The Cincinnati Bengals' defense has been one of the worst in the NFL over the last few years, but it's not due to a lack of trying to fix it. The Bengals have spent multiple top picks on defensive players in the last few years, including a pair of pass rushers in Myles Murphy and Shemar Stewart.
The Bengals' poor drafting has left them with a Trey Hendrickson-less defensive line that is banking on free agent signing Boye Mafe evolving his game and either of these two first-round misfires getting back on track. The fact that Cincy is in this situation is illustrative of how bad Duke Tobin has messed up of late.
Trevor Sikkema and Connor Rogers of the NFL Stock Exchange podcast ranked all 95 first-round picks of the last three seasons, and they were not very kind to the Bengals. Both of them had Murphy ranked 81st in this exercise, while Stewart came in at 85th for Rogers and a stunning 88th for Sikkema.
While they were a bit more complimentary of Amarius Mims, whom Rodgers ranked 46th and Sikkema ranked 32nd in this same exercise, whiffing in two defensive line picks with such premium capital is one of the main reasons why Cincinnati is in the predicament they find themselves in.
Bengals' Myles Murphy, Shemar Stewart ranked among worst first-round picks since 2023
Murphy finally showed signs that he can be a viable starting defensive lineman last year, tallying 5.5 sacks and gradually increasing his pressure rate. That won't be enough for the former Clemson star to overcome the stink of only amassing three sacks in his first two campaigns.
Stewart may be the bigger of the two misfires, especially after the Bengals went all-in on his athleticism despite the fact that he only managed 4.5 sacks in three years at Texas A&M and never tallied more than 1.5 in any season.
Between a nasty contract dispute before he even arrived in Cincinnati and mustering just one sack in his rookie season, saying that Stewart has an extremely uphill battle to get himself back in the good graces of a fanbase that has been jaded due to their history of whiffing on top defensive picks.
No matter how good Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase are, a Bengals defense that is filled with either below-average late-round picks or first-rounders that haven't lived up to their potential is not going to provide them with the support they need.
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