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The 2025 NFL Draft is in the books, and the Cincinnati Bengals added six players to a roster hoping to bounce back and compete for a Super Bowl this season.
The Bengals emphasized defense in the draft, as the team selected Texas A&M edge rusher Shemar Stewart in Round 1 and South Carolina linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. in Round 2. Stewart will likely be an immediate starter, while the selection of Knight and Clemson linebacker Barrett Carter in Round 4 likely signals that Germaine Pratt's days in Cincinnati are numbered.
Guard was also a major position of need for the Bengals heading into the draft, and they addressed it in Round 3 by selecting Georgia's Dylan Fairchild, who could be a Day 1 starter.
Here's a look at Cincinnati's full 2025 NFL Draft class
- Round 1, Pick 17: EDGE Shemar Stewart, Texas A&M
- Round 2, Pick 49: LB Demetrius Knight Jr., South Carolina
- Round 3, Pick 81: OL Dylan Fairchild, Georgia
- Round 4, Pick 119: LB Barrett Carter, Clemson
- Round 5, Pick 153: OT Jalen Rivers, Miami
- Round 6, Pick 193: RB Tahj Brooks, Texas Tech
With all that out of the way, let's take a look at how experts graded the Bengals 2025 class.
Bengals NFL draft grades
Kiper Jr.: "Shemar Stewart has all the explosiveness and power you'd want in an edge rusher. He rockets into the backfield. But the 4.5 career sacks mean this is still a projection. Can he put it all together in the pros? The ceiling is very high, and he will be given every opportunity to reach it. The Bengals don't have much opposite Hendrickson. I ranked Stewart 27th overall. Cincinnati also went need hunting on Day 2. Demetrius Knight Jr. gives the Bengals an off-ball linebacker, which provides cover in case Germaine Pratt isn't in town for the long haul; he also requested a trade. Dylan Fairchild gives the Bengals a reliable guard, where the pass protection really struggled last season. Neither player came at value, though. Knight was ranked 82nd on my board and went 49th. Ratledge was ranked 110th and went 81st. On Day 3, my favorite Bengals pick was running back Tahj Brooks. He is coming off back-to-back 1,500-yard seasons on the ground and provides depth behind Chase Brown and Zack Moss. It was sort of a ho-hum draft for the Bengals overall, which is why I gave them a "C" grade."
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Reuter: "Stewart has the potential to vastly exceed his uninspiring college production (4.5 sacks in three seasons) thanks to his elite physical traits. Knight and Fairchild should be starters before long, though impactful players at premium positions were also available at those picks. Carter is a good player who will eventually start, but I’m not sure they were able to get maximum value by taking linebackers with two of their first four picks. Rivers addresses the team's lack of depth at tackle and Brooks should compete for playing time in a crowded running back room. Cincinnati traded its seventh-round pick to Chicago for running back Khalil Herbert in November."
Trapasso: "The Bengals went through it in this draft, and improved late. Seeing Mykel Williams, Kenneth Grant and Walter Noel go off the board in front of them at No. 17 overall must've been tough. Stewart has a chance to pop, yet is undoubtedly a risky proposition after they took a similar (and what appears to be a failed) gamble with Myles Murphy two years ago. They didn't need to force the Knight selection in Round 2, and I didn't get the double-dip at linebacker with Carter. However. Fairchild is an overachiever at guard, which was a gigantic need in front of Joe Burrow. Rivers added more insurance up front, and Brooks and Chase Brown can become a quality former sixth-round tandem in the backfield."
Rang: "Year in and year out, the Bengals gamble on traits, and that was again the case in 2025 with the selection of Shemar Stewart, a virtual lottery ticket of an athlete and exactly the kind of insurance policy needed with Trey Hendrickson a possible trade candidate. Insurance, in fact, seemed to be the strategy for Cincinnati in this draft, with second- and fourth-round selections used on inside linebackers Demetrius Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter, signaling that popular veterans Germaine Pratt and Logan Wilson might also be on the way out. While much of the focus will understandably lie with the Bengals' defensive prospects, I like the talent and value of blockers Dylan Fairchild and Jalen Rivers, as well as running back Tahj Brooks, a Sherman tank of a runner with excellent balance through contact."
Nate Davis, USA TODAY: C (ranked 28th)
Davis: "From a macro perspective, they resourced their draft properly by investing heavily in the defense and offensive line – this team’s major issues in 2024 giving up too many points and its ongoing penchant for getting QB Joe Burrow sacked three times a week. But first-round DE Shemar Stewart is your classic boom-or-bust prospect – how often does that work out in Cincinnati? – and going for a pair of linebackers afterward seemed a bit … odd. The best thing that arguably “happened” was retaining 2024 Defensive Player of the Year runner-up Trey Hendrickson on the roster, though it’s past time to address his woefully underfunded contract."
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