How Rare Is It for Late-Round Bengals Draft Picks to Start Multiple Games as Rookies?

There aren't many on the list.

Sept 23, 2007; Seattle, WA, USA; Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh (84) crosses the goal line to score a touchdown in front of Seattle Seahawks safety Jordan Babineaux (27) in the first quarter at Qwest Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images | Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

What began as a Cincinnati Bengals stat request transformed into a trivia question. And it’s one that probably not even the most diehard fan would be able to get correct.

X user @LucasJames24 wanted to know how many Bengals sixth or seventh-round picks eventually became a starter before the end of their rookie season.

Since the draft went to seven rounds in 1994, there have been 15 Bengals drafted in the sixth or seventh round who started at least one game as a rookie.

There are eight who started multiple games.

Offensive lineman Brian Parker (sixth round), tight end Jack Endries (seventh) and defensive tackle Landon Robinson (seventh) will try to join the list this year.

But “became a starter' is a little murky and difficult to quantify.

For instance, 2021 sixth-round pick Trey Hill started three games his rookie year, but you can’t really say he became a starter.

His first start came at right guard in Week 6 at Detroit when Jackson Carman was sick. In Week 13 at home against the Chargers, he started at center for the injured Trey Hopkins. And in the Week 18 finale at Cleveland, Hill started at center with the Bengals resting the majority of their starters.

The Bengals player drafted in the sixth or seventh round who started the most games since teh 1994 shortening of the draft was Marquand Manuel.

The sixth-round safety went from inactive in the 2002 season opener to winning the starting job in Week 5 to losing the starting job by Week 12 to starting the final two games of the season as an injury replacement.

He only started one game in 2003, and the Bengals cut him in 2004. But Manuel went on to play six more seasons with the Seahawks, Packers, Panthers, Broncos and Lions.

He started 11 regular-season games and all three postseason games, including Super Bowl XL, for the 2005 Seahawks.

Here are the other Bengals’ late-round picks in the seven-round era who started multiple games as rookies.

Hakeem Adeniji, 5

The 2020 sixth-round pick got his first career start by lining up as a tight end in a jumbo set in a Week 3 tie at Philadelphia. Adeniji started three consecutive games against Tennessee, Pittsburgh and Washington (the Joe Burrow torn-ACL game) in Weeks 8-11.

The first two were at left tackle while Jonah Williams recovered from a concussion. The third was at right tackle after Williams returned.

His fifth start came in Week 14 against Dallas after Williams suffered a season-ending knee injury, but he was benched after that.

Cody Core, 4

Bengals wide receiver Cody Core (16) makes a catch during a drill at Bengals training camp on Thursday, August 8, 2019 inside of Paul Brown Stadium20190808 Bengalstrainingcamp0410 | Jeff Dean/The Enquirer via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Inactive for eight of the first 10 games, the sixth-round wide receiver started the final four games of the year after A.J. Green suffered a season-ending hamstring tear.

Core would only start three more games in his brief four-year career.

Jordan Evans, 4

Nov 1, 2020; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Bengals outside linebacker Jordan Evans (50) celebrates as the clock winds down during the fourth quarter against the Tennessee Titans at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images | Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

The sixth-round linebacker started the final three games of the year and four of the final five as Nick Vigil and Vontaze Burfict dealt with injuries.

Evans started five games in 2018 but never again in his five-year career.

Tom Tumulty, 3

The team’s sixth-round pick in 1996, Tumulty started the final three games of his rookie year and was the opening-day starter in 1997, recording 11 starts that season.

His career ended after making four starts in 1998.

Bernard Scott, 2

Cincinnati Bengals running back Bernard Scott, right, tries to evade a Chicago Bears tackler during a 2009 game in Cincinnati. 0903 Absp Bernard Scott 1 | Staff

A sixth rounder in 2009, Scott got his first start in Week 12 against the Browns due to an injury to Cedric Benson. Scott rushed for 87 yards on 18 carries but suffered a toe injury that kept him out for the next three games.

He started the season finale at the Jets, which the Bengals lost 37-0 while resting all of their starters.

Scott only started one game during his five-year career.

Chinedum Ndukwe, 2

A seventh-round pick (No. 253 overall, two picks away from being Mr. Irrelevant), Ndukwe took over as the starting safety in Week 16 before starting 11 games in 2008 and 12 in 2009.

Seven sixth or seventh rounders started a single game as rookies.

Center Matt Lee (seventh, 2024), wide receiver Andrei Iosivas (sixth, 2023), running back Chris Evans (sixth, 2021), linebacker Marquis Flowers (2014), wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh (seventh, 2001), offensive lineman Rod Jones (seventh (1996).

There were three Bengals players drafted in the sixth- or seventh-round prior to 1994 who started at least eight games as a rookie.

And one of them is in the Ring of Honor.

Seventh round cornerback Lemar Parrish started 11 of the team’s 14 games in 1970, the team’s first playoff season.

The franchise record for rookies starters by a sixth or seventh rounder belongs to offensive lineman Tom Scott (sixth) with 13 in 1993.

That same season, the team’s seventh-round pick, safety Lance Gunn, started eight games.

As you might imagine with a sixth and seventh-round pick combining to start 21 games, the Bengals were awful that year, going 3-13.

Neither Gunn nor Scott ever played another game in the NFL after their rookie year.