Brian Parker II Instantly Forgot Draft Slide When Bengals Drafted Him

New Bengals rookie lineman Brian Parker II had to wait for his time of glory on draft day as he slid all the way to the sixth round. Many projections had him going earlier on Day 3.

When the St. Xavier High School product got drafted by his hometown NFL team however, all of the worries immediately left. He broke down the scenario during an interview on First Word With James Rapien.

"As soon as 513 Paycor showed up, I was extremely excited" Parker said about the phone call. "I had all my high school St. X buddies down there at the draft party too, a few of them had their Who Dey shirts on, that's what everybody was hoping for, and for it to happen was just surreal. My sister still lives out here, my Dad's business is still here, we go way back everybody that we've known, so it's been a lot of fun to be back."

Parker Had Higher Draft Ceiling

Brian Parker II — Mar 1, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Duke offensive lineman Brian Parker (OL38) during the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Parker expected to be taken as high as the third round after a plethora of visits with teams during draft season,

"Obviously the day didn't go totally as we planned." Parker said. "We were expecting to go a lot higher, and had heard a lot of good feedback about 'you aren't gonna make it out of the fifth', or everybody thought I was going fourth, there was a few teams interested in the late third, but it just didn't work out.

"Once we got outside of those I really thought the Bengals fourth round pick was my shot. But they went with Connor [Lew], and I love Connor and we're excited to work together for a long time. So once that happened I was like 'okay, well there goes the hometown team.' But then as we continued to slide, it became 'okay, well I'm not gonna go in the range I want to go to. Well now I want to go to the team I want to go to.'"

Getting picked by the Bengals outweighed any of Parker's disappointment.

"Sliding into the sixth round wasn't my dream, but the Bengals calling and being the team made the sixth round immediately feel like a little bit less of a deal because cause we're going back home." Parker concluded.

The Bengals obviously have high hopes for Parker as a developmental piece for the offensive line. It could be a feel good story like no other for the city.

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