The 66 Bengals who made team history

The Cincinnati Bengals have advanced to the postseason in back-to-back seasons for the first time in 30 years. When strike-shortened seasons are excluded, this is the Bengals' first back-to-back set of appearances in team history.

What group of players made this happen? Of the 66 players on the active or reserve/injured rosters, 26 joined the team in 2012. Another 12 signed with or were drafted by the team in 2011, meaning that more than half of the entire group was added in the past two years.

There are more players who entered the league as college free agents (16) than first-round draft picks (13). Nearly half (30) were drafted by the Bengals, and even more (35) were fourth-to-seventh-round choices or college free agents.

Here's a breakdown of the 2012 Bengals roster by the colleges that produced them, what year they joined the Bengals and how they entered the league.

The 2012 Bengals

Click on markers to view which Bengals came from which colleges and their accomplishments.

1 Bengal
2 Bengals
3 Bengals
4 Bengals
6 Bengals

Players highlighted below joined the team in 2011 or 2012, underlining how new the group is to the organization

2012 Cincinnati Bengals roster
Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Status College Joined Bengals Entered league
Allen, Jason CB 6-1 200 Active Tennessee 2012 1st round (16th pick) of 2006 draft by Miami
Anderson, Jamaal DE 6-6 280 Reserve/Injured Arkansas 2012 1st round (8th pick) of 2007 draft by Atlanta
Atkins, Geno DT 6-1 300 Active Georgia 2010 4th round of 2010 draft by Cincinnati
Boling, Clint G 6-5 311 Active Georgia 2011 4th round of 2011 draft by Cincinnati
Brown, Josh K 6-0 202 Active Nebraska 2012 7th round of 2003 draft by Seattle
Burfict, Vontaze LB 6-1 245 Active Arizona State 2012 College Free Agent
Charles, Orson TE 6-3 250 Active Georgia 2012 4th round of 2012 draft by Cincinnati
Clements, Nate S/CB 6-0 205 Active Ohio State 2011 1st round (21st pick) of 2001 draft by Buffalo
Collins, Anthony T 6-5 315 Active Kansas 2008 4th round of 2008 draft by Cincinnati
Conner, John FB 5-11 245 Active Kentucky 2012 5th round of 2010 draft by New York Jets
Cook, Kyle C 6-3 315 Active Michigan State 2008 College Free Agent
Crocker, Chris S 5-11 197 Active Marshall 2008 3rd round of 2003 by Cleveland
Dalton, Andy QB 6-2 220 Active Texas Christian 2011 2nd round of 2011 draft by Cincinnati
Dunlap, Carlos DE 6-6 280 Active Florida 2010 2nd round of 2010 draft by Cincinnati
Dye, Tony S 5-10 200 Reserve/Injured UCLA 2012 College Free Agent
Geathers, Robert DE 6-3 280 Active Georgia 2004 4th round of 2004 draft by Cincinnati
Ghee, Brandon CB 6-0 193 Reserve/Injured Wake Forest 2010 3rd round of 2010 draft by Cincinnati
Gilberry, Wallace DE 6-2 275 Active Alabama 2012 College Free Agent
Gradkowski, Bruce QB 6-1 220 Active Toledo 2011 6th round of 2006 draft by Tampa Bay
Green, A.J. WR 6-4 207 Active Georgia 2011 1st round (4th pick) of 2011 draft by Cincinnati
Green-Ellis, BenJarvus RB 5-11 220 Active Mississippi 2012 College Free Agent
Gresham, Jermaine TE 6-5 260 Active Oklahoma 2010 1st round (21st pick) of 2010 draft by Cincinnati
Hall, Leon CB 5-11 195 Active Michigan 2007 1st round (18th pick) of 2007 draft by Cincinnati
Harris, Clark LS 6-5 255 Active Rutgers 2009 7th round of 2007 draft by Green Bay
Hawkins, Andrew WR 5-7 180 Active Toledo 2011 College Free Agent
Herron, Daniel RB 5-10 215 Active Ohio State 2012 6th round of 2012 daft by Cincinnati
Howard, Thomas LB 6-3 245 Reserve/Injured Texas-El Paso 2011 2nd round of 2006 draft by Oakland
Huber, Kevin P 6-1 212 Active Cincinnati 2009 5th round of 2009 draft by Cincinnati
Iloka, George S 6-4 225 Active Boise State 2012 5th round of 2012 draft by Cincinnati
Johnson, Michael DE 6-7 270 Active Georgia Tech 2009 3rd round of 2009 draft by Cincinnati
Jones, Adam CB 5-10 185 Active West Virginia 2010 1st round (6th pick) of 2005 draft by Tennessee
Jones, Marvin WR 6-2 195 Active California 2012 5th round of 2012 draft by Cincinnati
Kirkpatrick, Dre CB 6-2 190 Reserve/Injured Alabama 2012 1st round (17th pick) of 2012 draft by Cincinnati
Lamur, Emmanuel LB 6-4 232 Active Kansas State 2012 College Free Agent
Lawson, Manny LB 6-5 240 Active North Carolina State 2011 1st round (22nd pick) of 2006 draft by San Francisco
Leonard, Brian RB 6-1 225 Active Rutgers 2009 2nd round of 2007 draft by St. Louis
Lewis-Harris, Chris CB 5-10 180 Active Tennessee-Chattanooga 2012 College Free Agent
Maualuga, Rey LB 6-2 250 Active Southern California 2009 2nd round of 2009 draft by Cincinnati
Mays, Taylor S 6-3 230 Active Southern California 2011 2nd round of 2010 draft by San Francisco
Miles, Jeromy S 6-2 210 Active Massachusetts 2010 College Free Agent
Nelson, Reggie S 5-11 210 Active Florida 2010 1st round (21st pick) of 2007 draft by Jacksonville
Newman, Terence CB 5-10 192 Active Kansas State 2012 1st round (5th pick) of 2003 draft by Dallas
Nugent, Mike K 5-10 190 Reserve/Injured Ohio State 2010 2nd round of 2005 draft by New York Jets
Peerman, Cedric RB 5-10 211 Active Virginia 2010 6th round of 2009 draft by Baltimore
Peko, Domata DT 6-3 322 Active Michigan State 2006 4th round of 2004 draft by Cincinnati
Prater, Shaun CB 5-10 190 Reserve/Injured Iowa 2012 5th round of 2012 draft by Cincinnati
Pressley, Chris FB 5-11 260 Reserve/Injured Wisconsin 2010 College Free Agent
Quinn, Richard TE 6-4 264 Active North Carolina 2012 2nd round of 2009 draft by Denver
Rey, Vincent LB 6-2 250 Active Duke 2010 College Free Agent
Robinson, Trevor C/G 6-5 305 Active Notre Dame 2012 College Free Agent
Rogers, Taveon CB 5-11 190 Reserve/Injured New Mexico State 2012 College Free Agent
Roland, Dennis T/G 6-9 322 Active Georgia 2008 College Free Agent
Sands, Robert S 6-4 215 Reserve/Injured West Virginia 2011 5th round of 2011 draft by Cincinnati
Sanu, Mohamed WR 6-2 210 Reserve/Injured Rutgers 2012 3rd round of 2012 draft by Cincinnati
Sanzenbacher, Dane WR 5-11 180 Active Ohio State 2012 College Free Agent
Scott, Bernard RB 5-10 198 Reserve/Injured Abilene Christian 2009 6th round of 2009 draft by Cincinnati
Sims, Pat DT 6-2 335 Active Auburn 2008 3rd round of 2008 draft by Cincinnati
Skuta, Dan LB 6-2 250 Active Grand Valley State 2009 College Free Agent
Smith, Andre T 6-4 335 Active Alabama 2009 1st round (6th pick) of 2009 draft by Cincinnati
Still, Devon DT 6-5 305 Active Penn State 2012 2nd round of 2012 draft by Cincinnati
Tate, Brandon WR 6-1 200 Active North Carolina 2011 3rd round of 2009 draft by New England
Thompson, Brandon DT 6-2 320 Active Clemson 2012 3rd round of 2012 draft by Cincinnati
Whalen, Ryan WR 6-1 200 Active Stanford 2011 6th round of 2011 draft by Cincinnati
Wharton, Travelle G 6-4 320 Reserve/Injured South Carolina 2012 3rd round of 2004 draft by Carolina
Whitworth, Andrew T 6-7 330 Active Louisiana State 2006 2nd round of 2006 draft by Cincinnati
Zeitler, Kevin G 6-4 315 Active Wisconsin 2012 1st round (27th pick) of 2012 draft by Cincinnati

*Players highlighted joined the team in 2011 or 2012, underlining how new the group is to the organization.

-- Kyle Nagel, staff writer