With three of the first four draft picks for the Cincinnati Bengals on defense in 2025, it was supposed to be a class that would help fix the woes that plagued that side of the ball.
Instead, not only did the cavalry fail to reinforce, but they also, in some cases, amplified the issues.
Now, thanks to a new re-drafting from one major outlet, we have yet another reminder of how bad it was, especially on defense. And particularly painful in the first round.
Bleacher Report's latest redraft won't make Bengals fans happy
Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport just released a new, reimagined take on how last year’s first round should have gone for the NFL teams.
The results and what they say about the Bengals’ 2025 offseason speak volumes about how the season went and why the front office had no choice but to pivot this year.
For the Bengals, Davenport solved two birds with one stone. First, Davenport has Cincinnati taking UCLA linebacker Carson Schwesinger with the 17th overall pick instead of Shemar Stewart.
Of his decision to give the Bengals the former UCLA linebacker, Davenport writes:
“The Cincinnati Bengals actually went with a youth movement last year at linebacker—by the end of the regular season, the Bengals were starting a pair of rookies at linebacker in Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight Jr. Knight was OK. Carter was terrible. And the Bengals were dead last in the league in run defense, allowing 147.1 yards per game.
Meanwhile, up Interstate 71 in Cleveland, the Browns were allowing 116.4 yards per game on the game—and Carson Schwesinger played a big role in that. The Browns' second pick of the draft, Schwesinger finished his first season with the sixth-most tackles in the league (156) on the way to taking home Defensive Rookie of the Year honors.”
In one fell swoop, Davenport instantly improved Cincinnati’s entire defense. First, he gave the Bengals the Defensive Rookie of the Year at what is now their weakest position on defense.
Furthermore, with the addition of Schwesinger, Davenport removes Stewart and rookie linebackers Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight Jr., or at least makes the draft board look entirely different in the later rounds.
We do not need to relitigate just how much those picks did not prevent the team from having one of the worst defenses in the NFL last season. The absolute worst in missed tackles, rush yards allowed, and rushing yards per game.
Schwesinger's thriving in Cleveland makes the sting worse
What’s worse, the hated rival Cleveland Browns took Schwesinger in the second round, who turned out to be one of the biggest steals of last year’s university talent acquisition exercise.
Beyond Schwesinger, the Browns landed exciting players in running back Quinshon Judkins and tight end Harold Fannin Jr., as well as a potential franchise QB in Shedeur Sanders.
Nevertheless, Cleveland grabbing Schwesinger 33rd overall is just another reason not to like the hated in-state rivals. Also, another reason to give the Bengals’ front office a case of the side-eye.
Where Shemar Stewart lands is even more painful
As for Stewart, surely you are pondering exactly where Davenport has the edge rusher ultimately falling. So are we. Perhaps we should ask him.
In any case, Stewart did not make the first round of this particular undertaking. And that is understandable, considering he was the worst-graded first-round rookie this past season.
Again, we do not want to hark back to how bad a decision it was to select Stewart in real time, but a year later, it was the worst decision of the first round.
Perhaps the Browns would be willing to make a trade that involved Stewart and Schwesinger. Well before Cleveland decided to trade Myles Garrett to the Rams, the two Ohio teams found a way to get Joe Flacco to Cincinnati, so really, anything could happen.
While last year’s draft did not go as well as fans and the team had hoped, especially in the first round, the bright side is that last year’s misses were the final cherry on the cake, as the French say, that led the front office to a reimagining of their own this offseason.
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