The Cincinnati Bengals are on the clock with the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft. General Manager Mike Brown and his team are likely to take LSU Tigers quarterback Joe Burrow unless another team comes in with a trade package that is too good to refuse. NFL fans are debating whether the Bengals will be improved thanks the No. 1 draft pick next season. Fans can get the NairaBET Bonus before wagering on the Bengals in 2020.
It isn’t the first time the Bengals have had the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft. Cincinnati has made the draft’s No. 1 pick on three different occasions. Only one of those NFL draft picks worked out for the franchise. With the Bengals on the clock and expected to take Burrow first overall, will the team strike pay dirt?
Looking Back at Previous Cincinnati Bengals No. 1 Overall Picks
Dan Wilkinson – Ohio State Buckeyes, DT, 1994
“Big Daddy” Dan Wilkinson was taken first overall by Cincinnati in 1994 after a stellar collegiate career up the road at Ohio State. The 6ft 4in, 340-pound defensive tackle was expected to be the anchor of the Bengals’ defense for years to come. For four years in Cincinnati, Wilkinson made at least 5.0 sacks per season with 8.0 sacks in 1995 his best tally as a Bengal.
Despite Wilkinson’s excellent play on the defensive line, the Bengals went through David Shula and Bruce Coslet as head coaches with neither having the answers to losing games. Just one of those four years saw Cincinnati finish .500. After his four years with the Bengals, Wilkinson went on to play for the Washington Redskins, Detroit Lions, and Miami Dolphin.
Ki-Jana Carter – Penn State Nittany Lions, RB, 1995
After a 3-13 season in 1994, Cincinnati got the No. 1 overall pick again in 1995. The draft pick was acquired through a trade with the expansion Carolina Panthers. It was a trade the Bengals has regreted ever making as the running-back is considered one of the biggest draft busts of all-time. Carter inked the largest rookie contract of all-time when he was selected by the Bengals.
Cincinnati signed Carter to a seven-year contract worth $19.2 million and received a $7.125 million signing bonus. Not long after signing the contract, Carter tore his ACL on the third carry of his professional football career. It ended Carter’s rookie season. He would go onto play in just 59 NFL games running for 1,144 yards over the course of seven seasons.
Carson Palmer – USC Trojans, QB, 2003
Carson Palmer is by far the best No. 1 draft pick the Bengals have made. The quarterback played seven seasons for the Bengals making two Pro Bowls. Cincinnati won the AFC North twice with Palmer under center and made the playoffs each of those seasons. Four of Palmer’s seven seasons saw the Bengals finish above .500, a rarity for fans post-Boomer Esiasonand Sam Wyche.
Palmer went on to play for the Oakland Raiders and Arizona Cardinals, and retired from the NFL in 2018 after 15 seasons. Perhaps Palmer’s most memorable moment as a Bengal came in 2005 when he was injured on his first throw of the team’s home playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Had the injury not occurred knocking Palmer out of the game, Cincinnati could have rivaled their fellow AFC teams for a spot in the Super Bowl.
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