Bengals Defensive Line Might Be NFL's Most Improved Position Group

The Cincinnati Bengals haven't garnered a lot of national media attention this offseason, but they've made many upgrades, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

The Bengals, with additions like Dexter Lawrence, Boye Mafe, Bryan Cook, and others, make them one of the most improved teams this offseason, and they're ready to put the league on notice.

ESPN's Bill Barnwell recently appeared on the Mina Kimes Show and shared a lot of praise for the Bengals' upgrades on defense this offseason.

Bengals Improved Defensive Line Will Help The Entire Unit

Bengals safety Bryan Cook speaks to the media during a press conference at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati on Thursday, March 12, 2026. | Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"So this is a lot deeper. They can rotate guys," Barnwell said. "They don't have to rely on Trey Henderson playing 95% of the snaps and not having a plan B when Trey Hendrickson's not on the field because they are deeper this year. There's another thing I think that defensive line helps, and that is the tackling. And it's not just, can the guys up front grab players and bring them down? But more just, what can they do to make life easier for the players behind them?

"Bengals players missed 170 tackles last year. According to Pro Football Reference, it's 39 more than anybody else in football. And they were 32nd in yards allowed before first contact for run plays. So, you had guys consistently getting to the second level, third level, either by catching the ball or on run plays where they were hitting with a full head of speed, and it's harder to tackle those guys in open space than if you have a good defensive line bottling players up, where they're slowed down where they're having to slow down to find the right lane to hit."

The defensive line is much better. Lawrence and Jonathan Allen in the middle should help force ball carriers to slow down when they find a gap to hit, rather than accelerate through it. This allows the rest of the defense time to make a play rather than being on their back foot.

But they've upgraded the personnel outside of the defensive line, too.

"The players are better. Like, Boye Mafe is a better tackler than the guys they had last year," Barnwell said. "Brian Cook replacing Geno Stone as a tackler is like the single biggest upgrade any team has made in any position doing any one task this offseason. I think you're going to have fewer missed tackles, fewer big plays. You're going to get off the field more often."

Upgrading with Cook over Geno Stone is more important than many analysts think. Stone was one of the worst tacklers in the league last season. Cook was one of the best tacklers. Cook is one of the more underrated players in football, too.

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