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National Signing Day 2017: Looking back on Bengals player rankings out of high school

Carlos Dunlap, A.J. Green, Dre Kirkpatrick, Andrew Whitworth, Rey Maualuga and Vontaze Burfict were all five-star recruits coming out of high school.

Today is National Signing Day, a great day for many college athletes as they reveal where they’ll be playing football at the next level. You can read all about the signings as they occur over at SB Nation.

In honor of the big day, we’re reviewing how the Cincinnati Bengals ranked when coming out of high school. The team has a handful of former five star recruits. While being a five star recruit doesn’t mean you’ll make it to the NFL after college, it’s a pretty good indicator of talent for many athletes and future NFL stars.

Carlos Dunlap, A.J. Green, Dre Kirkpatrick, Andrew Whitworth, Rey Maualuga and Vontaze Burfict were all five star recruits. Interestingly, the first four guys mentioned all went to SEC schools and the final two were both Pac 12 players. On the current roster, the Bengals also have 21 four-star recruits, 23 three-star recruits, 10 two-star recruits and a few players who either weren't ranked or are too old to have an online draft profile.

Bengals Roster: NFL, college and high school

PLAYERS P COLLEGE DRAFT ORDER 2016 SALARY STARS LINK
PLAYERS P COLLEGE DRAFT ORDER 2016 SALARY STARS LINK
Bryson Albright LB Miami (OH) 2 Star Rivals
Geno Atkins DT Georgia Bengals / 4th / 120th pick / 2010 $9,600,000 4 Star Rivals
Giovani Bernard RB North Carolina Bengals / 2nd / 37th pick / 2013 $4,621,517 4 Star Rivals
Andrew Billings DT Baylor Bengals / 4th / 122nd pick / 2016 $466,961 4 Star Rivals
Russell Bodine OG North Carolina Bengals / 4th / 111th pick / 2014 $714,114 3 Star Rivals
Clint Boling OL Georgia Bengals / 4th / 101st pick / 2011 $4,750,000 3 Star Rivals
Tyler Boyd WR Pittsburgh Bengals / 2nd / 55th pick / 2016 $774,358 4 Star Rivals
Chykie Brown DB Texas Ravens / 5th / 164th pick / 2011 $600,000 4 Star Rivals
John Brown K Louisville N/A N/A
Ryan Brown DE Mississippi State $450,000 3 Star Rivals
Randy Bullock K Texas A&M Texans / 5th / 161st pick / 2012 $134,117 3 Star Rivals
Vontaze Burfict LB Arizona St. $3,322,059 5 Star Rivals
Rex Burkhead RB Nebraska Bengals / 6th / 190th pick / 2013 $675,000 4 Star Rivals
Tra Carson HB Texas A&M $26,470 3 Star Rivals
Will Clarke DE West Virginia Bengals / 3rd / 88th pick / 2014 $756,345 2 Star Rivals
Cody Core WR Mississippi Bengals / 6th / 199th pick / 2016 $481,983 2 Star Rivals
Andy Dalton QB TCU Bengals / 2nd / 35th pick / 2011 $13,100,000 3 Star Rivals
Karlos Dansby LB Auburn Cardinals / 2nd / 33rd pick / 2004 $2,000,000 N/A 247
Paul Dawson OLB TCU Bengals / 3rd / 99th pick / 2015 $525,000 2 Star Rivals
David Dean DT Virginia $450,000 3 Star Rivals
Darqueze Dennard CB Michigan St. Bengals / 1st / 24th pick / 2014 $2,176,063 2 Star Rivals
Jeff Driskel QB Louisiana Tech 49ers / 6th / 207th pick / 2016 $450,000 4 Star Rivals
Carlos Dunlap DE Florida Bengals / 2nd / 54th pick / 2010 $5,950,000 5 Star Rivals
Tyler Eifert TE Notre Dame Bengals / 1st / 21st pick / 2013 $2,626,909 3 Star Rivals
Alex Erickson WR Wisconsin $450,000 N/A 247
Clayton Fejedelem FS Illinois Bengals / 7th / 245th pick / 2016 $465,887 N/A 247
Jake Fisher OT Oregon Bengals / 2nd / 53rd pick / 2015 $968,073 3 Star Rivals
Marquis Flowers OLB Arizona Bengals / 6th / 212th pick / 2014 $619,670 4 Star Rivals
Wallace Gilberry DE Alabama $885,000 3 Star Rivals
A.J. Green WR Georgia Bengals / 1st / 4th pick / 2011 $13,000,000 5 Star Rivals
Marcus Hardison DT Arizona St. Bengals / 4th / 135th pick / 2015 $434,423 4 Star Rivals
Clark Harris TE Rutgers Packers / 7th / 243rd pick / 2007 $950,000 2 Star Rivals
Ryan Hewitt FB Stanford $978,334 3 Star Rivals
Jeremy Hill RB LSU Bengals / 2nd / 55th pick / 2014 $1,023,710 4 Star Rivals
Trey Hopkins G Texas $450,000 4 Star Rivals
Kevin Huber P Cincinnati Bengals / 5th / 142nd pick / 2009 $3,020,000 N/A 247
Margus Hunt DE SMU Bengals / 2nd / 53rd pick / 2013 $1,168,077 N/A 247
George Iloka FS Boise St. Bengals / 5th / 167th pick / 2012 $5,075,000 2 Star Rivals
William Jackson CB Houston $1,764,662 3 Star Rivals
Michael Johnson DE Georgia Tech Bengals / 3rd / 70th pick / 2009 $6,125,000 3 Star Rivals
T.J. Johnson C South Carolina Bengals / 7th / 251st pick / 2013 $600,000 3 Star Rivals
Adam Jones DB West Virginia Titans / 1st / 6th pick / 2005 $7,604,166 2 Star Rivals
Dre Kirkpatrick CB Alabama Bengals / 1st / 17th pick / 2012 $7,507,000 5 Star Rivals
Tyler Kroft TE Rutgers Bengals / 3rd / 85th pick / 2015 $712,444 3 Star Rivals
Jake Kumerow WR Wisconsin-Whitwater $26,470 N/A 247
Brandon LaFell WR LSU Panthers / 3rd / 78th pick / 2010 $2,437,500 3 Star Rivals
Rey Maualuga LB USC Bengals / 2nd / 38th pick / 2009 $4,084,375 5 Star Rivals
A.J. McCarron QB Alabama Bengals / 5th / 164th pick / 2014 $645,413 4 Star Rivals
Tony McRae CB North Carolina A&T N/A N/A
Cedric Ogbuehi OT Texas A&M Bengals / 1st / 21st pick / 2015 $2,119,472 4 Star Rivals
Cedric Peerman RB Virginia Ravens / 6th / 185th pick / 2009 $1,210,000 3 Star Rivals
Domata Peko DT Michigan St. Bengals / 4th / 123rd pick / 2006 $3,725,000 N/A 247
Alex Redmond G UCLA 4 Star Rivals
Vincent Rey LB Duke $4,500,000 2 Star Rivals
Trevor Roach LB Nebraska $450,000 Rivals
Alonzo Russell WR Toledo 3 Star Rivals
KeiVarae Russell CB Notre Dame Chiefs / 3rd / 74th pick / 2016 $423,529 4 Star Rivals
Josh Shaw CB USC Bengals / 4th / 120th pick / 2015 $648,431 4 Star Rivals
Pat Sims DT Auburn Bengals / 3rd / 77th pick / 2008 $1,225,000 4 Star Rivals
Derron Smith FS Fresno St. Bengals / 6th / 197th pick / 2015 $554,658 3 Star Rivals
Brandon Thompson DT Clemson Bengals / 3rd / 93rd pick / 2012 $642,823 4 Star Rivals
C.J. Uzomah TE Auburn Bengals / 5th / 157th pick / 2015 $578,190 3 Star Rivals
Nick Vigil ILB Utah St. Bengals / 3rd / 87th pick / 2016 $623,907 2 Star Rivals
Christian Westerman OG Arizona St. Bengals / 5th / 161st pick / 2016 $507,924 4 Star Rivals
Andrew Whitworth T LSU Bengals / 2nd / 55th pick / 2006 $8,000,000 5 Star 247
DeShawn Williams DT Clemson $450,000 3 Star Rivals
Shawn Williams SS Georgia Bengals / 3rd / 84th pick / 2013 $4,188,986 3 Star Rivals
Eric Winston T Miami (FL) Texans / 3rd / 66th pick / 2006 $1,090,000 4 Star Rivals
James Wright WR LSU Bengals / 7th / 239th pick / 2014 $612,456 4 Star Rivals
Kevin Zeitler G Wisconsin Bengals / 1st / 27th pick / 2012 $8,070,000 3 Star Rivals

Here are some National Signing Day videos from Bengals players: