Ex-UW CB Tacario Davis Expected to Bring Instant Impact For Bengals

Aside from his stature, Davis proved to be one of the more physically imposing cornerbacks in the 2026 draft class over the past three seasons. When it comes to letting opposing receivers get away, either to haul in a catch or gain yards after the catch, the former three-star recruit never allowed more than 16 yards after the catch as a Husky and had just one missed tackle credited to his name by Pro Football Focus in 2025.

Based on PFF's grading system Davis had seven games total where he received a tackle grade lower than 70, but only one of those games came at UW—a Week Seven home game against Rutgers that saw Davis allow a season-high 61 receiving yards—while still not allowing a touchdown and adding a pair of pass breakups to his stat line in the 38-19 victory over the Scarlet Knights.

In his three seasons at Arizona, two of which were with UW coach Jedd Fisch and secondary coach John Richardson, Davis had four games in 2024 with 60-plus receiving yards allowed but none the previous year when both Fisch and Richardson were in Tucson.

"It says a lot about Jedd bringing him with him from Arizona to Washington, and then him ultimately starting," Golden added.

So long as Davis can remain healthy, something that before his one year at UW was never an issue, the Bengals should have one of their two outside starting cornerbacks secured for years to come.

"We feel like with our staff, with Al's vision for the guy, he was the perfect fit," Brown added. "He was a guy when we stacked our board; you kind of have guys on that you're targeting. To come out with him in the third round—a lot of these guys go really early in the draft when you put it all together.

"You talk about the position, which is a premium position. You talk about the size and length of the guy—he's got over 33-inch arms, and he's running in the low 4.4s. That's just hard to find. We were lucky to get him at this point, and we feel great about it."

This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: What the Cincinnati Bengals are getting in ex-UW CB Tacario Davis