knee in his first preseason game and missed his entire rookie season. Carter also suffered a torn left rotator cuff in 1997, a broken left wrist that cost him 15 games in 1998 and a dislocated right kneecap that forced him to miss 13 more games in 1999. He only totaled 747 yards in four seasons with Cincinnati, but he had 15 touchdowns in his first two years.
2. David Klingler, QB (Round 1, Pick 6 in 1992) - Another draft that wasn’t great for quarterbacks saw the best passers taken in rounds six (Jeff Blake by the Jets) and nine (Brad Johnson by the Vikings). Klingler went 4-20 his first three seasons in Cincinnati, but never started another game in the NFL after suffering elbow and shoulder injuries in his third season. He lost his starting job to Blake, who came over from the Jets and made his only Pro Bowl in 1995.
1. Akili Smith, QB (Round 1, Pick 3 in 1999) - Smith was taken eight picks before Pro Bowler Daunte Culpepper and the only thing keeping him from being the worst pick of the year was the Browns selecting Tim Couch first overall. Smith did not have the effort the Bengals would have liked, as his 3-14 record in four seasons would indicate. Smith tossed just five touchdowns to thirteen interceptions in his career.
Next week: Washington Redskins
-By: Kevin Rakas
