Bengals targeted sleeper draft pick earlier than expected
Looking back on some of the discourse around the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2024 NFL draft, there’s some interesting stuff out there about a certain late-round draft pick.
Matt Lee, the team’s second pick in the seventh round at No. 237 overall, is a guy who has already been established as a great value and sleeper pick in the class.
But combing back through the draft items, there’s an interesting bit from Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com that adds to this — he says the Bengals would’ve taken him two rounds earlier:
So with their last pick of the day at No. 237 in the seventh round, they grabbed Miami center Matt Lee, a player they would have taken in the fifth. If Lee had been gone, maybe a punter would have been the call because reports have them signing one in free agency.
So one can sort of see how it all came together — Lee kept right on falling and while the team had eyes on punters, it was clear those special-teamers were falling out of the draft and they probably had contact about post-draft plans with at least one.
As it turns out, the Bengals got Lee, then added one of college football’s best punters to their undrafted free agency class, too.
If Lee can realize some of his potential and eventually back up or even take over for Ted Karras, the fact the Bengals had a higher grade on him would be proven correct in a big way.
