Cincinnati Bengals 2025 Rookies Ranked Among NFL's Worst Classes

Cincinnati's group has plenty of things to improve on.

Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Shemar Stewart (97) celebrates a sack in the third quarter of the NFL Week 17 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Arizona Cardinals at Paycor Stadium in Downtown Cincinnati on Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. The Bengals won 37-14. | Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

CINCINNATI — The 2025 season is in the books for a Bengals franchise that played rookies at the seventh-highest rate among all NFL teams. ESPN contributor and DVOA inventor Aaron Schatz dove into how each rookie group fared across the league, ranking Cincinnati 23rd among the 32 teams.

The Bengals started rookies at linebacker basically all season.

"The top Bengals rookie was second-round linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr.," Schatz wrote. "He had 14 starts and racked up 106 combined tackles with three sacks and two interceptions. Fourth-round linebacker Barrett Carter got 12 starts next to Knight and also had 106 combined tackles. Elsewhere on defense, first-round edge rusher Shemar Stewart played only eight games because of injuries and had just a single sack and eight pressures. On offense, third-round left guard Dylan Fairchild started 15 games but was below average in both pass block (90.3%) and run block (70.2%) win rates. Across from Fairchild, fifth-round lineman Jalen Rivers started seven games at right guard in the middle of the season."

It's a fair ranking for this group that struggled basically all season on defense until the final couple of weeks. Knight (41.1 overall Pro Football Focus grade) and Carter (39.2) were two of the worst linebackers in the league for much of the season, while Stewart (41.2) had a wash of a rookie season because of nagging injuries.

He has no history of consistent injury, so hopefully that's a one-season anomaly, and he can start growing along with Knight, Carter, and Fairchild (59.1 PFF Grade), who also didn't wow with his numbers, but provided a better pass-blocking floor at guard than Alex Cappa or Cordell Volson did in 2024.

Fairchild should take another jump entering Scott Peters second season coaching Cincinnati's offensive line.

Check out Schatz's full piece here.

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