One Major Difference for the 2026 Cincinnati Bengals Defense We Know is Coming

CINCINNATI – The Cincinnati Bengals were no strangers to ranking last in the league defensively in 2025, at least during the first half of the season.

But one area where they held on to their No. 32 ranking for the entire season may have been the most surprising of all.

Al Golden’s defense ranked 32nd in blitz percentage at just 17.6.

Bad defenses typically blitz more out of necessity.

Golden defenses usually blitz more out of philosophy.

“This was the least amount of pressure that I've had in forever, and by a long margin” said Golden, whose first defensive coordinator job was at the University of Virginia in 2001.

He said it also marked the fewest amount of defensive line stunts he has used, although that improved as rookie linebackers Demetrious Knight and Barrett Carter got up to speed – mentally and physically – with playing in the NFL.

“We made a lot of progress with that, and a lot of it was Barrett and D-Knight settling in and being able to call some of those on the field,” Golden said. “Because it's hard to call line stunts just as a pre-snap call. It really is.

“Because you're calling it in your mind, you're envisioning one thing, but if the Y's off and the tailback’s over there, well, you know what? That's not a great stunt against it,” Golden added. “So those need to be called on the grass.”

Bengals DC Al Golden All But Guarantees Bringing More Pressure

No one would label Knight and Carter’s rookie seasons as successes. But there was an obvious trajectory despite Golden being forced to play Knight out of position a lot at the line of scrimmage.

“That's my fault,” Golden said. “We asked them to do more than we should have early on. Those guys responded, and we made progress there. And hopefully there's a nice starting point for us. But we have to have a good offseason. We need everybody here and focused in, and we need to be really clean and sharp coming out of June.”

There will, of course, be more new pieces to add through free agency and the draft, the latter of which will require a similar learning curve.

But the hope is the returning players will be more comfortable, and therefore more aggressive, in their second season in Golden’s scheme.

And the catch phrase of the week at the NFL Scouting Combine was force multipliers, meaning players that can line up in various positions and create depth without the need for added personnel and substitutions.

Successfully targeting those types of players will allow Golden to return to aggressive, pressuring roots.

Some of the best defenses in the league last year were so loaded with talent that they didn’t need to blitz often.

The teams that barely ranked ahead of the Bengals in blitz percentage at Nos. 26-31 all were playoff squads.

The next lowest non-playoff defense was Las Vegas, which ranked 25th with a 20.8 percentage.

Golden had a great defense at Notre Dame in 2024, when he helped lead the team to the national championship game.

But even with four players of that defense getting drafted in 2025, Golden stayed on the attack.

The Fighting Irish ranked second in the nation in blitz percentage at 43.9, trailing only Oklahoma (50.0).

Last year’s 17.6 mark was not only low for Golden, it was historically low for the Bengals.

SportRadar has tracked blitz percentage since 2007. Only the 2017 Bengals had a lower percentage (16.7).

The 17.6 number ranks 12th lowest among all NFL teams over the last five seasons.

Golden has been open about dialing up the pressure in 2026 even before he sees who his new additions will be.

The Bengals are expected to target all three levels of defense in the draft.

Potential Bengals Free Agent Targets Who Blitz the Most

Nov 2, 2025; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) stiff arms Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Leo Chenal (54) in the second half at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

Among free agent linebackers with at least 50 pass-rush snaps, here are the ones asked to blitz most often (with the percentage of times they recorded a pressure), per Pro Football Focus.

So the first number will tell you who was asked to blitz the most. The second number signals who was the most effective at getting home when called up to blitz.

Linebacker

Leo Chenal, Chiefs: 64.6 (6.9)

Eric Wilson, Vikings: 36.0 (12.7)

Kaden Elliss, Falcons: 26.5 (10.3)

Justin Strnad, Broncos: 22.4 (14.3)

Matt Milano, Bills: 21.9 (16.3)

Devin Lloyd, Jaguars: 20.8 (15.4)

Quay Walker, Packers: 14.9 (10.3)

Demario Davis, Saints: 13.9 (10.8)

Lavonte Davis, Buccaneers: 13.4 (14.7)

Bobby Wagner, Commanders: 12.9 (18.4)

Alex Anzalone, Lions: 12.7 (16.9)

Alex Singleton, Broncos: 11.9 (10.7)

Devin Bush, Browns: 10.2 (11.6)

Germaine Pratt, Colts: 10.1 (2.5)

Safety (min. 15 pass rush snaps)

Jaquan Brisker, Bears 11.5 (10.3)

C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Bears 9.5 (10.0)

Ifeatu Melifonwu, Dolphins 8.1 (11.5)

Nick Cross, Colts 7.2 (16.7)

Jaylinn Hawkins, Patriots 5.4 (18.6)

Andrew Wingard, Jaguars 5.0 (10.2)

Dane Belton, Giants 4.7 (8.8)

Kamren Curl, Rams 4.2 (14.5)

Geno Stone, Bengals 3.8 (25.0)

Donovan Wilson, Cowboys 3.3 (8.7)

Kyle Dugger, Steelers 2.9 (25.0)

Jalen Thompson, Cardinals 2.5 (6.7)