One of the biggest talking points surrounding the 2020 Cincinnati Bengals draft class — led by No. 1 pick Joe Burrow — was the emphasis on high character.
One run down the list of players selected shows the front office targeted guys from winning programs with a history of serving as team captains and generally coming as highly regarded.
Call it an understandable emphasis for Zac Taylor’s roster overhaul for a team whose most recent biggest flirtation with contention ended with players getting into shoving matches midfield and losing a playoff game.
But these rookies have shown so much more already — the leadership and chaaracter is by no means confined to the football field.
First, Burrow used his platform to speak out:
Fifth-round rookie Khalid Kareem wasn’t far behind with a heartfelt statement:
Third-round linebacker Logan Wilson also stood tall:
Other Bengals rookies shared similar sentiments on social media through shares or otherwise.
But it’s Burrow, Kareem and Wilson who stuck out the most on first pass. And this only focuses on rookies — don’t overlook Auden Tate leading a cleanup charge in Tampa and speaking out.
The rookies standing front and center on something like this before ever arriving to Paul Brown Stadium is something special, though. Younger generations continue to be more accepting and willing to enact change on a bigger scale — that an incoming Bengals class is already showing this in emphatic fashion is nothing but a good sign for the locker room.
The Bengals wanted great leaders and people in the 2020 draft — they got them.
