Here’s a recap of every Bengals pick made in the 2025 NFL Draft.
The 2025 Cincinnati Bengals draft class is complete!
Below is a recap of all six selections made throughout the three-day event.
- Round 1: No. 17 overall: Shemar Stewart, DE, Texas A&M
- Round 2: No. 49 overall: Demetrius Knight, LB, South Carolina
- Round 3: No. 81 overall: Dylan Fairchild, OG, Georgia
- Round 4: No. 119 overall: Barrett Carter, LB, Clemson
- Round 5: No. 153 overall: Jalen Rivers, OL, Miami
- Round 6: No. 193 overall: Tahj Brooks, RB, Texas Tech
The Cincinnati Bengals have plenty of work to do in the 2025 NFL Draft. They have the 17th overall pick in the first round and six selections overall entering the draft.
This team looks to have a defensive overhaul after parting ways with defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, who was popular for containing top quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. The issues came with stopping anyone last season, as they commonly lost despite scoring 30 points — something that doesn’t happen very often.
It was clear that Anarumo resisted easing his system up for young players, and the veterans the team brought in simply weren’t good enough to bridge the gap. Eventually, towards the end of the year, he started playing younger guys and simplifying the system, but the damage was done.
The Bengals look to rectify that by bringing in former linebackers coach (and most recently Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator) Al Golden to lead their much younger defense. The idea is that he would get these young guys who were slow to get going under Anarumo and get them rolling earlier.
That has become more necessary as the team gave wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins sizable contracts. That, along with Joe Burrow’s contract, ties up plenty of money on the offensive side of the ball. When a team does that, you need guys on rookie deals to play at high levels.
That created the expectation of looking for plenty of defense, especially the first pick. Expect them to take a difference-maker with pass-rush ability. They severely lacked that outside of Trey Hendrickson (who is in the middle of a contract dispute). In order to run Golden’s heavy man defense, you need to be able to get pressure on the quarterback.
It also wouldn’t be surprising to see the team move back at some point to recoup a selection they spent trading for Khalil Herbert last season. Getting back up to seven picks would be nice, especially in a draft where the guys after the blue-chip players have such a wide variety of opinions from around the league.
