Bengals sign first-round draft pick

The Cincinnati Bengals today signed first-round draft pick William Jackson.

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Jackson, a cornerback out of the University of Houston, was the 24th overall selection in the draft.

With Jackson in the fold, the Bengals have now signed all seven of their draft picks in advance of next week’s three-day minicamp.

“It’s great to have all our guys officially in the fold before our minicamp next week,” coach Marvin Lewis said, “and Will is obviously at the head of that list. We see him as a guy can come in right away and make the 46-man roster on Sundays. He’s got excellent athletic skills, speed, length and a lot of great qualities to be a great player at the pro level. His ability to play the ball in the air, to play around receivers and not be cumbersome around receivers, is just excellent.”

Jackson led the nation in 2015 with 23 pass breakups, in addition to five interceptions. He returned two of those interceptions for touchdowns.

Draft choices for 2016 signed previously by the Bengals are second-rounder Tyler Boyd (WR from Pittsburgh), third-rounder Nick Vigil (LB from Utah State), fourth-rounder Andrew Billings (DT from Baylor), fifth-rounder Christian Westerman (G from Arizona State), sixth-rounder Cody Core (WR from Mississippi) and seventh-rounder Clayton Fejedelem (S from Illinois).

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