Former Georgia Tech RB Jamal Haynes Signs With the Cincinnati Bengals as An Undrafted Free Agent

The Yellow Jackets running back will get an opportunity with his NFL team.

Nov 22, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets running back Jamal Haynes (1) runs the ball against the Pittsburgh Panthers in the second quarter at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Former Georgia Tech RB Jamal Haynes has found his NFL home. After not being selected in the 2026 NFL Draft, Haynes is going to sign with the Cincinnati Bengals to continue his football career.

Ground game to Cincy 🐅
⁰@Jamalhaynes16 signs with the @Bengals 😤#StingEm 🐝 pic.twitter.com/bXPe0AAL5x

— Georgia Tech Football (@GeorgiaTechFB) April 26, 2026

Underdog Story

Haynes has had quite a journey with the Yellow Jackets, coming in as a wide receiver before being converted to a running back. He hit the ground running after making the position change and never looked back. His best year was immediately after changing his position. 

Haynes had his best year in 2023, where he rushed for 1,059 yards and seven touchdowns and averaged 6.1 yards per carry. That was also his best season on Pro Football Focus (PFF), finishing with an 80.7 offensive grade. Haynes also registered an impressive 86.8 run grade. During that season, he had 32 runs of 10+ yards. Haynes also had an impressive elusive score of 91.5. It was undoubtedly the best season of his career. 

While his production dipped in the past few years, Haynes was still effective and really took a step forward as a wide receiver out of the backfield. He finished with a career-high 33 catches, 257 yards, and averaged 7.8 yards. Haynes dealt with a lot of nagging injuries the past few seasons. Despite the injuries, he still has been able to make plays for the Yellow Jackets. In 2025, he rushed for 531 yards and five touchdowns. 

Coach Key talked about what Haynes was as a prospect. 

“He's another one of those guys like J.J., that's right there on one of those kinds of fringe combat guys. He looked good out here, and his body weight was good. He’s got all those other things you want to see. He will have to find the right place and the right place finds him; he's got a good shot to play the game for life. I said in special teams, I still tell the story of, probably, this was like three years ago. I mean, he wanted to run down on kick off. He started running back; he wants to run down and kick off. The first game, jumps over there behind my back, sneaks in and runs on the field and pulls the guy out so he can run down and kick off. That's how competitive he is.” 

Haynes finished his Georgia Tech career with 2,534 yards and 21 touchdowns. He was a big part of the rebuild for the Yellow Jackets back to national relevance and a key cornerstone piece in the Brent Key era. 

For Haynes, he just needs the right opportunity in front of him and he will excel. He has always had the right approach, despite facing adversity throughout the final few seasons of his career. That will bode well at the next level of his career.