# List of Cincinnati Bengals first-round draft picks

The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference North Division. Founded as an expansion team of the American Football League (AFL) in 1968, they joined the NFL as a result of the 1970 AFL–NFL merger. The team's home games have been held in downtown Cincinnati at Paycor Stadium since 2000.
The NFL draft, officially known as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting", is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. The draft order is determined based on the previous season's standings; the teams with the worst win–loss records receive the earliest picks. Teams that qualified for the NFL playoffs select after non-qualifiers, and their order depends on how far they advanced, using their regular season record as a tie-breaker. The final two selections in the first round are reserved for the Super Bowl runner-up and champion. Draft picks are tradable and players or other picks can be acquired with them.
Since the team's first draft in 1968, the Bengals have selected 68 players in the first round. The team's first-round pick in their inaugural draft was Bob Johnson, a center from the University of Tennessee; he was the second overall selection. The Bengals have drafted number one overall four times and selected Dan Wilkinson in 1994, Ki-Jana Carter in 1995, Carson Palmer in 2003, and Joe Burrow in 2020. In the most recent draft, held in 2024, the Bengals chose Georgia tackle Amarius Mims.
The Bengals have drafted at least one player in the first round every year except for 1989. Only one of the team's first-round picks—Anthony Muñoz—has been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

## Player selections

Key :
| Symbol | Meaning |
| † | Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame |
| * | Selected number one overall |
Position abbreviations :
| C | Center |
| DB | Defensive back |
| DE | Defensive end |
| DL | Defensive line |
| DT | Defensive tackle |
| G | Guard |
| LB | Linebacker |
| NT | Nose tackle |
| QB | Quarterback |
| RB | Running back |
| T | Tackle |
| TE | Tight end |
| WR | Wide receiver |
Cincinnati Bengals first-round draft picks by season :
| Season | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
| 1968 | 2 | Bob Johnson | C | Tennessee | Received two first-round selections, among other selections, as an expansion team. Traded a pick to Miami Dolphins. |
| 1969 | 5 | Greg Cook | QB | Cincinnati | |
| 1970 | 7 | Mike Reid | DT | Penn State | |
| 1971 | 15 | Vernon Holland | T | Tennessee State | |
| 1972 | 2 | Sherman White | DE | California | |
| 1973 | 15 | Isaac Curtis | WR | San Diego State | |
| 1974 | 23 | Bill Kollar | DE | Montana State | |
| 1975 | 14 | Glenn Cameron | DE | Florida | |
| 1976 | 11 | Billy Brooks | WR | Oklahoma | Pick received from Philadelphia Eagles |
| 1976 | 24 | Archie Griffin | RB | Ohio State | |
| 1977 | 3 | Eddie Edwards | DE | Miami (FL) | Pick received from Buffalo Bills |
| 1977 | 8 | Wilson Whitley | DT | Houston | Pick received from Philadelphia Eagles |
| 1977 | 22 | Mike Cobb | TE | Michigan State | |
| 1978 | 8 | Ross Browner | DE | Notre Dame | Pick received from Philadelphia Eagles |
| 1978 | 16 | Blair Bush | C | Washington | |
| 1979 | 3 | Jack Thompson | QB | Washington State | |
| 1979 | 12 | Charles Alexander | RB | Louisiana State | Pick received from Washington Redskins |
| 1980 | 3 | Anthony Muñoz† | T | USC | |
| 1981 | 10 | David Verser | WR | Kansas | |
| 1982 | 26 | Glen Collins | DE | Mississippi State | |
| 1983 | 25 | Dave Rimington | C | Nebraska | |
| 1984 | 7 | Ricky Hunley | LB | Arizona | |
| 1984 | 16 | Pete Koch | NT | Maryland | Pick received from New England Patriots using pick from Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| 1984 | 28 | Brian Blados | T | North Carolina | Pick received from New England Patriots using pick from Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| 1985 | 13 | Eddie Brown | WR | Miami (FL) | |
| 1985 | 25 | Emanuel King | LB | Alabama | Pick received from Seattle Seahawks |
| 1986 | 11 | Joe Kelly | LB | Washington | |
| 1986 | 21 | Tim McGee | WR | Tennessee | Pick received from Denver Broncos |
| 1987 | 17 | Jason Buck | DL | BYU | |
| 1988 | 5 | Rickey Dixon | DB | Oklahoma | |
| 1989 | No pick | No pick | No pick | No pick | Moved down draft order in trade with Atlanta Falcons |
| 1990 | 12 | James Francis | LB | Baylor | |
| 1991 | 18 | Alfred Williams | DE | Colorado | |
| 1992 | 6 | David Klingler | QB | Houston | Moved down in trade with Washington Redskins |
| 1992 | 28 | Darryl Williams | DB | Miami (FL) | Moved up draft order in trade with Washington Redskins |
| 1993 | 5 | John Copeland | DE | Alabama | |
| 1994 | 1 | Dan Wilkinson* | DT | Ohio State | |
| 1995 | 1 | Ki-Jana Carter* | RB | Penn State | Moved up draft order in trade with Carolina Panthers |
| 1996 | 10 | Willie Anderson | T | Auburn | |
| 1997 | 14 | Reinard Wilson | LB | Florida State | |
| 1998 | 13 | Takeo Spikes | LB | Auburn | Pick received from Washington Redskins |
| 1998 | 17 | Brian Simmons | LB | North Carolina | |
| 1999 | 3 | Akili Smith | QB | Oregon | |
| 2000 | 4 | Peter Warrick | WR | Florida State | |
| 2001 | 4 | Justin Smith | DE | Missouri | |
| 2002 | 10 | Levi Jones | T | Arizona | |
| 2003 | 1 | Carson Palmer* | QB | USC | |
| 2004 | 26 | Chris Perry | RB | Michigan | Moved down draft order in trades with Denver Broncos and St. Louis Rams |
| 2005 | 17 | David Pollack | LB | Georgia | |
| 2006 | 24 | Johnathan Joseph | DB | South Carolina | |
| 2007 | 18 | Leon Hall | DB | Michigan | |
| 2008 | 9 | Keith Rivers | LB | USC | |
| 2009 | 6 | Andre Smith | T | Alabama | |
| 2010 | 21 | Jermaine Gresham | TE | Oklahoma | |
| 2011 | 4 | A. J. Green | WR | Georgia | |
| 2012 | 17 | Dre Kirkpatrick | DB | Alabama | Pick received from Oakland Raiders |
| 2012 | 27 | Kevin Zeitler | G | Wisconsin | Moved up draft order in trade with New England Patriots |
| 2013 | 21 | Tyler Eifert | TE | Notre Dame | |
| 2014 | 24 | Darqueze Dennard | DB | Michigan State | |
| 2015 | 21 | Cedric Ogbuehi | T | Texas A&M | |
| 2016 | 24 | William Jackson III | DB | Houston | |
| 2017 | 9 | John Ross | WR | Washington | |
| 2018 | 21 | Billy Price | C | Ohio State | Moved down draft order in trade with Buffalo Bills |
| 2019 | 11 | Jonah Williams | T | Alabama | |
| 2020 | 1 | Joe Burrow* | QB | LSU | |
| 2021 | 5 | Ja'Marr Chase | WR | LSU | |
| 2022 | 31 | Daxton Hill | DB | Michigan | |
| 2023 | 28 | Myles Murphy | DE | Clemson | |
| 2024 | 18 | Amarius Mims | T | Georgia | |