Bengals 2025 NFL Draft class makes winners and losers out of multiple starters, former first-round pick, and many more
There's nothing current players on an NFL team can do during the NFL Draft except prepare for any ramifications that come their way. Competition is a possibility for many players experienced or not, especially when looking at the Cincinnati Bengals' roster. Cincinnati only had six picks in this year's draft, but more than six people will […]
There's nothing current players on an NFL team can do during the NFL Draft except prepare for any ramifications that come their way. Competition is a possibility for many players experienced or not, especially when looking at the Cincinnati Bengals' roster.
Cincinnati only had six picks in this year's draft, but more than six people will find the next four months to be challenging or a bit smoother than expected.
With the draft behind us, let's take a look at the players who have easier and harder tasks to accomplish for the next four months of the offseason. It's time for winners and losers.
Winners
S Geno Stone: Stone should be atop everyone's list of winners. The Bengals could've easily drafted a number of safeties to boot their 2024 free agent signing off the team and passed on every single opportunity. Former Notre Dame Xavier Watts was available for them to draft three(!) times and the club with his former coach Al Golden decided to stick with Stone instead. The 26-year old will retain his starting gig at free safety, and the competition to challenge him if things go awry hasn't changed at all. He'll have every opportunity to prove himself in a contract year.
DTs Kris Jenkins Jr., McKinnley Jackson: Add defensive tackle to the list of positions the Bengals surprisingly didn't draft. Even a first-round pick wasn't likely to start over B.J. Hill or T.J. Slaton, but an early pick would've challenged both Jenkins and Jackson for snaps at the onset of training camp. Jenkins will operate as Hill's direct backup like Jackson will work behind Slaton. Cincinnati is betting a lot on both making leaps in their second season together.
G Lucas Patrick: The lone veteran addition the Bengals made to their offensive line was Patrick, and even though his contract doesn't scream starting status, his path toward earning the right guard gig is fairly open with third-round pick Dylan Fairchild set to enter a battle at left guard. Where Cody Ford and Cordell Volson fall into this remains to be seen, but consider those two were last year's occupants at left guard, there's reason to believe Patrick has an easier path on the right side.
TEs Tanner Hudson, Tanner McLachlan: Both of the Tanners already had their collective importance boosted when it was revealed that Erick All Jr. will be out until 2026, but no tight ends coming through the draft is great news for at least one of them making the Week 1 roster. Perhaps both will just like last year.
Losers
LB Germaine Pratt: If there was any chance at all Pratt would stick around this year, it was wiped out when Demetrius Knight Jr. was drafted in the second round. That's a pick you use for a starter when the current one is requesting a trade. The doubt was then erased for a second time when Barrett Carter heard his name called in the fourth round. Pratt is G-O-N-E.
LBs Maema Njongmeta, Shaka Heyward: Carter finding his way to Cincinnati is also not very good news for both Njongmeta and Heyward. If the Bengals go light at the position and keep just five on the roster, both second-year players aren't making the team as of now with Knight and Carter being locks along with Logan Wilson and Oren Burks. There was a clear emphasis to bolster the group, and everyone from last year who isn't Wilson is on notice.
G Cordell Volson: Here's an interesting situation. If Volson doesn't win back a starting job this offseason, him being traded or cut are more likely options than Cincinnati holding on to his salary of $3.656 million. Paying that much for a backup is not what this team likes to do, especially when a guy like Jaxson Kirkland would be paid 25% of that figure. Fairchild entering the conversation at left guard with recent investments made in Cody Ford and Lucas Patrick puts plenty of pressure on Volson going forward.
DE Myles Murphy: Murphy should play more than the 353 snaps he took last year, but projecting that increase now is different than it was before Joseph Ossai was brought back. Shemar Stewart becoming the 17th pick in the draft figures to cut Murphy's chance of being a starter even more. The first-round pick from 2023 is the only one of the three that was simply handed to Golden. The decisions to extend one and draft another indicate Murphy will have more work to do in order to see his role expand.
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