Top 15 draft picks in Cincinnati Bengals history

13. Carlos Dunlap

Drafted 54th overall in 2010

With their second-round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, the Bengals selected Carlos Dunlap out of Florida. What followed was one of the best defensive players in franchise history.

Dunlap made an instant impact on defense, recording 9.5 sacks and 16 QB hits as a rookie through 12 games. Those 9.5 sacks were a career-high for Dunlap until he notched 13.5 sacks in the 2015 season, which earned him a spot in the Pro Bowl, and deservedly so.

Dunlap ended up playing in Cincinnati for 11 years before he landed with the Seahawks midway through the 2020 season and that’s where he played in 2021 as well. He totaled 8.5 sacks in his first full year away from the Bengals.

The former Florida Gator finished his Bengals career with 82.5 sacks, which is second all-time in franchise history (though, in some instances, he leads the organization in sacks due to it not being a statistic until 1982). It was tough seeing him in another uniform after he played in the stripes for over a decade but there’s no denying that he’s one of the best draft picks in Cincinnati Bengals history.