All you’ve heard these past few weeks when it comes to the Bengals is moaning. “What are we doing???!!!” “Shemar Stewart??!!” The general feeling seems to be that it’s been another fallow free-agency period and another questionable draft. “What is this, 2017?”
That’s what happens when the team gets such incredible seasons from its stars and somehow misses the playoffs. No one can blame Bengals Nation for being frustrated at wasting a prime season from Joe Burrow and being unimpressed with the steps taken to address the team’s glaring weaknesses.
That said, some of the sturm und drang feels overblown. Yes, the time it took was sub-optimal, but the team did sign the best free agent on the market, who just happened to be Tee Higgins. And, as you may have heard, it came simultaneously with Ja’Marr Chase’s contract extension. The signings felt like a fait accompli since late last fall, when Burrow made his preferences known publicly; nevertheless, one can never fully trust the Brown/Blackburn ownership group to do the right thing even when held at virtual gunpoint by the biggest star in franchise history.
The biggest free agency surprise came when Cincinnati mostly followed the Higgins precedent and concentrated on re-signing players rather than dipping into the (rather shallow) pool of outside talent. The money for B.J. Hill, Joseph Ossai, Mike Gesicki, and Cody Ford went to guys A) we’re familiar with and B) who own some culpability for the team’s 2024 nightmare. And by failing to sign a three-tech/pass-rushing defensive tackle, a top-end offensive guard, or a deep safety, team leadership also told you they were comfortable with what they had, for better or worse.
The Bengals did bring in a massive run-stuffing tackle, T.J. Slaton (giving them a T.J. and B.J. starting combo!), and a decent enough guard, Lucas Patrick, but they didn’t address the gaping holes on defense as aggressively as I thought they should. And we haven’t even mentioned the Trey Hendrickson soap opera, which seems destined to drag into summer. (Don’t worry: He’s going to play for the Bengals this year.)
OK, mixed reviews on the free agent front, but the draft can cure all ills! Yeah, the team had just six picks in last weekend’s NFL Draft, but surely they would address all their issues there, right?
Well, sorta. The draft emphasized Cincinnati’s historic “needs over prospects” tendencies, which usually works against them except at the top, where the team eschewed the top tackles and safeties in order to select Texas A&M edge rusher Shemar Stewart, a player draft mavens loved for his incredible athletic traits and non-stop energy but hated for his lack of actually bringing enemy quarterbacks to the ground.
You know the number by heart, surely: Stewart managed just 1.5 sacks in each of his three seasons in College Station. Since the dawn of what we’ve come to call “analytics,” when Bill James proved that minor league baseball production mirrors big league output, it’s been a general truism that stats translate across levels. Not always, of course, and the outliers usually have something else to hang their hat on. In Stewart’s case, his rare speed/power combination certainly qualifies as “something else.”
Stewart (aka The Menace) has been labeled a “boom or bust” prospect, but it’s hard to imagine him busting. His floor is likely a long if unspectacular career a la Denico Autry, now with Houston. The optimistic comparison is former Bengal Carlos Dunlap, with better character and a much higher motor. Dunlap affected the game in a variety of ways beyond merely rushing the passer, including swatting down passes and being a sturdy run defender. Stewart has that in him; what he won’t have that Dunlap did is Geno Atkins (or a reasonable facsimile) collapsing the pocket from within.
In fairness, part of Stewart’s low production profile was the way he was deployed at A&M. The Aggies used him as a run-first defender assigned mainly to demolish read-option schemes. Indeed, his pressure numbers were high because on a lot of quick-hitting pass plays Stewart managed to get closer to the QB than other players would have.
Iffy numbers among highly recruited defenders is something of an Aggies tradition, in part because opponents run fear-based offenses against them, with lots of quick passes and bubble screens. Walter Nolen (drafted right before Stewart) had to transfer to Ole Miss to unlock his full potential, while Nic Scourton transferred in from Purdue with high sack numbers and saw them plummet in College Station. Edgerrin Cooper of the Packers basically played a stationary middle of the field backfield spy role at A&M, then displayed his full-field terminator skills once he got to Green Bay.
New DC Al Golden’s vision for Stewart undoubtedly sees the rookie blowing up run plays before they can develop and chasing them down from behind while pass-rushing from inside and out. Is he the fill for Golden’s mythical “Vyper” position, which deploys a multi-faceted defender in a variety of havoc-producing roles? Time will tell, but one thing Stewart should accomplish right away is to raise the entire level of the D-line, allowing others to make plays when Stewart foils the initial plan. He should also take some heat off Myles Murphy, who’d otherwise be getting dissected with every pass rush in this make-or-break season for the 2023 top pick.
The rest of the draft was devoted to players the team clearly feels can help right away. Golden was the Bengals’ linebackers coach when the team drafted three LBs, including Logan Wilson, back in 2020. Sure enough, the team double-dipped at the position with Golden back in the fold, taking Demetrius Knight from South Carolina in the second round and Barrett Carter of Clemson in the fourth. (The two can recreate the Palmetto Bowl rivalry during practices.) The Bengals rated both players more highly than their positional value would suggest, another process question mark. Still, they’ll both likely contribute, especially Knight, essentially a Germaine Pratt clone with a far better character grade—he’s 25, married with two kids, and famously delivered DoorDash to make ends meet in college.
Similarly, new offensive line coach Scott Peters clearly identified guard Dylan Fairchild of UGa early in the process as someone he thought was a natural for his system. Fairchild, with his wrestling background and country-strong hands, is a superior pass blocker and has already said he will “live or die to protect Joe Burrow,” so he at least gets it: If one of you has to go out on his shield, it will be Dylan instead of Joe.
Many fans were sick the Bengals didn’t take Fairchild’s teammate, Tate Ratledge, in the second round instead. I’m no UGa insider, but I live in Atlanta and am therefore bombarded 24/7 with Dawg news and insights. The consensus here was that all three Georgia interior lineman—Ratledge, Fairchild, and Jared Wilson—were considered basically equivalent prospects, and professional success would be, as it usually is, dependent on scheme-fit, coaching, and luck. It’s not like Ratledge is Max Montoya and Cincinnati settled for Jackson Carman. Indeed, UGa’s passing attack took a noticeable step forward when Fairchild entered the lineup.
Meanwhile, fellow former Bulldog Amarius Mims calls Fairchild “Pickle.” As a one-time resident of New York’s Lower East Side, I think anyone nicknamed “Pickle” is OK in my book.
The Bengals desperately need more and better O-linemen, so it was no surprise they double-dipped here as well, selecting Miami T-G Jalen Rivers in round five. He’s a guy the Bengals were linked to throughout the draft runup, in part due to his uncommon versatility—he played tackle and guard in equal doses, sometimes in the same game, and even took center snaps at the Senior Bowl. He played in Miami’s high-octane offense, protecting QB Cam Ward (the No. 1 overall pick) while he chucked theball all over and extended plays to uncommon lengths. Sound familiar? I was impressed mainly with the stamina Rivers displayed, playing tons of passing snaps in the South Florida heat and not letting up through four quarters.
With their last pick, the Bengals got a highly productive and violent running back, Tahj Brooks, from Texas Tech. He put up over 3,000 yards and nearly 30 touchdowns over his final two college seasons, plus he’s a good receiver and an excellent pass protector. Indeed, as a 5-foot-9 churner with excellent patience, he looks like a cross between Chase Brown and (welcome home!) Samaje Perine.
Overall it was a nice enough haul of players, but taken as a whole it seems risky for the Bengals to go into the next season with this current group, especially on defense. Golden is being handed more responsibility for turning things around than any new DC without pro play-calling experience should ever have. But that isn’t in a vacuum. The player procurement period has Golden’s stamp all over it, so he can’t say the team didn’t give him what he wanted. Even by “the Bengals give their coaches a huge say in the scouting process” standards, this move feels unprecedented.
The good news remains that, with Burrow & Buddies now officially together for the foreseeable future, the offense should once again be championship quality in 2025. The defense doesn’t necessarily have to be. Remember that the 2021 Bengals almost won it all with an average unit that got hot in the postseason with game-turning plays. All Golden really needs to do is lift the D to that level, and the Bengals will be in the January mix. Sure hope he’s up to it.
Now comes the dreaded quiet period until the NFL returns in earnest in late-summer. Try to make the best of it, everyone!
Robert Weintraub heads up Bengals coverage for Cincinnati Magazine and has written for The New York Times, Grantland, Slate, and Deadspin. Follow him on X at @robwein.
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