Bengals' big offseason gamble already looks like a win after Week 1

The most positive Week 1 development to come from the Cincinnati Bengals' 17-16 win in Cleveland was indubitably the defense's collective effort to stymie the Browns. And much of that effort stemmed from a most audacious roll of the dice in the offseason.

Although the Bengals defied their frugal reputation by paying big money to many key pieces on offense, headlined by the dynamic receiver duo of Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, they took far different approaches with a couple other key contributors. That added up to a risk-heavy defensive unit that could've easily gotten exposed during a road season opener.

Thankfully, Cincinnati got that elusive "W" in Week 1 for the first time since 2021. That was also when the Bengals ran to Super Bowl LVI. And there are two players in particular who they should be grateful to see show out so well in the early going of this new 2025 season.

Bengals risked it all with Trey Hendrickson and Shemar Stewart — and it paid off

Hard to recall a more trivial rookie contract spat than what the Bengals engaged in with Shemar Stewart. "Offset language" caused him to miss all of the offseason program leading into training camp.

Given that Trey Hendrickson's expected contract extension had no resolution in sight, I think I speak for most Bengals fans in saying we were understandably baffled and concerned about the defensive end position. Hendrickson just had 17.5 sacks in each of the last two seasons. If he was going to get traded, Stewart needed to report ASAP to get up to speed as a rookie first-round pick.

Pass rush productivity was hard to come by for Stewart at Texas A&M. He only managed 4.5 sacks in three years of action for the Aggies. And in trying to keep up with all the chaos of Week 1, I struggled to notice him during the live telecast. The box score didn't help either, as Stewart recorded precisely zero tackles.

With a day to digest, and some advanced PFF data rolling in, it's clear Stewart lived up to and even exceeded the hype in his NFL debut.

If Stewart can just be disruptive and tee up his teammates to finish plays off, that's about all we Who Dey Heads can ask for. Let's just say the draft classes of recent years have struggled to make much of an impression as NFL noobs. Stewart's trajectory is already more promising than a lot of Cincinnati's latest draftees.

Despite the Bengals brass doing everything in its collective power to alienate Stewart before he even officially signed, he got enough coaching-up in camp and the preseason to be ready to roll Week 1. How refreshing is that? And what a relief that he already looks better than whatever meager production Joseph Ossai, Myles Murphy, and Cam Sample could provide.

I've never seen a single rep from that aforementioned trio that got me close to as fired up as what Stewart did when he rag-doll-tossed Browns 375-pounder Dawand Jones down near the goal line.

Now onto Hendrickson. Speaking of alienating someone, my goodness, has Cincinnati shown a lack of grace toward this man. The best free-agent signing in franchise history just keeps playing at an elite level, yet all Hendrickson could do by August 18 was secure a pay raise for this season only.

It would've been understandable if the Bengals started slow under new defensive coordinator Al Golden. You'll often hear "football shape" is a different beast than standard physical shape. To Hendrickson's credit, he didn't let his hold-in and lack of camp practice time hinder his Week 1 preparation or efficacy. Quite the opposite.

A 20% pass rush win rate is quite good. Hendrickson was more than double that against the Browns. Just whipping Cleveland's front all afternoon long.

Some folks were crashing out over Stewart possibly never signing with the Bengals and returning to college. That was a media narrative that got out of control. However, for too long it looked like Stewart was being set up to fail as a rookie. Then there was always the threat of Hendrickson being traded, which we now know the Green Bay Packers were interested in before they swung their deal for Micah Parsons.

Entertaining the mere prospect of letting Hendrickson out of the building, combined with the Stewart saga, left the Bengals so vulnerable on the edge of their defensive trenches. Big ups to Stewart for making up for lost time in the offseason, and to Hendrickson for not letting business get in the way of the superstar he continues to be.

Not like the Bengals should be rewarded or commended for how they handled Stewart or Hendrickson. I'm just saying, their risky handling of all that aside, the bottom-line results sure look promising after a rare season-opening triumph.

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