Bengals fail to impress experts as 2025 NFL Draft grades show far more skepticism than anything
The Cincinnati Bengals and all 32 NFL clubs believe they knocked the 2025 NFL Draft out of the park. They all found quality starters, future leaders, and franchise cornerstone pieces for several years to come.Of course, only some of that will end up coming true, otherwise every draft class would be considered a resounding success […]
The Cincinnati Bengals and all 32 NFL clubs believe they knocked the 2025 NFL Draft out of the park. They all found quality starters, future leaders, and franchise cornerstone pieces for several years to come.
Of course, only some of that will end up coming true, otherwise every draft class would be considered a resounding success in hindsight.
The purpose of immediate draft grades is to evaluate what teams did relative to how players were thought of before ending up on their new clubs.
And in exercising this process, the Bengals' 2025 draft class looks, well, less than promising.
Bengals receive lowest average draft grade among experts
In compiling team draft grades from 24 writers, experts, and analysts from around the draft community, René Bugner calculated each club's grade point average and ranked them accordingly.
Cincinnati ended up with the lowest GPA at 2.06, with the majority of their grades being ranging from C+ to C-.
As seen from the grades, very few were willing to give out Ds and Fs immediately with Cs being the common low score for a team. That the Bengals were given so many grades of this caliber is telling to say the least.
Looking at the first three picks may explain things. Shemar Stewart was a consensus first-round pick, but there are questions regarding his college production and whether or not he can reach the ceiling his athletic traits say he has.
In rounds two and three, linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. and guard Dylan Fairchild were selected earlier than expected according to most big boards, so these picks were likely viewed as reaches in the eyes of the graders.
Using half of their picks in this manner is the likely reason why Cincinnati graded considerably lower than every other team. The Bengals found linebacker Barrett Carter, offensive tackle Jalen Rivers, and running back Tahj Brooks rounds four, five, and six, respectively, and all three picks better matched the what the consensus evaluated those players prior to the draft, but they clearly weren't enough to boost the GPA out of 32nd place.
Cincinnati will have plenty to prove over the next handful of years to prove these grades wrong.
Final Bengals 2025 NFL Draft grades reflect early gambles with roster needs and value picks in later rounds
Cincinnati’s 2025 NFL Draft class will be one to observe for many years to come.
