The Cincinnati Bengals had the look of a legitimate contender before the 2026 NFL Draft, and their rookie class has provided invaluable depth for a team poised for a playoff return.
It's been three long years of no postseason football in Cincinnati. By not being too precious about some veteran players, the Bengals added a healthy amount of competition with their rookie class. A few incumbent core contributors in particular were put on notice.
Here's a look at three Bengals who got a rather loud memo in the aftermath of the draft.
The end is nigh for Bengals starting center Ted Karras
Cincinnati's brass didn't mean any disrespect in drafting not one, but two potential centers in Auburn's Connor Lew and Duke utility offensive lineman Brian Parker II. The reality is, Ted Karras is entering a contract year amid his age-33 season, and contingency plans had to be put in motion.
Lew is the likely heir apparent to Karras, as Parker was a college right tackle with experience on the left side. On the other hand, Lew's immediate future is a bit up in the air, since he's still recovering from a torn ACL he suffered in October.
Karras knows the business side of the NFL well enough by now. He knows the score and his age.
Although he won't take it to heart, and it'll be sad to see him go whenever he does, Karras ought to be fired up to prove he can be the man to snap the ball to Joe Burrow beyond 2026.
Bengals reach big-time on fourth-round WR to put Andrei Iosivas on notice
Speaking of contract years, few non-star players in Cincinnati need a bounce-back season more than Andrei Iosivas. The Bengals banked on Yoshi to be their WR3 last year, as draft bust Jermaine Burton failed to push him, and upstart Mitchell Tinsley couldn't quite get there.
Myself and many other draftniks deemed Georgia wideout and Bengals fourth-round pick Colbie Young as one of the biggest reaches of any pick in the draft at No. 140 overall. Not a fan. Suppose I'll just cling to this metric from the NFL Scouting Combine?
Players from the state of Georgia dominated the top speed rankings in the wide receiver gauntlet drill.@GeorgiaFootball's Colbie Young led the way at 19.72 mph, his teammate Dillon Bell ran 19.59 mph, and @GeorgiaTechFB's Eric Rivers finished in between the two at 19.64 mph. pic.twitter.com/Jh8nd4nlWc
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) March 1, 2026
It doesn't matter what opinions are about Young's prospects in the NFL, though. The fact is that Cincinnati sent the message to Iosivas that they're preparing for life without him.
Iosivas had some untimely drops and was flat-out ineffective far too often this past season. Having a quarterback like Burrow and elite perimeter weapons like Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins should've allowed Iosivas to feast. Instead, he had sort of a flat-line play demeanor.
Maybe the morale was low in the locker room amid all the losing, but more was expected of Iosivas. PFF graded him as the 119th-ranked wide receiver out of 128 qualifiers in 2025. Oof.
The battle for the No. 3 receiver gig behind Chase and Higgins will be one of the juiciest subplots of Bengals training camp. Let's see if Iosivas rises to the occasion.
Roster spot for 2024 second-round DT Kris Jenkins Jr. is not safe whatsoever
Last but certainly not least, we arrive at Kris Jenkins Jr., the 49th overall pick in the 2024 draft. It's not often you can say that a seventh-round pick would threaten someone of Jenkins' status, yet here we are!
Navy defensive tackle Landon Robinson honed his craft during the pre-draft process with the ex-trainer of Bengals legend Geno Atkins. Their builds and athletic profiles bear uncanny similarities.
Landon Robinson vs Geno Atkins, RAS pic.twitter.com/Kl5mt25xIt
— 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗖𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 (@BengalsCaptain) April 25, 2026
Jenkins has been a giant nothing burger for the most part across his two NFL seasons. While he's a decent run defender, the man has no pass rush juice to speak of. After recording only 1.5 sacks as an NFL sophomore, Jenkins was ranked 111th out of 112 interior d-linemen in PFF's pass rush grades.
Now that Robinson is away from all his obligations at a service academy and can focus specifically on football, there's quite a lot of upside for him to explore.
Plus, Navy asked Robinson to line up at nose tackle far too often in college. That's not where he's best suited. It's impressive that he still managed 6.5 sacks and 64 combined tackles in his final year with the Midshipmen. Earning first-team All-American honors at Navy of all programs was no small feat, either.
Thanks to Robinson's superior athleticism and high ceiling as a pass rusher, Jenkins is in real jeopardy of not making the Bengals' final 53-man roster.
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