Doesn't take a guru of professional football to diagnose what's most wrong with the Cincinnati Bengals, but head coach Zac Taylor is either oblivious or defiant to what plagues his team the most.
Taylor is doing a fine job in his own right calling the plays on offense, keeping the team afloat while stud quarterback Joe Burrow recovers from injury. However, the defense continues to be a thorn in the side of a team that's skidded to 3-6 after a 2-0 start.
One beat reporter rolled up his sleeves and got dirty in the trenches to underscore just how bad the defense is. Turns out there's an easy-button way to improve the unit. Will Taylor do it? Maybe!
Bengals' baffling use of rookie defenders is a mistake Zac Taylor can easily fix
Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic took a deep dive into how the Bengals' rookie class has negatively impacted the team in 2025. One of the most notable bits from it was how bad Shemar Stewart, Demetrius Knight Jr., and Barrett Carter have been while sharing the field:
Maybe the most startling thing about the #Bengals three rookie starters is how the run defense has grown exponentially worse when all three are on the field together.
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) November 12, 2025
Documenting that and more in the rookie report. pic.twitter.com/JILeRmpSnZ
Not sure if Cincinnati's brass is just straight-up delusional about how good its first-year draftees are, or if they knew their NFL learning curves would be this steep. Regardless, it's just dumb strategy to keep trotting them out there.
Stewart was injured in Week 2 and is doubtful again this week, so that's one thing. But to trade first-time captain Logan Wilson for a mere seventh-round pick and keep Oren Burks on the bench when Knight and Carter are playing so poorly makes no sense whatsoever.
Seems like the easiest fix in the world. Bench Knight and Carter. Start Burks and Joe Giles-Harris. Not that the latter is some great player, yet he can't possibly be worse than the overwhelmed froshies.
Another noteworthy number from Dehner's piece: Bengals rookies are on pace for a combined 1,913 snaps on defense. When Cincinnati ran to the Super Bowl, that figure was just 379.
Only further drives home my point about overpaying for proven players in both draft capital and money.
How many hideous-looking statistics will it take for the Bengals to make any meaningful personnel changes on defense? You can only ride with the current crew for so long until you start getting into "definition of insanity" cliché territory.
By any measure, Knight and Carter are two of the very worst linebackers in the entire NFL. Say they improve a moderate amount. Will they be anywhere near good enough to be starters? Doesn't seem like it!
So why not roll some other guys out there — at all levels of the defense, frankly — and at least see if that provides a spark?
I wish I could get inside Taylor's head and try to understand what the heck is going on.