Ten Former Cincinnati Bengals Appear on Sports Illustrated's Ultimate Mock Draft

As mock drafts flood your screens to predict which players are future Cincinnati Bengals, Sports Illustrated’s Matt Verderame was taking a different route by diving into the past.

Combing through every draft pick since 1967, Verderame has created what he calls the Ultimate NFL Mock Draft.

The purpose was to find the best players selected in every draft slot from No. 1 to No. 224.

He chose Peyton Manning at No. 1 overall, but it wouldn’t take long before he tapped a former Bengals great.

All totaled, 10 former Bengals draft picks appear on the list.

They range from the obvious Pro Football Hall of Famer and Ring of Honor members to the surprising – a kicker? – to a guy that even the most passionate of Bengals fans probably don’t know.

Here at the former Cincinnati draft picks who made Verderame’s list.

No. 3 – Anthony Muñoz, OT

Not surprisingly, the No. 3 pick in the draft is stuffed with Hall of Famers, including Barry Sanders, Cortez Kennedy, Andre Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald and Joe Thomas.

But Muñoz remains the bar all left tackles aspire to reach more than 30 years after he retired.

Muñoz was first team All Pro nine times and made 11 Pro Bowls on his way to Canton.

No. 55 – Andrew Whitworth, OT

Big Whit, a 2006 second-round pick, played 168 games for the Bengals before the front office deemed him close to the end and refused to negotiate a new deal to keep him in Cincinnati.

Whitworth went on to play five more seasons in a career that culminated with a victory against the Bengals in Super Bowl 56.

No. 67 – Ken Anderson, QB

The Ring of Honor member who inexplicably has been left out of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

“Anderson is arguably the greatest player in the modern era who hasn’t gotten into the Hall of Fame,” Verderame writes. "

Anderson, the 1981 MVP and a four-time Pro Bowl selection, came to the Bengals as a third-round pick in 1971.

Only 22 players on Verderame’s list were drafted earlier than Anderson – and two of them were his teammates.

No. 120 – Geno Atkins, DT

A 2010 fourth-round pick, Atkins was a two-time All Pro and went to eight Pro Bowls. He should be in the team’s Ring of Honor before too long.

No. 123 – Domata Peko, DT

A fourth-round pick in the same 2006 draft class with Whitworth, Peko played 171 games for the Bengals and 201 overall.

Some might be surprised to see him on this elite list, but no one drafted 123rd overall since Peko has any chance of dethroning him if someone else undertakes this exercise in the near future.

No. 135 – Ken Riley, CB

The Pro Football Hall of Famer and Ring of Honor member was a sixth-round pick in 1969, even though No. 135 would be a fourth-round selection this year.

More than 30 years after he retired, Riley still ranks fifth on the NFL’s all-time interception list with 65.

Only five players on this list were drafted prior to Riley’s 1969 selection.

No. 163 – Lemar Parrish, CB

Parrish has yet to enter the Bengals Ring of Honor, but 2025 could be his year.

He went to eight Pro Bowls and in addition to logging 47 career interceptions (47th on the all-time list), Parrish had five kickoff/punt return touchdowns.

No. 168 – Max Montoya, G

The 1979 seventh-round pick mirrors Whitworth a little bit in that the Bengals wrote him off after the 1989 season only to see him head to Los Angeles and play five more seasons with the Raiders and earn an All-Pro nod in 1993.

No. 202 – Doug Pelfrey, K

One of only four kickers on the list, Pelfrey played his entire seven seasons in Cincinnati, making 153 of 198 field goals.

No. 210 – Stan Walters, OT

Even the most fervent Bengals fans might be asking, “Who?!”

Walters was a ninth-round pick in 1972, and he only played three seasons for the Bengals.

Cincinnati traded Walters to the Eagles in 1979, and he went on to play 127 games for Philadelphia while being named All Pro twice.