Original Pick- John Ross, Wide Receiver, Washington
This one is going to sting, Bengals fans.
With the ninth overall selection, the front office decided to draft speedy wideout John Ross, who was fresh off of breaking the combine record for the 40-yard-dash, earning him the crown of the fastest player in the NFL. At the time, pairing Ross’ dynamic speed, acceleration, and route running ability with A.J. Green seemed like it could be enough to get the Bengals back to the playoffs and end the nearly 30-year postseason drought.
Unfortunately, things haven’t gone according to plan. Ross has struggled with injuries and dropped passes to begin his career. He’s also not been able to share the field with Green as often as originally hoped, as the former Georgia Bulldog has suffered major injuries as well. Make no mistake about it though, Ross can still turn things around and he even showed flashes of doing so a season ago.
However, that doesn’t change the fact that just one pick after Ross, the Chiefs selected future MVP and Super Bowl champion Patrick Mahomes.
If the Bengals would have made the decision to take the Texas Tech signal-caller, they certainly wouldn’t be selecting first overall in this year’s draft. Mahomes has the type of ability that his presence in stripes alone would be enough to elevate the Bengals from the NFL cellar to contenders.