Barrett Carter Refreshed, Ready to Respond in 2026 Season After 'Longest Year' of His Life

Barrett Carter got the full brunt of rookie life in the NFL last season.

The 2025 Bengals fourth-round pick had one of the worst rookie runs of any high-snap first-year player and was a big reason why the Bengals ranked dead last in the NFL in yards per play allowed (6.2 YPP).

Carter and his rookie LB running mate, Demetrius Knight Jr., were both top-10 in highest missed tackle rate among LBs last season; neither posted Pro Football Focus grades higher than 41. Carter ended his rookie year with a 39.2 overall PFF mark on 792 snaps, while Knight was at 40.2 on 798 snaps.

The Clemson product went in-depth on how different this offseason feels compared to last during an appearance on First Word with James Rapien. It's been a common sentiment from both linebackers this offseason.

"Oh, so much different. I've gotten this question a lot recently, and I truly feel night and day," Carter said on the show. "Last year I would go home, I'll go back to the hotel, so stressed, just trying to learn as much as I can, trying to dive into the playbook, and try to get adjusted to being the NFL, and now that I had the offseason break, and came back just so refreshed ... I truly feel night and day, so much more confident and so prepared every single day I show up.

"I show up at ease with a smile on my face, just knowing that I know what I'm supposed to do, I know what everyone around me's supposed to do, so it's a great feeling, it's night and day, and just gotta keep building on it and keep stacking."

Things did settle down for the 23-year-old in the final month of the season.

It seemed like things started to really click for him at one of the hardest positions to play in the NFL. Across Weeks 15-18, Carter never posted a single-game PFF grade below 54.8 and missed just three tackles on 177 defensive snaps.

Momentum Built

Nov 27, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Barrett Carter (49) reacts after the game at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images | Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

He's ready to carry that momentum into this fall, with much better talent in front of him to stuff up blocking paths.

"It's made the process super, super easy," Carter said about all of the coaching continuity and added talent. "Coming in, I was just trying to learn as much as I could, and I didn't know it (the playbook), like now I know it ... I know why AG (Al Golden) calls certain calls, and I know where his mind is. So it's been great. I'm still just trying to step up and be a leader and command the attention of the whole team and my side of the ball. So just got to keep building on it. We've had a really good offseason, and we brought in some really good additions, too. So got to keep building that chemistry."

Carter is ready to put the hardest year of his life behind him and start really thriving in the league more consistently.

He will be a major factor in Cincinnati's needed defensive rise this coming season.

"They say the rookie year is gonna be the longest year of your life, and I was like, I'll be fine, and you truly start to feel that it's the longest year of your life," Carter said. "January through April, we were off, but last year we were training, we were doing all the things getting ready to be in the NFL. So it's different, so I'm glad that I did have that break, I'm glad that I showed up with a renewed spirit, and now it's time to go, so it's definitely a great feeling."

Check out the full interview with Carter below:

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