Bengals rookie draft class isn't ready to play & it's costing them dearly

The Cincinnati Bengals take an unconventional approach to the NFL Draft. Let's just put it that way for purposes of politeness.

Cincinnati's draft philosophy is indeed unconventional from a league-smallest scouting department standpoint, sure. The larger issue? Personnel chief Duke Tobin and his minions have a blatant disregard for logical roster and/or big board construction.

That's a bold statement. I intend to back it up in the wake of a piece I wrote after Week 8 calling for Tobin's job.

Bengals' 2025 draft class maintains disturbing trends of d talent evaluation, team-building contradictions

Before we unpack the Bengals' 32nd-ranked scoring/total defense and examine rookies' roles in that mess, let me underscore what I mean by the team's discordant approach to filling out the roster via the draft. It'll all tie together in the end quite nicely, I reckon.

Not that you can expect a sixth-round pick to contribute much as a first-year pro. However, Cincinnati opted to draft Texas Tech running back Tahj Brooks with the 191st overall selection.

Decent prospect. Deep class at the position. Take a late Day 3 flier. In a vacuum, has the makings of sound process.

Fast-forward to Week 8, where the Bengals' backfield tandem of Chase Brown and Samaje Perine is going scorched-earth and looking like an elite 1-2 punch. Brooks is a nothing-burger, zero-impact player. A surplus luxury at a position Cincinnati already had two viable options.

And that dovetails as smooth as I could hope for into the draft of the 2025 Bengals draft class.

Bengals totally botched 2025 draft class with two off-ball linebackers in first four picks

Defensive coordinator Al Golden is doing the best he can with what he has, and what he has ain't much. That's because the coaching staff decided to bench team captain Logan Wilson as the green-dot linebacker/quarterback of the defense in favor of fourth-round rookie Barrett Carter.

I've been pounding the table literally all season for Oren Burks to start alongside Wilson. Instead, second-round draftee Demetrius Knight Jr. emerged as an uncontested starter through training camp.

If you're going to be a 25-year-old rookie who played in the SEC, you better be ready to hit the ground running at the next level. Knight was not ready. He is not ready. He may never be ready.

Whether it's getting smoked in his gap, fitting the run awfully in general, taking horrible angles, or opponents roasting him in coverage, Knight is an unmitigated disaster so far.

If you want to hear Knight blow wind about the defense's players-only meeting, knock yourself out:

But do you see the flaw in these processes early on here?

Circle back to the backs for a second. The Bengals had Brown as their clear feature back. Zac Taylor has never been a fan of backfield timeshares. They signed Perine as a free agent. Nice sentimental reunion subplot. Kendall Milton and Gary Brightwell were incumbents and remain on the practice squad. Why draft Tahj Brooks?

Cincinnati could have held onto Germaine Pratt, stuck with Wilson, and deployed a dominant playoff performer in Burks. They'd be fine at the linebacker position in 2025 had they just done that.

Instead, Pratt is a starter for the 7-1 Indianapolis Colts and ex-Bengals DC Lou Anarumo. Wilson has requested a trade to get out of Dodge. Burks is riding the pine for dubious-at-best reasons.

...And the Bengals are stubbornly rolling with youth as they let another prime Joe Burrow season slip away.

Bengals didn't take building offensive line seriously at Joe Burrow's expense

Oh speaking of which. The offensive line? Yeah, it's improved for sure, but no thanks to the two rookies the Bengals drafted. Third-round left guard Dylan Fairchild is objectively worse than 11th-hour free-agent acquisition Dalton Risner, and fifth-round right guard Jalen Rivers is abysmal.

Rivers was supposed to be a swing tackle until it was clear he was Cody Ford-caliber at that position. He's one of the worst guards in the NFL. Joe Flacco has managed to mask Rivers' flaws since his arrival, but it's not good so far. He whiffed on a crucial run block on the final possession against the Jets. That's the mere tip of the iceberg of his poor play.

The whole reason Flacco is in the lineup is because Burrow suffered a serious turf toe injury. That was thanks in part to the too-late addition of Risner, the inexperience of Fairchild, and the resulting pass protection breakdown that got Burrow hurt.

Somehow, Tobin clowned himself by using five of his six draft picks at low-value, highly physical positions. He drafted two players at guard and linebacker apiece — and I didn't even mention how Week 1 starter Lucas Patrick was the OG plan at right guard anyway.

Linebacker and guard in particular are difficult spots for rookies to thrive in right away, to be fair.

Oh wait. Except...Fairchild's college teammate from Georgia, Tate Ratledge, is crushing it as a starting guard for the Lions. Ex-Alabama linebacker Jihaad Campbell was on the board for Cincinnati at 17th overall, only to go to the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles and be PFF's sixth-best linebacker so far!

The Shemar Stewart of it all really cost the Bengals...

Rather than drafting a far superior prospect to Fairchild in Ratledge a round earlier, or going for Campbell on Day 1, the Bengals rolled the dice on the historically bad production profile of Texas A&M defensive end Shemar Stewart.

The Stewart pick was a weird one not only due to the fact that he had 4.5 sacks in three years at Texas A&M. Cincinnati seemed confident enough in its past draft picks at the position to the point where, at least from a roster standpoint, there was enough depth to not squander a premium draft asset on the position.

Joseph Ossai and Cam Sample were third- and fourth-round picks in 2021. Myles Murphy was a first-rounder in 2023. Trey Hendrickson was in the midst of a contract spat, but there was no way he wasn't going to be back.

Well now we're eight weeks in. Hendrickson has a nagging hip injury, Stewart's ankle kept him out from Weeks 2 through 7, and his development is slowed even more so by lackluster personnel all across the defensive trenches.

Bengals on the brink of another legendarily bad draft class with 2025 rookies

That subheading basically says it all. Mic drop stats incoming...

It's one thing to have patience if you're in the midst of a youth movement. It's another thing entirely if these players are showing few to zero signs that they can compete, or pass as replacement-level starters, in the NFL.

If you'd like to see what I would do in a 2025 NFL Draft redo, check it out at the link. Also, I'll just paste it here, with my big board rankings in parentheses.

• "Round 1, Pick 17: Nick Emmanwori, S, South Carolina (23)
• Round 2, Pick 49: Tate Ratledge, G, Georgia (67)
• Round 3, Pick 81: Deone Walker, DL, Kentucky (43)
• Round 4, Pick 119: Malachi Moore, S, Alabama (100)
• Round 5, Pick 153: Chris Paul Jr., LB, Ole Miss (72)
• Round 6, Pick 193: Willie Lampkin, OL, North Carolina (112)"

When I say I can draft better than Duke Tobin, there is literal proof, for years, on public record, that I can indeed draft better than Duke Tobin. I don't have near the access to film, prospect personality profiles, or really anything resembling the still-limited resources the Bengals have.

I am superior to Duke of Cincinnati. I am better. It is a fact. Who Dey Nation, I'll keep fighting the good fight on public record. Till then, we're at the mercy of this Bengals brain trust.

Want to see a dizzying number of rookies who are faring better than Stewart could ever dream of to this point, even if he were healthy the whole time?

Just some more big board rankings from me on my way out...

• 11. James Pearce Jr.
• 22. Derrick Harmon
• 26. Jalon Walker
• 29. Donovan Ezeiraku
• 37. Princely Umanmielen
• 52. Shemar Stewart

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