On a draft weekend built on waiting, jack endries found his name attached to a simple kind of opportunity: the Cincinnati Bengals used the 221st overall pick on Texas tight end Jack Endries, giving him a path from a crowded college season to the next level. For a player whose college story was built on steady production, movement between programs, and trust earned on the field, the selection carried more than a roster note.
It also pointed to a wider reality in football: not every draft choice is a headline about flash. Some are about a player who stayed available, stayed productive, and stayed in the kind of role that can matter when a team is looking for reliability.
Why did the Bengals take Jack Endries?
The Bengals drafted Jack Endries with their first seventh-round selection in the 2026 NFL Draft. Their decision matched a profile that has followed him through college: useful, dependable, and still developing. Endries spent three seasons at Cal before transferring to Texas for the 2025 season, where he started all 13 games.
Across four seasons, he finished with 124 career receptions for 1, 376 yards. At Cal, he was an Honorable Mention All-ACC selection in 2024 after leading the team with 56 catches for 623 yards. At Texas, his role shifted, but he remained central to the offense, finishing third on the Longhorns with 33 receptions in 2025.
The draft profile attached to him is specific. NFL. com’s Lance Zierlein described Endries as a quarterback-friendly “F” tight end who still needs time in the weight room. He also noted that Endries is tough, has a rebounder’s feel for boxing out defenders, and can become a consistent ball-winner even when coverage is tight. That same evaluation said he should develop into an NFL starter.
What did jack endries show at Texas?
At Texas, jack endries was not the type of tight end who dominated every week in the box score, but he did provide volume and flexibility. One report on his college season said he did not live up to expectations as a pass-catcher, yet still gave Texas a strong option at tight end. He played 622 snaps in 2025, more than 400 more than any other tight end on the roster, and finished with a career-high PFF run-blocking grade of 69. 0.
His season also included a 54-yard catch against Texas A&M on Nov. 28, 2025, which was noted as the 10th-longest catch by a tight end in Texas history. He was credited with just one drop over his last two seasons, a detail that fits the larger picture of a player who earned trust through consistency rather than spectacle.
That reliability mattered in a Texas offense that often used two tight ends at the same time. Even when the middle of the season brought quieter stretches in production, Endries remained part of the structure of the offense, especially in games that carried weight late in the year.
What does his departure mean for Texas?
His move to the NFL leaves Texas with work to do in the tight end room. One likely answer is Michael Masunas, who transferred to Texas after four seasons at Michigan State and has a strong chance to become the starter in-line. Returning tight end Spencer Shannon is another option and could split time with Masunas. He made three starts last season when Endries was out, but has yet to record a catch.
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said on April 7 that Masunas gives the team a “C-area blocker” and has offered more in the passing game than expected. That kind of language shows the kind of transition Texas now faces: replacing not just a player, but a role that sat at the center of how the Longhorns managed their formations.
For Endries, the move also closes a chapter that began with a transfer from Cal, continued through a full season in Austin, and ended with a seventh-round call. It is a familiar college football path, but not an ordinary one.
How should fans read the Jack Endries pick?
The easiest reading is also the most honest: the Bengals are betting on a player whose value came from steadiness, toughness, and a reliable catching radius. Endries was teammates with Fernando Mendoza at Cal, and he was a guest of Mendoza at the 2025 Heisman Trophy ceremony. He was also a three-sport athlete in high school and declared for the draft after fulfilling his degree requirements.
Those details do not turn him into a finished product. They do suggest a player who has already shown how to adapt, whether at Cal or Texas, and who may fit a team looking for a tight end who can grow into a larger role. That is the challenge now: turning college trust into professional production. For the Bengals, the 221st pick was a small move. For jack endries, it was the next step in a career built on making the most of every one.
Image caption: Texas tight end Jack Endries during a late-season game, a snapshot of jack endries before his move to the Cincinnati Bengals.
