Bengals Hosting Local Tight End Talent For Visit Ahead of 2026 NFL Draft

Royer posted a photo on Instagram of himself inside the Bengals' training area.

In 2024, Royer set the UC school record for a TE with 50 receptions (521 yards, 10.4 yards per catch, three TDs). It bested Travis Kelce's mark of 45 catches as Royer started all 12 games. The starting consistency continued in 2025, where Royer earned third-team All-Big 12 honors and started all 13 games (29 catches-416 yards-14.3 yards per catch, fourTDs).

He could be a nice option for the Bengals in the fourth or fifth round this month.

Director of player personnel Duke Tobin could surely utilize someone with his strong leadership skills and production history.

"I see growth in a 24-year-old Myles Murphy and young corners who have taken the jump, and Jordan Battle, who has taken the jump," Tobin said about his young players at the 2026 NFL Combine. "The one thing we really need is we need those guys or somebody else to take on a leadership role and demand the accountability and demand the execution. We need more leadership. We have tons of leadership on the offensive side of the ball. We need somebody, multiple people, to step up and lead that group from within our team. And it could come from the outside, and it could come from the inside. We can get improvement from both of those areas. We can get improvement and play from the inside, which I see happening, and we can get improvement from the outside, be it the draft or free agency or however we want to attack it."

Cincinnati holds multiple Day 3 picks in this draft, including the 110th pick and 189th pick, around the range where Royer could get selected as he continues a career that began at Ohio State and blossomed in Cincinnati.

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