BEST SECOND-ROUND DRAFT PICK: Esiason (1984) made Sam Wyche's no-huddle offense a rage and teamed with Woods — another second-round pick — on the Bengals' second Super Bowl team. Esiason won MVP honors in 1988. Woods created a sensation with his touchdown shuffle. Honorable mention to WR Cris Collinsworth (1981), who helped the Bengals reach the title game as a rookie, and QB Andy Dalton (2011), who led them to a club-record five straight playoff appearances (2011-15). The Bengals lost all five games. Dalton will be replaced next season, with Cincinnati expected to take QB Joe Burrow first overall.
BEST LATE-ROUND DRAFT PICK: Make it a trio. The Bengals' 1988 AFC title team had an offensive line featuring three late-round starters: LG Bruce Reimers (8th round, 1984), C Bruce Kozerski (9th round, 1984) and RT Joe Walker (7th round, 1985). The starting RB was Stanley Wilson, a ninth-round pick in 1983 who missed the Super Bowl after a cocaine relapse on the eve of the game.
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WORST FIRST-ROUND DRAFT PICK: QB Akili Smith. Owner Mike Brown turned down a treasure trove of draft picks from the Bears to stay put and take Smith third overall in 1999. The dual-threat quarterback never amounted to much in the Bengals' pocket-passer offense behind a below-average line and with WRs Peter Warrick and Ron Dugans. Smith started only 17 games in four seasons in what amounted to a replay of the David Klingler fiasco. Cincinnati took Klingler sixth overall in 1992, and he also failed in a system that was a poor fit for his run-and-shoot talents and lacked dependable linemen and playmakers.
WORST SECOND-ROUND DRAFT PICK: G Freddie Childress. The Bengals took the mammoth lineman 55th overall in 1989, a year after their Super Bowl loss to San Francisco. They hoped the 345-pounder nicknamed "Big Chill" would help maintain a solid line, Childress never played for Cincinnati. He started one game for New England in 1991 and four for Cleveland in 1992 before heading for the CFL, where he had a successful 13-year career.
BEST DRAFT TRADE: It arose from their inability to sign first-round pick LB Ricky Hunley in 1984. They traded him to Denver for draft picks and got WR Tim McGee as an additional first-round pick in 1986, S David Fulcher as an additional third-round pick. Both started on the 1988 Super Bowl team.
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WORST DRAFT TRADE: Actually the non-trade, passing up the Bears' offer in order to take Smith. The worst actual trade was sending first- and second-round picks to Carolina in 1995 to move up for RB Ki-Jana Carter first overall. The Penn State star tore an ACL in his first preseason game and sat out his rookie year. He had an injury-filled and largely unproductive career that included only 14 starts in seven seasons with Cincinnati, Washington and New Orleans.
DID YOU KNOW THEY ONCE DRAFTED?: Kimo von Oelhoffen. Yes, Bengals fans remember him as the Steelers lineman who wrecked Carson Palmer's left leg during a playoff game at Paul Brown Stadium during the 2005 season. The Bengals lost their first postseason appearance in 15 years. Von Oelhoffen got his start in Cincinnati as a sixth-rounder in 1994 and played six seasons with the Bengals before heading to the division-rival Steelers and making a play Cincinnati fans haven't forgotten.
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LAST YEAR'S PICKS: (Round, Name, Position, School): 1st, Jonah Williams, LT, Alabama; 2nd, Drew Sample, TE, Washington; 3rd, Germaine Pratt, LB, N.C. State; 4th, Ryan Finley, QB, N.C. State; Renell Wren, DT, Arizona State; Michael Jordan, G, Ohio State; 6th, Trayveon Williams, RB, Texas A&M; Deshaun Davis, LB, Auburn; Rodney Anderson, RB, Oklahoma; 7th, Jordan Brown, CB, South Dakota State.