Your 2025 Draft Grade: The Poll

[George Cantstandya]

I've seen some people post their grades in various threads.  Thought I'd make a poll for a more central location.

I appreciate the discussion and knowledge shared from those that participated here during this years draft.  

[*Synric*]

Shemar Stewart C + (I'm a Shemar Fan)
Demetrius Knight C- (Older Limited Linebacker without any kinda elite trait)
Dylan Fairchild B- (High end gap developmental guard)
Barrett Carter D- (Redudant, small, limited mid-athletic linebacker)
Jalen Rivers A- (Scheme fit, size, inconsistent tape/athleticisim)
Tahj Brooks B+ (Scheme Need experienced versatile RB)


Highest grades are om Day 3 which makes this draft a


D+


Edit: miss clicked C- lol.

[NATI BENGALS]

B+

Love every pick. But we needed to trade back and add more picks to get an A in my eyes.

Knight was my least favorite pick but our front office puts immense weight on character and really loves this guy and appears to want him to be a team leader.

I wrote him off and didn't even look in to him for being an older prospect. His highlights gave me faster Burfict vibes. And we haven't drafted LB since 2020 when Al was here and we went 3/3 drafting NFL caliber LBs who contributed. So we were past due adding talent at LB. If it's the home run Al thinks it is we are Golden

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

Went with a B+ after researching. I think Golden got his guys and Peters got his Guards and I like them all. I just wish we could get a
dang trade partner and have to blame that on the FO. I think we could of easily traded back and got Knight even if Golden wanted him
17 picks before our own. Doesn't matter what he wants, this should be a team all across the board. Trade back and get your guy and
add another one or two to really improve the team.

My only complaint. You cannot tell me Knight was going to be taken directly after us at his age...

Love the player that Knight is, just wish we made the moves to put this Draft over the top.

[*bfine32*]

(Yesterday, 09:02 PM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: B+

Love every pick. But we needed to trade back and add more picks to get an A in my eyes.

Knight was my least favorite pick but our front office puts immense weight on character and really loves this guy and appears to want him to be a team leader.

I wrote him off and didn't even look in to him for being an older prospect. His highlights gave me faster Burfict vibes. And we haven't drafted LB since 2020 when Al was here and we went 3/3 drafting NFL caliber LBs who contributed. So we were past due adding talent at LB. If it's the home run Al thinks it is we are Golden

I have 0 idea why folks are downgrading the Knight pick because he's 25. We've got him for 4-years and we're not in the middle of a long rebuild. If he's too old at 29 in 4-years let him walk and get another one. I'm worried about how he'll do over the next couple years, not the next decade.

As to the draft the only fine favs on it are Stewart and Fairchild. But I dig that everyone appears to be of high quality and only 1 (Rivers) comes with injury concerns.

I'll give it a B-  

[Joelist]

I went B-:

Shemar Stewart D : This type of traits but raw pick busts at a very high rate. round 1 picks should be safer bets.
Demetrius Knight B : Lots of speed and turns out he can play three downs. A bit older.
Dylan Fairchild A : Plug and play starter like his mate Ratledge. Huge need filled.
Barrett Carter A : Another very fast LB who on the outside can be 3 down.
Jalen Rivers B : Solid pick. Plays well but needs coaching, potential starter fairly quickly.
Tahj Brooks A : A good old fashioned thumper of a RB with a bit of juice in his step to boot. Fills a void we've had for a while.


Disclosure: I had Fairchild, Knight and Brooks mocked to us pre draft so my grades may have a little bias.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(Yesterday, 09:09 PM)bfine32 Wrote: I have 0 idea why folks are downgrading the Knight pick because he's 25. We've got him for 4-years and we're not in the middle of a long rebuild. If he's too old at 29 in 4-years let him walk and get another one. I'm worried about how he'll do over the next couple years, not the next decade.

As to the draft the only fine favs on it are Stewart and Fairchild. But I dig that everyone appears to be of high quality and only 1 (Rivers) comes with injury concerns.

I'll give it a B-  

For us him being 25 honestly doesn't matter as much I guess as we won't extend him anyways no matter how good he is.

I just think we could of traded back and still got the guy because other teams would hold his age against him more than we would.

[Clark W Griswold]

(Yesterday, 08:37 PM)George Cantstandya Wrote: I've seen some people post their grades in various threads.  Thought I'd make a poll for a more central location.

I appreciate the discussion and knowledge shared from those that participated here during this years draft.  

I provided a fair amount of discussion and absolutely zero knowledge but you are welcome any ways.

[Gdale_Bengal]

Not too thrilled over all.
I’ve got nothing against Knight as I think he will be a good player, but if you can’t trade back for picks and I believe he would still be available, there was Ratledge if staying put, and this team should always prioritize protecting Burrow over everything else. To me, the Knight pick looks worse because of that.

It would have been really cool to double up at guard on day 2 with Fairchild to really shore up the IOL imo. I feel like they couldn’t afford to have waited until round 4 to get lb.

Shemars tape is exciting, but like, it’s all filler, no stats? If Golden can help him develop some moves and learn how to finish, then he’s a great puck. This team has struggled to develop DL though, I’m worried.

I’ll give it a C. I’m not thrilled. I don’t think they want to win immediately with this draft.

[*bfine32*]

(Yesterday, 09:14 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: For us him being 25 honestly doesn't matter as much I guess as we won't extend him anyways no matter how good he is.

I just think we could of traded back and still got the guy because other teams would hold his age against him more than we would.

It's who your new DC wanted. Not sure trading back to pick up a late rounder is worth the risk. 

I get folks are mad. I'm not sure why, we got some good prospects in positions of need

[M.W.]

I went with a B; I like the positions drafted in the nearly every round. I have enough confidence in this team to believe that they picked good fits. Trenches on offense and defense with a couple LB and a RB sounds good to me.  I look forward to camp news and preseason action.

[Clark W Griswold]

Gave it a C because I like the players they took but there were some guys I liked better at some of those spots. Also would have liked to have added a safety somewhere.
Stewart will be interesting because he is no sure thing but I get why they did not want to pass on that talent in an area of need.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(Yesterday, 09:22 PM)bfine32 Wrote: It's who your new DC wanted. Not sure trading back to pick up a late rounder is worth the risk. 

I get folks are mad. I'm not sure why, we got some good prospects in positions of need

I'm not mad at all. Just not as flashy or the exact players I wanted like most fans I think lol

Sucks just having 6 picks.

[AtomicBlaze]

The draft was weird, I feel like we got decent players but not at good value. I think most other teams had better drafts. I would have tried to solidify the o-line at all costs. We improved depth but not sure we got better.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

The thing is when you look at all these players for so long and you see all your favorite guys going to other teams it makes you
think lesser of your own Draft even if it is unfair.

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(Yesterday, 09:14 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: For us him being 25 honestly doesn't matter as much I guess as we won't extend him anyways no matter how good he is.

I just think we could of traded back and still got the guy because other teams would hold his age against him more than we would.

The age is less an issue about extensions (though you do only have about 3 years before he starts declining athletically) and more about did he look good because he was a grown man with 6 years of college football experience and knowledge going up against 20-year-olds still growing into their professional athletetic bodies with 2 years of college football experience and knowledge.

He never even reached 20 tackles in a season until his 5th year in when he was an adult closing in on half a decade of experience playing against kids.

[sandwedge]

I gave it a B.
Wasn't the biggest fan of Stewarts. But he's ours's now, so wait and see.
Love the Knight and Fairchild (2nd team All American) picks!
Good with Carter and Rivers after viewing some film on them
Brooks is a beast and will be RB2 before the end of the season if not sooner.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(Yesterday, 09:34 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: The age is less an issue about extensions (though you do only have about 3 years before he starts declining athletically) and more about did he look good because he was a grown man with 6 years of college football experience and knowledge going up against 20-year-olds still growing into their professional athletetic bodies with 2 years of college football experience and knowledge.

He never even reached 20 tackles in a season until his 5th year in when he was an adult closing in on half a decade of experience playing against kids.

So he is hitting his prime...

[Nepa]

This was one of the hardest drafts ever to grade.

Analysts say Stewart has a low floor, high ceiling, and was a swing-for-the-fences pick. How do we possibly know what we are getting with this kid? If we get the high ceiling, it is an A+ pick. If we get the low floor, 1.5 sacks/season version, it is an F for a pick 17. I would have preferred a surer pick, given I want this to be a Super Bowl year and don't want to develop a first-round pick, but, fingers-crossed, maybe Golden can develop him and then it is a great pick. But, how do we know? 

Regarding Knight, I would like to know whether the Bengals even tried to trade back. Houston moved one spot ahead of the Bengals and gave up a pick 99 (end of third round, as it turned out) and if the Bengals made that trade they would have only had to move back 9 spots. I find the odds of Knight not be available 9 spots later to be very slim and the reward of gaining a pick 99 to be great. That is a benefit/risk ratio that seems to greatly favor making such a trade. Did they try? I like the pick, but I would like to know whether they were trying to pick up more picks.

The analysis of the guard they picked in the third was that he needs some development. One said Peters would have to "work his magic." It doesn't seem he is plug and play. But, maybe they can get him ready by the start of the season. Just very hard to tell at this point, because he needs some development.

Overall, too many questions. I gave a rating of a C because so hard to grade (but I wanted to see others' grades, which required me to put in a grade).

[Joelist]

I saw different analysis - Fairchild is plug and play. Rivers needs coaching up. On the two LB Knight and Carter are both VERY fast and able to play 3 downs. Tahj Brooks is a bog bruiser with a bit of speed. Stewart is the wild card.