After sliding to the seventh round, Cincinnati Bengals rookie tight end Jack Endries arrives with a chip on his shoulder and a point to prove.
Jack Endries waited until the 221st pick of the 2026 NFL Draft to hear his name called. The 6-foot-5, 245-pound tight end out of Texas entered the draft process rated as a mid-round prospect, having walked on at Cal as a three-star recruit before developing into one of college football’s most reliable pass-catching tight ends over four seasons.
By the time the seventh round arrived, Endries and his family had begun to wonder if his name would be called at all. “They were a little confused like me when it came to the process of falling some,” he said after the Bengals made the call. “By the time we got to the seventh, we thought I might not get drafted.”
He was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals and it appears he hasn’t forgotten those who passed on him first.
“Every team who passed on me, I’m going to go out there with a little more hatred towards them,” Endries said at the Bengals’ rookie minicamp (h/ t Jeremy Rauch of Fox19).
Endries began at Cal as a walk-on with modest recruiting interest, redshirted his first year, then burst onto the scene in 2023. He started all 13 games that season and posted 35 catches for 407 yards and two scores, earning multiple Freshman All-American nods in the process. He quickly became the security blanket for Fernando Mendoza, who went on to win the 2025 Heisman Trophy winner and become 2026’s first overall NFL Draft pick.
His sophomore year was a clear step forward: 56 receptions for 623 yards made him Cal’s leading receiver and earned him Honorable Mention All-ACC honors. A three-game stretch against Miami, Pittsburgh, and NC State featured a 57-yard touchdown and back-to-back 100-yard performances.
After two seasons at Cal, Endries entered the portal and committed to the Texas Longhorns for his junior year, landing in Steve Sarkisian’s offense alongside Arch Manning. As a Longhorn, he recorded 32 catches for 385 yards and two touchdowns.
Now he steps into a tight end room that includes Mike Gesicki, Tanner Hudson, Cam Grandy, Drew Sample, and Erick All Jr., and a quarterback in Joe Burrow who is as effective targeting tight ends in the seam as anyone in professional football.
Zac Taylor spoke glowingly of Endries after he was drafted:
“Really good career. Two years at Cal, played with Mendoza, then he went to Texas and had a productive year there as well. We think he fits really good with our room to come in here and compete in all phases: special teams, run game, pass game. I feel like he has a really high ceiling.”
Lance Zierlein of NFL.com described him as a “quarterback-friendly F tight end” who “builds speed and is tougher on man coverage when allowed to stretch his legs on longer routes,” projecting that he should develop into an NFL starter.
Endries’ strengths include sure hands with clean ball tracking through traffic, the ability to box out defenders like a rebounder, and the capacity to line up everywhere. However, the blocking limitations and his athleticism after the catch is a weakness he will have to work on.
Nevertheless, the Bengals are getting a player who’s going to be ready to get to work, and every team that passed on him between rounds one and six should probably start paying attention.