Bengals got the steal of the 2024 draft according to former Super Bowl champion

Newton was drafted with the 149th pick in the fifth round, which was 10 spots off where he was ranked on Arif Hasan's Consensus Big Board. Had he entered last year's draft instead, there's a good chance he would've gone off the board a lot sooner.

Pro Football Focus lead draft analyst Trevor Sikkema initially had Newton close to a first-round grade leading up to the 2023 season after he shined on tape in 2022.

"That 2022 season, Newton was awesome," Sikkema said. "He was a fringe first-round, late second-round player for me going into the year and I don't really think that ability disappeared. Maybe he's not quite the athlete that I thought he was in 2022, but you get a guy playing as confidently as possible he's gonna give you the best he can. 

"Really nice depth piece for Cincinnati to get in the fifth round as a potential starter at that position, which you don't get to say very often." 

Newton's fall in the draft may've also been completely out of his control. Bengals director of college scouting Mike Potts mentioned TCU having an underwhelming season following its College Football Playoff run in 2022 may've factored into the general perception of Newton, though it didn't change their evaluation of him.

"We liked him a lot just based on our scouts' initial evaluation coming off of 2022," Potts said. "Last year he probably had a little bit more ball production, and obviously he's in more of the limelight in terms of the great season TCU had in their playoff run. Obviously their season didn't go quite as well this year, and he still had a productive season, so I wouldn't say there was a major drop off or anything like that.

"In terms of the past two years altogether as a whole, you evaluate the whole picture and the overall product, and he's a guy that we haven't lost any love for over the past couple years, and he's always been a guy that we regarded highly."

Newton was a fifth-year senior in 2022 and would've been a 23-year old rookie had he left school in 2023. No one would've blinked an eye if he declared and became a high draft pick following TCU's impressive campaign.

His decision to come back may've hurt his draft status, but it's looking like the Bengals are the beneficiary of the outcome.