Bengals select Auburn center Connor Lew in fourth round of NFL draft

The third Auburn Tiger has been selected in the 2026 NFL Draft.

With the 128th pick, the Cincinnati Bengals selected Auburn center Connor Lew in the fourth round. Lew was hopeful for the third round on Friday night, but will now be part of an offensive line with the task of protecting quarterback Joe Burrow . On Friday, Lew was projected by Matt Miller of ESPN to be a third-round pick by the Houston Texans at pick No. 91. He entered Saturday as one of the top available players by ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr.

Lew went into the 2025 season as one of the top players on the Auburn roster. He started the first seven games of the season before suffering a season-ending ACL injury against Missouri. As a freshman, he got playing time at center after an injury to starter Avery Jones. Lew would go on to start every game during the 2024 season for the Tigers. During his career at Auburn, he was named to the 2023 SEC All-Freshman team and was a team captain for the 2025 season. It is safe to predict that had Lew not suffered the injury last season, he would have been a higher draft pick.

NFL.com's Lance Zierlein gave Lew a pre-draft grade of 6.27, and he would eventually be a starter. He stated that some strengths of Lew are his physicality and strong hands with quickness. Lew follows Keldric Faulk , who was drafted in the first round by the Tennessee Titans , and Keyron Crawford, who was picked by the Las Vegas Raiders .

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This article originally appeared on Auburn Wire: 2026 NFL Draft: Bengals select Connor Lew at No. 128 overall