The Cincinnati Bengals have a serious linebacker problem that they seem in collective denial of. On the heels of an otherwise excellent offseason, they've left that position group curiously untouched.
It'd be one thing if Demetrius Knight Jr. or Barrett Carter showed anything resembling replacement-level starter performance as rookies in 2025. They didn't. They were historically bad.
Doesn't defensive coordinator Al Golden know better than to float out facts like, "They both had 100 tackles!" and just assume fans put blinders on? What kind of box score scouting nonsense is that? Rather insulting if we're being honest.
Thrusting a fourth-round pick like Carter into a such a position as the green-dot linebacker is just irresponsible. It doesn't set him up well for success, either. And yet, with a legend like Bobby Wagner sitting out there in free agency and Jordyn Brooks begging (not personally/publicly) to be traded from a cratered Dolphins roster, Cincinnati keeps insisting on standing pat.
Zac Taylor reaffirms faith in Bengals starting linebackers, who lack a viable veteran mentor
In an interview with ESPN's Peter Schrager, Taylor was sibling pun-intended pressed about the Bengals' linebacker corps, and had this to say on Knight and Carter:
"Those are two guys that we pressed into the fold early last year. Demetrius started Day 1, Barrett kind of took over that job at the midpoint in the season, knowing that the dividends were going to pay off at the end of the season, which they did. [...] I think like any great linebacking corps, when you beef up the guys in front of them, it makes their job a lot easier as well. Those guys have really worked hard all offseason. They’re ready, chomping at the bit to get back on the field. So I really think those two guys are poised to take a really big jump behind all the veterans in front of them, and just with the year’s experience of seeing what this league is gonna be like. So we're really high on their ceiling and the direction they’re headed right now.
Much is made of the positive signs the Bengals showed on defense in the second half of last season, when the games didn't really matter. That will either be the ultimate mirage, or the most significant stretch of insignificant football in Bengals history if Knight and Carter suddenly look like they know what they're doing on an NFL field in 2026 and beyond.
But come on. We all have eyeballs. Look at these numbers on Knight and Carter from early November. They're absolutely brutal.
There are 88 qualified LBs graded this season by PFF.
— Gridiron Grading (@GridironGrading) November 3, 2025
The Bengals rookie LBs have the bottom 2 spots.
Barrett Carter is 87th out of 88.
Demetrius Knight Jr. is 88th out of 88.
Spending two premium picks on non-premium positions to get this production is as bad as it gets.
Guess where PFF had them graded at season's end? Knight was 83rd; Carter was 85th. It's not like they went from, you know, the late 80s to the lower 70s or high 60s!
Not only are Knight and Carter bad tacklers, they're abysmal in coverage. Not that Wagner at this point in his career is great in that department, and playing the pass has never been Brooks' strong suit. But at least they'll be in the right place at the right time, which is as much to blame for the Knight-Carter woes as anything else.
Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks are Bengals' only hope at meaningful linebacker upgrade
Barring some Dexter Lawrence-esque trade where a totally unexpected linebacker becomes available, Wagner is the no-brainer signing to make on the open market, and Brooks is easily the No. 1 trade target.
The Bengals are getting a third-round comp pick next year for losing Trey Hendrickson as things stand right now. They could send that or their own third-rounder to the Dolphins in exchange for Brooks, who's on a contract year, and just saw Miami spend two picks on linebackers in the draft in Jacob Rodriguez and Kyle Louis.
If two hapless players can benefit from, as Taylor alludes to, the defense being reinforced all around them, imagine what wonders that could work with a legendarily high football IQ player like Wagner. His life would be so much easier than it was on Washington's dreadful defense in 2025.
Same goes for Brooks. He's a tackling machine who had 99 solo tackles last year and missed only 4.3% of his attempts. That was on, yeah, a bad Dolphins team.
Lawrence's presence alone should elevate the linebacker play in Cincinnati. It should also have Wagner circling the Bengals as a prime free agency destination, and should have Brooks blowing up Miami GM Jon-Eric Sullivan's phone to make a trade happen.
Should Duke Tobin and the Bengals' brain trust pull this off, acquiring Wagner or Brooks, it's akin to Thanos adding the final stone to his Infinity Gauntlet.
The offseason won't feel like a failure whatsoever if another linebacker doesn't join the fold. That said, it's just flat-out weird to not add a credible vet to the group. More power to Barrett Carter if he can beat out Wagner or Brooks. Doubt he would. Hence, if the Bengals are serious about going all-in, they need to restructure Joe Burrow's contract and go get one of these defensive field generals.
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