Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor offered some final words at the end of 2025 NFL Draft weekend and reflected on the process and the team’s selections.
“I’m really excited about the six players we drafted,” Taylor said. “I think they all fit us really well from a player standpoint, with what their abilities are, and from a character standpoint — how they’re going to fit in the locker room. I’m really impressed with this class, and I think we walked away (from the draft) having made our team a lot better over the last three days. I’m really excited about it.”
Taylor was asked if there was a running theme during the draft process. Was it character? Physicality?
“I think the theme is that they love football — all six of these guys — as I’ve gotten to know them. That’s what you take away. They just love talking football, they love being around football, they love being around their teammates. They made huge impacts at the programs that they were at. And by huge impact, I mean not only on the field, but the way that people talked about them off the field. You could feel the impacts they made there. That means something to us.”
Was that a departure from previous drafts?
“No, I can think of several classes that fit the same description. It’s just the way it fell at the times that we were picking. But again, it’s a group of six men that I’m really excited about.”
Taylor talks running back
The Bengals selected Tahj Brooks from Texas Tech in the sixth round. According to Jason Garrison of CincyJungle.com, Brooks was extremely productive in college.
“He finished with 4,560 yards on the ground over the last four years, which makes him Texas Tech’s all-time leading rusher,” Garrison writes. “He has the fourth most yards in Big 12 history, behind former Bengal Cedric Benson, Ricky Williams, and Darren Sproles,”
Taylor had high praise for the young running back and emphasized the importance having a good mix of backs in the building.
“Tough, great lateral quickness, good ball skills, can protect for us as well,” Taylor continued. “Really, just a good all-around player. Our running backs coach (Justin Hill) knew him from the pre-draft process years ago. This was a good class (of running backs), and Tahj was one we were really, really high on from a scout’s and coach’s perspective. For him to be there in the sixth round when we got him, we’re really lucky that he fell to us at that point. I think that we have a good mix of running backs in our room — all shapes and sizes, all abilities. So it’s really good to get a mix of those guys in there.”
Taylor addresses the linebacker situation
The Bengals double dipped at linebacker in this draft by taking Demetrius Knight, Jr. from South Carolina and Barrett Carter from Clemson.
“They were two really good players that we were really high on, in Demetrius (Knight Jr.) and Barrett (Carter),” Taylor said. “We just really felt like they could come in a affect us. We had high grades on them. They really fit needs for us, we felt.”
Taylor was then asked if this felt like 2020 when he took a couple of linebackers high.
“There moments like that, yes, very much so, where you’re really crossing your fingers for a lot of picks (in a row), waiting for Logan (Wilson) and Akeem (Davis-Gaither) in 2020,” he said. “And now, we get these two guys in Demetrius and Barrett, that I feel like will impact us, and we’re excited about that.”
Taylor emphasized the importance of leadership in his incoming players.
“I think that adding good people that have leadership qualities is never a bad thing for us. I think these guys will have to prove themselves first and foremost to this team, but I believe that once they do that, they’ll be able to take on roles for us.”
Taylor then addressed the reinvention of the defense and how he’s excited to move forward.
“We can go play football now,” he said. “Obviously our players don’t know any of the scheme yet — we haven’t gotten to that piece yet (laughing) — but we can put a depth chart out there and feel really good about where we’re at. That’s a big piece that helps us sleep well at night now. And it’s with guys that we’re excited about. We already had guys currently on the roster that really got us excited, then we just added these three on defense. We feel really good about it now, let’s go implement the scheme, get guys comfortable and go play ball.”
Taylor talks offensive line
The Bengals added a pair of offensive linemen in Jalen Rivers from the University of Miami and Dylan Fairchild from the University of Georgia.
“I think those guys will come in here and compete,” Taylor said. “It’s really good. Obviously, Dylan is more guard. Jalen, as you’ve heard, has flexibility. He’ll come in and provide that for us as well. I think those are two guys that we spent a lot of time on. Jalen came in here and we got a chance to talk to him face-to-face in my office and throughout the building. Dylan, obviously our guys went down to Georgia and spent extra time with him as well. We had him in the Combine formal. So, two guys that we did a lot of work on and felt really good about. So, again, we’re very pleased to add them to the group.”
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Bengals’ Zac Taylor Reflects on the Draft