When it comes to the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft, most of the talk has been about the Cincinnati Bengals addressing the defense, and understandably so. After all, it was the defense that drastically underperformed for Cincy last season, and they need upgrades at virtually every position on that side of the ball
But, that doesn't mean that the Bengals won't also look to upgrade the offense. One prominent NFL insider expects Cincinnati to add an offensive skill position player with one of their six picks.
Matthew Berry expects Cincinnati to bolster the backfield in the 2025 Draft
In a recent article for NBC Sports, Matthew Berry explained why expects the Bengals to add a running back at some point in the draft.
From Berry:
"Also sounds like Zack Moss won’t be healthy for the start of the year, so expect Cincy to add to the RB room and look for someone that can spell Chase Brown on third downs. Given the depth of RB in this draft class, I’d expect Cincy to draft a good one."
As Berry pointed out, Zack Moss faces an uncertain future with the Bengals. He suffered a tough neck injury in 2024, and he could be a potential cap casualty over the offseason. But, the Bengals will still need some support for starting back Chase Brown, and they could potentially get that through the draft.
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There are a plethora of good running backs in the 2025 draft class, including Ashton Jeanty, Kaleb Johnson, TreVeyon Henderson, Cam Skattebo and Devin Neal, to name a few.
It's hard to imagine the Bengals using their first round pick (No. 17 overall) on a running back given all of their other needs, especially on defense. Plus, there's a good chance that Jeanty, who is widely considered as the best RB prospect in the draft, won't even still be available when the Bengals are on the clock. So, Cincinnati will probably be out of the running for the Boise State star,
But, the Bengals have five other picks outside of the first round, and it's entirely possible that they could dedicate one of those picks to the backfield. After all, Brown was a fifth-round pick of the Bengals back in 2023, and he turned out to be pretty dang good. Perhaps they'll be able to strike gold like that again.