Since the 2023 NFL draft has ended, Cincinnati Bengals personnel have told anyone who would listen that they largely stuck to their board and didn’t reach or feel like they missed on a single prospect they were targeting.
That shows in the endless strong grades the Bengals earned for their eight-pick showing.
It also shows in draft class value ranking from The Athletic’s Austin Mock and Jason Starrett, as they compared the value of each pick in the draft class to final prospect rankings to come up with point totals. The Bengals finished fourth overall and were listed as one of two teams that didn’t “reach” for a prospect at all:
4. Bengals
Total selections: 8 (8 better than projected, 0 worse than projected)Average pick value: +11.6
Biggest steal: CB DJ Turner – Second round, No. 60 overall | +27
Biggest reach: WR Charlie Jones – Fourth round, No. 131 overall | +3
It says a lot when the biggest reach by this set of data was merely a +3 with Charlie Jones, something the team is undoubtedly comfortable with considering he projects to be right in the battle on special teams returns and a possible base-offense starter beyond 2023.
DJ Turner being a massive steal by nearly 30 spots tracks too, given where many consensus boards had him and with mock drafts putting him as a first-rounder in some cases.
In all, it certainly wasn’t a bad showing for a team drafting near the first round and it’s the type of performance that could help the Bengals keep drafting in that range for a long time.
