Your 2025 Draft Grade: The Poll

[CJD]

I land around a C/C-

I don't feel the need to harp on Shemar Stewart. We all hope he will produce in the NFL, and many of us doubt he will based on historical data on players that don't produce in college. Let's just all hope for the best. At the very least, he is a fresh body for the rotation with incredible upside.
I'll call it a generous D- grade.

I like Knight as a player. He seems smart, strong, fast and seems like a terrific leader. I understand why the coaches wanted him. I just wish it didn't come at the cost of an elite guard prospect like Tate Ratledge. I have fears that we will regret not taking Ratledge the same way we regretted not taking Creed Humphrey in 2021. I am not thrilled with Knight's age, as he will be entering his age 30 season before his second contract is even active (should he earn it with us, which I imagine is the ideal scenario when making the pick). But if you get 5 really good years out of a player, that's probably worth a mid 2nd round pick. I just know we're going to be watching Ratledge's career for the next 5 years and, unconsciously or not, comparing it to the impact that Knight has on our defense.
Let's call it a C with an asterisk for further examination a couple years from now.


They partially made up for missing Ratledge by taking Fairchild. Once again, I understand why they chose him. It sounds like Scott Peters found his kindred spirit in Fairchild. One's a Jiu Jitsu fighter, the other is a wrestler. Both highly value leverage and how to gain it in hand fights etc. It sounds like he's already there with pass protection and the main thing he has to work on is run blocking. I hope it works perfectly. I have concerns about the value of the pick, as Wyatt Milum was a highly decorated OT that many believe would translate perfectly to OG. Maybe the Bengals were scarred by Carman and just wanted a pure OG. We'll have to see. Regardless, this is likely a day 1 starting rookie at LG. If you get that in the third round (and he isn't a complete and utter liability like Volson was), then you feel really good about that pick.
I will give this a B+ grade. Optimistic perhaps, but he already has the pass protection chops, and that's the most important thing when you have Joe Burrow.

I actually really liked the value they got in Barrett Carter in the 4th round but, unfortunately, it did also shine a light on the Knight pick once again. Insider sources (if you believe James Rapien) believe that the Bengals had a 2nd round grade on Carter, so when he was there in the 4th he was simply too good to pass  up. If they had multiple LBs with 2nd round grades on them, then that would make you think you can pass on Knight and take Ratledge, especially in hindsight when you got one of them 2 rounds later. But alas, this is who is on our team and you can't be mad about having a high quality 3rd LB on the roster.
In a vacuum, B+. In the context of already having spent a pick on Knight, maybe just a B.

Jalen Rivers is probably the best value they got in this draft. I saw him as high as the 3rd round, so getting him in the 5th is great value. Another pass protection first offensive lineman, which is my ideal scenario if I had to pick between pass protection and run blocking. I like him as the backup OT that can move inside as well. He could develop into a starter, depending on where they focus him.
Solid A, in my opinion.


Tahj Brooks seems like the thunder to Brown's lightning. A bit cliche? Perhaps, but I really like his ability to run over tacklers and pass block on 3rd down. With the right opportunity, I could see him being a 3 down back. His main drawback is his lack of explosive runaway speed, but that's what we have Brown for. He seems like a perfect complement to what we already have in the backfield. It's interesting, because we have Perine who offers similar traits and then Moss, who we just restructured. What are the odds we cut Moss after restructuring him?
Give it a B+, as I think this secures our backfield for a few seasons while we iron out what we want the future at RB to look like.

At the end of day 2, I was thinking a D because of what I perceived to be very poor choices in the 1st and 2nd round (contextually in the latter case). But they had a really strong day 3 where they were not drafting based on need, but rather actually taking the best player available. Maybe if they had done that in days 1 and 2, they'd be sitting with a solid A right now.

Imagine a draft where we got Derrick Harmon, Tate Ratledge, Xavier Watts, Barrett Carter, Jalen Rivers and Tahj Brooks...
Ah well...Let's root for our guys now!