Cincinnati Bengals Hidden Gems: 3 Secret Superstars on the 2025 roster

Which three Secret Superstars might help the 2025 Bengals out of a debacle of their own making?

Like many of us, the Cincinnati Bengals have first-class aspirations that they try to cover with economy budgets.

Unlike many of us, the Cincinnati Bengals are doing this despite the fact that they share in a revenue pool from a sport that is a license to print money, and will become even more so in the next few years as broadcast and streaming deals become more and more profitable.

In a recent interview for Athlon Sports with the great ESPN writer Seth Wickersham, Seth told me that he heard from one team president who told him that despite the insane money NFL teams have to play with, some of them are run like “billion-dollar lemonade stands” as opposed to Fortune 500 companies.

It’s abundantly true, and it’s also where the Bengals come in. The same franchise that was once parsimonious enough to view scouting departments as utterly fungible is now lowballing its best defensive player in Trey Hendrickson, and its first-round defensive star in Shemar Stewart, despite a defense that bottomed out at 27th in Defensive DVOA last season.

In both cases, the contentions make no sense. With little around him in 2024, Hendrickson had 18 sacks, 16 quarterback hits, 49 quarterback hurries, 19 tackles for loss, and two forced fumbles. Paying Hendrickson what he’s worth should be a complete no-brainer. And in Stewart’s case, there’s a pretty long road before his pass-rush moves catch up with his raw athleticism. This is a guy who needs as many reps as possible, and he’s not getting them, because he’s not practicing, because the Bengals are wetting the bed over void language in Stewart’s contract.

So, while the team did re-up receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins this offseason, things aren’t really optimal on both sides of the ball, as management once again becomes that one top-heavy person you pray will be the sucker in your fantasy league.

If the Bengals are to transcend their own stubbed toes (as has been the case for time immemorial), some Secret Superstars are going to have to step up. In the continuation of our “Hidden Gems” series, we look at one underrated veteran, free-agent signing, and draft pick who might help take this sad song and make it at least a little bit better.

Underrated Veteran: CB DJ Turner II

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As we all know, there are times when track speed shows up on tape, and other times when it very definitely doesn’t. In the case of DJ Turner II, it’s all coming together.

In 2024, the second-year man from Michigan who was selected with the 60th overall pick in the 2023 draft allowed 19 catches on 38 targets for 234 yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions, eight pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 69.4 — the lowest among any member of the Bengals secondary with 10 or more targets.

Quite an upgrade over Turner’s rookie season, when he gave up 37 catches on 66 targets for 672 yards, five touchdowns, no interceptions, eight pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 116.5 — the highest among any member of the Bengals secondary with 10 or more targets.

What changed? In 2023, Turner had not yet learned to use his speed (which is utterly ridiculous; he ran a 4.26 40-yard dash with a 1.47-second 10-yard split at the scouting combine) in his transitions, especially when matching receivers upfield. There were simply too many instances in which Turner was left embarrassed by experienced NFL receivers, despite the fact that he almost always had the speed advantage.

In 2024, with a year of NFL rigors under his belt, this was not a problem.

Turner lost the last six games of the 2024 season to a broken collarbone, but he’s ready to go now, and could build even more on an outstanding second NFL campaign. Obviously, the Bengals could use that.

Underrated Free-Agent Signing: DI Tedarrell Slaton

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We’ve already talked about the Bengals’ current edge-rusher inefficiency of their own making; things aren’t exactly at a championship level along the interior defensive line, either. Stalwart B.J. Hill is still a good player coming into his eighth NFL season, but outside of his presence, there aren’t a lot of force multipliers there.

Which is why the acquisition of former Green Bay Packers interior defensive lineman Tedarrell Slaton on a two-year, $14.1 million deal with $5 million guaranteed could be a spicy meatball. Last season in just 194 pass-rushing snaps, the fourth-year man from Florida had a sack and 17 total pressures, and as a run defender, he showed the ability to hurtle into the backfield at 6’5 and 340 pounds with alarming quickness for his size. Slaton ranked first in the NFL last season among interior defensive linemen in Run Stop Win Rate, and it shows up on his tape.

Slaton can also knife through double teams at times like a hot knife. He’s especially happy to reunite with Jerry Montgomery, who begins his time as Cincinnati’s defensive line coach, and had Slaton in Green Bay from 2021-2023.

“He helped me with the standard,” Slaton said of Montgomery after the signing happened. “What it means to stick around in this league. The time you have to put in to be able to get the results you want out of the game. He instilled a lot of stuff that wasn’t really there at first. It’s good to be able to reunite with someone who kind of built me as a player. He had words of wisdom.”

Montgomery was eventually okay with moving the great Kenny Clark around and away from the nose tackle position because of Slaton’s development with the Packers, which says a lot.

“It’s always good to have a guy in there who plays the way you need him to play and he’s stout,” Montgomery said. “He can take two. Kill single blocks. When he’s really playing well, he can push the pocket on early downs and affect the quarterback.”

Packers linebacker D’Vondre Campbell once said of Slaton that if he kept playing like he was playing, somebody would have to back up the Brinks truck for him. Which gave Slaton his nickname: “The Truck.”

The name is based on more than just the money. It fits the play style, too.

Underrated Draft Pick: RB Tahj Brooks

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The 2024 Bengals were not a running team. Their run rate of 35.2% ranked 31st in the league; only the Cleveland Browns ran the ball at a lower rate (35.0%). Cincinnati ranked 29th in rushing yards per game (94.6), 20th in yards per carry (4.1), 16th in EPA per run play (-0.05), 28th in runs of 10 or more yards (40), 27th in rushing success rate (38.2%), 19th in rushing yards over expected (+24), and 19th in yards after contact per carry (3.04).

This despite the fact that because the Bengals were so pass-heavy, they faced stacked boxes (eight or more defenders in the box) on just 19.5% of opponent defensive snaps.

Not exactly ideal for your offensive balance. Of course, when you have Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins, balance is a relative term, but it’s always nice to have some explosive smashmouth in your quiver when it’s needed.

Which may be where sixth-round pick Tajh Brooks fits in. Ostensibly, Brooks will have to compete in the RB room with Chase Brown, Zack Moss, and Samaje Perine, but there’s some spice to the rice here. Over the last two seasons for Texas Tech, Brooks ran the ball an insane 633 times for 3,043 yards, 27 touchdowns, and 154 forced missed tackles. At 5’9 and 214 pounds, Brooks can bring the barbells when he’s running gap or inside zone, but the most remarkable aspect of his running style is how well he can bounce outside and make second-level defenders pay for their insolence.

Brooks also caught 28 passes for 199 yards and a touchdown last season, and he’s a plus-level blocker in pass protection, so an every-down role is not out of the question down the road.

“I feel like I am an all-around back,” Brooks said of his attributes. “I’m very versatile. I can catch the ball out of the backfield, I’m very explosive in the run game and I have very solid hands in pass pro. That’s something you see on my tape a lot.”

Add in the fact that Bengals running backs coach Justin Hill tried to recruit Brooks to Tulsa back in the day when Hill was running backs coach and run game coordinator there, and this seems like an ideal fit.

So Tajh Brooks might not be the workhorse back in the NFL that he eventually became in college, but if it happens over time again, don’t be too surprised.

(All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus, NFL Pro, and Sports Info Solutions).