The Cincinnati Bengals' draft record has been dreadful for four years running. Their players don't develop fast enough to get to a starting-caliber threshold until the team has already lost so much that it's irrelevant.
Cincinnati's first couple rounds have been particularly tough. Case in point: 2025 first-round pick Shemar Stewart played only half the season due to injury, and when he was in, PFF graded him as the literal worst edge defender in the National Football League. Among 118 players.
Similar stories for second-round linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. and fourth-round pick Barrett Carter. In spite of this, a recent assessment of the hauls from last year's NFL Draft suggest the arrow is pointing up for the Bengals' rising sophomores.
Bengals check in at an out-of-pocket 23rd in ESPN's 2025 rookie class rankings
ESPN's Aaron Schatz recently broke down his view of how all 32 NFL teams' rookie classes stacked up. Somehow, the Bengals slotted in at 23rd. Here was Schatz's explanation:
"The top Bengals rookie was second-round linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. He had 14 starts and racked up 106 combined tackles with three sacks and two interceptions. Fourth-round linebacker Barrett Carter got 12 starts next to Knight and also had 106 combined tackles. Elsewhere on defense, first-round edge rusher Shemar Stewart played only eight games because of injuries and had just a single sack and eight pressures."
"On offense, third-round left guard Dylan Fairchild started 15 games but was below average in both pass block (90.3%) and run block (70.2%) win rates. Across from Fairchild, fifth-round lineman Jalen Rivers started seven games at right guard in the middle of the season."
I'm sorry but this is absolute nonsense. The observation about Stewart is on point. Left guard Dylan Fairchild was actually a solid, average starter at his position. That's something the Bengals have sought for years. Guard play has been a frequent pain point in the Joe Burrow era.
Thank goodness for Dalton Risner, who settled in at right guard after some early-season growing pains. That's what happens when you sign a free agent at the 11th hour before Week 1.
Cincinnati actually rolled with Jalen Rivers at Risner's spot for a good chunk of the season. PFF rated Rivers as the 80th-ranked guard out of 81 qualifiers.
Knight was most definitely not Cincinnati's top rookie. He was freaking dreadful for the vast majority of the season. Worse yet, the former South Carolina Gamecocks standout turns twenty-six years old in July.
Wanna know where PFF had Knight and Carter rated amongst 89 linebackers? Eighty-third and 86th respectively.
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We can argue, reader, till we're blue in the face that PFF grades don't tell the whole story. I honestly think they were generous evaluations of Stewart, Knight, and Carter. These dudes straight-up did not belong on an NFL field playing significant snaps.
Can you imagine what a healthy Burrow and the Bengals could do with a mere passable 2026 draft class?
No clue where Aaron Schatz's brain is at. The only explanation is that he doesn't really know what he's talking about when it comes to all 32 teams. Or that there were quite a few dreadful draft classes. I suppose there were.
Schatz had the Indianapolis Colts at No. 24. First-round tight end Tyler Warren's impact alone was more significant than all contributions the Bengals received from their rookie class.
Wherever the Bengals' 2025 draftees stack up relative to the rest of the league is still to be determined in another year or so. For now, let's just pray for better in the 2026 draft.