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: