Cincy Jungle
The Bengals only had six picks in the most recent NFL draft, and their top choice, defensive end Shemar Stewart, has been sidelined for the past few weeks. And yet, somehow the Bengals’ rookies seem to be the silver lining on the brown paper bag filled with flaming dog poo that is the last three weeks.
Second-round pick Demetrius Knight continues to improve every single week. Knight had eight total tackles this week and now leads the team with 40 tackles on the season. He made a great play to deflect Jared Goff’s pass when defensive Al Golden sent Knight on a blitz off the edge on third down. Knight is processing faster and doing a better job of getting off blocks over the past few weeks. We have also seen him step up in coverage, which was his supposed weakness.
The second level of the defense has had a lot of struggles outside of Knight. Logan Wilson looks a bit sluggish, and when the team drops defensive ends Cam Sample and Joseph Ossai into coverage, they immediately regret that decision. Barrett Carter had six tackles and has a ton of upside. He has been praised for his brains and leadership.
In this game, he had six tackles. Why not get him on the field more and watch him grow like Knight has?
It was great to see Knight shine, particularly in this game where he was on the field against Tate Ratledge, the mulleted rookie guard who went a pick after Knight and was a fan favorite during the draft process.
Instead, the Bengals waited another round and took Ratledge’s Georgia teammate Dylan Fairchild to start at guard. Last week, they added another rookie guard to the starting lineup by giving fifth-round pick Jalen Rivers the nod over Dalton Risner. The offensive line, as a unit, looked much better this week. The team ran the ball relatively well, largely taking it up the gut behind Fairchild and Rivers. Both have also been impressive in pass protection. The problems ailing the Bengals in that realm are largely coming around the outside.
The Bengals are in the position they are in right now largely because of missing on draft picks, but that was not the case this season. It may be too little too late, but this year’s draft class looks like the foundation for the team’s linebacker and interior line units as we venture into the future. It will be fun to see what sixth-round running back Tahj Brooks can do once he earns some reps behind Chase Brown and Samaje Perine.
Additionally, Stewart will be back soon. Trey Hendrickson, Myles Murphy, and Ossai combined for four sacks on Sunday. Adding Stewart to that mix could make a big impact.
