NFL Draft Grades: Rounding up Bengals grades from league experts
The Cincinnati Bengals added eight players to their roster and hope that these players help them win the first Super Bowl title in franchise history. The Bengals added four defensive players, three offensive player, and a special teams player.
Bengals fans seem to mostly like what the team did but what about the experts? Did they like what Cincinnati did in the fifth draft of the Zac Taylor era? Let's see what the experts are saying following the 2023 NFL Draft.
Expert grades on Bengals' 2023 NFL Draft
2023 NFL Draft grades for all 32 teams [PFF]
PFF was a huge fan of Cincinnati's draft, giving them an A for their picks. They noted that Jordan Battle looks to be a solid replacement for Vonn Bell and Chase Brown could be the new Samaje Perine in the Queen City.
2023 NFL draft grades for all 32 teams: Mel Kiper's steals, sleepers [Mel Kiper Jr., ESPN]
Kiper wasn't as big on the Bengals' draft haul but still gave them a respectable B+. He docked them a letter grade because they didn't draft a tight end in a deep class but he did seem to be a fan of most of their picks.
Kiper mentioned that he was surprised about the Myles Murphy selection simply because he felt the need for a tight was greater. Bengals fans had an inkling that the team probably wasn't going tight end in round one BECAUSE of how deep the class was. It was still a surprise that they didn't address the position at all, however.
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Grading Every Team’s Performance in the 2023 NFL Draft [Danny Kelly, The Ringer]
Kelly also gave the Bengals a B+ for their 2023 draft haul. He liked that the Bengals' Day 3 picks could come in and pack a punch early in their careers. While Kelly gave the team a B+, I don't see why he didn't give them an A grade when he seemed to be a big fan of this group.