With their tenth and last pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the Cincinnati Bengals selected Miami (FL) centre Matt Lee to complete their portion of the draft.
After spending four years at UCF, Lee was permitted to transfer to the Hurricanes to play his senior year because he was redshirted his first year. He started 36 games at centre while attending UCF, and in 2020 and 2022, he was selected to the First-Team All-AAC and Second-Team All-AAC.
He started 12 games in his one season with the Hurricanes, all at centre, and was selected to the Second Team All-ACC.
What does Lee offer the Bengals?
Lee is small, which raised flags for a lot of teams in the scouting process. He weighed in at just 288 pounds at the East-West Shrine Bowl, and there are some concerns about his ability to be an effective run blocker or whether he can stand up to a bull rush or not.
However, he’s a technician as a pass protector at the center position who makes up for his lack of mass with above-average strength and a head that keeps moving. In other words, despite his size, he wasn’t beaten often as a pass protector.
As you can see at Pro Football Focus, Lee rarely allowed his QB to get pressured over the last three seasons.
