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TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA - NOVEMBER 15: Jaydn Ott #0 of the Oklahoma Sooners warms up prior to facing the Alabama Crimson Tide at Bryant-Denny Stadium on November 15, 2025 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
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he NFL Draft is nearing closer and closer. On April 23, the first round of the draft will commence and all 32 teams hope that they can find the missing piece to their puzzle of success. But talent can be found in all phases of the draft, with some of the best players ever– most notably seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady– picked in the later rounds. But one thing is for certain– each team will do their homework to make sure that they are drafting the right players.
For the Cincinnati Bengals, another year of missing the playoffs in 2025 has the franchise back to the drawing board, making several moves and letting some key players depart, in order to start fresh and return to being perennial playoff contenders. One position of need for the Bengals is running back. While starter Chase Brown played well in 2025, rushing for over 1,000 yards, the Bengals need better production behind him and are very much in the market to draft another running back. And it looks like the Bengals are already doing their due diligence– bringing in former Oklahoma and Cal running back, Jaydn Ott, for a pre-draft visit.
Ott Visits the Bengals
First reported by NFL insider, Jeremy Fowler, Ott will first visit the Los Angeles Chargers before visiting the Bengals at a later date. While projected to be a day two or day three pick and plagued by injuries in college, Ott impressed at his Pro Day and showed flashes of his potential, making him a desirable prospect for any running back needy team.
“Former Oklahoma and Cal RB Jaydn Ott is visiting with the Chargers today and also will visit with the Bengals coming up,” Fowler tweeted. “Ott was solid at the Senior Bowl and had a 4.47-second 40 with 40.5-inch vertical at pro day, 10.11 broad jump.”
The 5-foot-11, 208 pound Ott spent his final college season at Oklahoma and joined the program hoping to be a big star for the Sooners’ offense. But struggling to adjust to his new team, and the SEC environment overall, Ott never found the same success he found at his previous school, Cal, playing in only seven games for the Sooners without a single start, and spent most of the season down on the depth chart. In total, Ott only carried the ball 21 times for 68 yards, but his strong career at Cal is what has teams interested in his services.
Ott’s Career at Cal
Born and raised in California, attending Norco High School, Ott committed to stay closer to home out of high school and chose to play football at Cal over offers from other big name programs, most notably Oregon– flipping his commitment from Oregon to Cal during his sophomore season of high school. As a true freshman, Ott wasted no time in showing off his talent, finishing the 2022 campaign for Cal with 170 carries for 897 yards and eight touchdowns.
Ott broke out as a sophomore, carrying the ball 246 times for 1,315 yards and 12 touchdowns, earning First-team All-Pac-12 honors in Cal’s final season in the conference. Ott’s final season at Cal in 2024 was severely impacted by an ankle injury he suffered in week one, limiting him to only 116 carries for 385 yards and four touchdowns.