Bengals Rookie Linebackers Showing Improvement, Allowing Defensive Scheme to Grow in Scope and Success

CINCINNATI – There was a play Thursday night in Baltimore that encapsulated the rookie experience for Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Barrett Carter.

It was first and 20 on the final play of the third quarter, and Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson dumped a 3-yard checkdown to running back Derrick Henry as the pocket collapsed around him.

Carter was the closest defender, and as the young fourth-round pick has done so many times this season, he overran the play, enabling Henry to cut back across the middle for a 44-yard gain.

Derrick Henry ends the third quarter in STYLE with this 44-yard catch and run 🏃pic.twitter.com/mhfl2kbnF8
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 28, 2025

Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden didn’t see the play as emblematic.

He viewed it as an outlier.

“I thought Barrett played really well the other night,” Golden said Monday afternoon. “It was one unfortunate missed tackle, which we have to clean up, but I thought his command was really good.

“There was a couple of times where he had to make a check on his own and get it right and get it communicated across the board, and he did that.”

It was the kind of performance the Bengals had in mind when they moved Carter into the starting role ahead of Logan Wilson in Week 6 – growing pains, yes, but a clear upward trajectory.

Two weeks ago against New England, Carter had a game-high 16 tackles with only one miss.

He admitted Monday he wasn’t blind to his own struggles nor deaf to the criticism as he’s tried to navigate a difficult rookie season.

“When you're a 23-year-old fresh in this league, you're going to have some growing pains and you're gonna get humbled,” Carter said. “I just appreciate my guys sticking with me every single day and supporting me and being great teammates, because it hasn't been easy.

“I haven't been playing my best ball, and we as a defense haven't been playing our best ball,” he continued. “But it's all about how you respond to that. That's what really matters.’

The response Thursday night was five forced turnovers and just 14 points allowed.

Opposing offenses have scored 20, 19 and 14 points in the last three games against a Bengals defense that was on pace to give up the most points in NFL history.

Individually, Carter’s last two games have produced his second and third highest grades from Pro Football Focus since becoming a starter Oct. 12.

Fellow rookie Demetrius Knight, who has been starting since Day 1, has shown improvement as well.

“I think they really settled in,” Golden said. “I think the bye week came at a good time for them. Over the last month, we've been giving them more, and they've handled it. Handled it really well.”

Golden has been moving Knight around and playing him on third downs.

He’s been asking more of Carter as well.

Golden said there was never a bar he was looking for Knight and Carter to clear before asking more of them.

It comes down gut instinct, and the young linebackers are rewarding his.

“There's definitely a feel for it,” Golden said. “You just know when you're putting too many bricks on a guy. Even the last couple weeks, just being able to use Demetrius more on third down. I think that's also a product of, this is where we are in the season now, and he's handled Part A really good or Part B, let's move on to C or D.

“In terms of Barrett, that's a lot on a young guy, especially when the guy next to you is a young guy,” Golden added. It's one thing to interject somebody into a veteran-laden defense, but it's another thing when he's got to resolve all the problems by himself, so he's really grown up, and the last three weeks he's done a great job with his line of scrimmage command.”

There is still a long way to go for both the rookie linebackers and the defense as a whole, but the train is finally moving after looking stuck and hopeless for much of the year.

Carter’s 13 missed tackles are tied for 11th most in the league.

A few weeks ago, he ranked fourth.

Knight has 17, which ranks fourth. But he’s had just three in the last three games.

There’s an old adage when you get to a certain point in the season that says rookies aren’t rookies anymore.

Carter said he doesn’t know when the point is for the coaches, but for himself, it’s in the past.

“I need to realize I am young in this league and I'm still learning as I go. I try to give myself some grace," Carter said. "But at the same time, as a competitor I want to win every single thing.

“So I don't see myself as a rookie right now. I see myself as a starting linebacker in the league, regardless of how old I am,” he continued. “I threw that rookie stuff out the window. I'm just trying to be a starting linebacker for the Bengals.”