Multiple Bengals Rookies Make Appearances in All-Rookie Team Hierarchy

CINCINNATI — The Athletic's Dane Brugler dropped his NFL All-Rookie teams for this past season on Thursday, and a few Bengals popped up along the way.

Cincinnati ranked seventh-highest in the NFL this season with 14.2% of its snaps played by rookies.

Brugler had Dylan Fairchild as a runner-up to the team.

Fairchild posted a 59.1 overall Pro Football Focus grade this past season on 961 snaps.

"A year ago, (Tate) Ratledge and Fairchild were starting guards at Georgia. Now, they look like promising building blocks for the Lions and Bengals, respectively," Brugler wrote. "Ratledge led all offensive rookies in snaps played during the regular season and was one of the NFL’s more consistent run blockers. Fairchild had a few more ups and downs, but he graded out as an above-average player, especially for a mid-third-round pick. The Bengals should feel confident about their left guard moving forward, which they certainly couldn’t say last year."

Linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. got an honorable mention for how he elevated his game down the stretch of the season.

Knight had a lowly 41.9 PFF grade on 798 snaps, but did post his two highest-grade games of the season in Weeks 17 and 18 (80.6 against the Cardinals, and 71.6 against Cleveland).

He got through his learning curve year and will try to play like those last two weeks all throughout this fall. Barrett Carter also earned honorable mention status after a 39.5 PFF grade on 792 snaps. His best game of the season came in the final two weeks as well (72.9 grade against Arizona).

"You battle it by coming back to work," Knight said about staying focused after the Week 9 loss to Chicago. "It sounds monotonous — if you will — but what can you do? You can't mope around and be sad about it. You're paid to be a professional, so it's: What are you going to do to take those necessary steps to get guys on the ground? What are you going to do tomorrow to get guys on the ground and not wait until we get back out on the field? Now it's at the point where you have to be accountable for it, and if you're not, it will continue to show."

Check out all of Brugler's picks here.

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