The Cincinnati Bengals completed the 2025 NFL Draft and now all the experts are weighing in with opinions and grades as if any of them know how good any of these players will be. These should all be taken with a grain of salt because, remember, someone gave the 2012 Seattle Seahawks an “F” right after the draft and two of their first three picks are likely Hall of Famers (Bobby Wagner, Russell Wilson). Looking for more opinions on the Bengals draft? You can find more on that right here, here and here.
Instead of offering his person opinion, Mike Sando of The Athletic talked to a few NFL executives to get their take on the recent draft and how certain teams fared.
What did the execs think of Shemar?
“Let the debate rage over whether the Bengals were wise to use their first-round pick for Texas A&M defensive end Shemar Stewart, who had 1.5 sacks in each of his three college seasons,” Sando writes.
“He is the epitome of a high-risk pick with bust potential,” one exec said. “People are going to say Von Miller, but he doesn’t make many plays. Runs (fast), and there is no production.”
“To each his own, right?,” Sando continued.
“It is not all sack production,” another exec said. “It is total pressures, pressure rate and then physically, it’s their three-cone, their 10-yard shuttle, broad jump, those things. The dude the Bengals took had very low sack numbers but was back there all the time.”
Did they reach in the first round for pass rush?
The consensus seems to be that the Bengals desperately needed pass rush help (especially if they could potentially lose Trey Hendrickson). Whether or not Shemar Stewart fills that need for them remains to be seen.
“The Bengals’ current top pass rusher, Trey Hendrickson, had 23 sacks over his final two college seasons at Florida Atlantic,” Sando continues.
“They had to have someone opposite Hendrickson,” the second exec said. “(Sam) Hubbard retired. That is just straight need, and they took the big 4-3 edge rusher on the board at the time.”
“Another exec saw the Bengals emphasizing traits, which can heighten risk.
“They did it with the middle linebacker (Demetrius Knight Jr.) too,” this exec said. “He is not really complete, but he is a b—- coming downhill and whacking people. Where they picked and where they are as a team is different. Anytime you’ve got a quarterback like Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Tom Brady and those guys, you can take some risks because they will fix it for you.”
Based on Burrow’s reaction in post-game press conferences last season, he doesn’t seem to be all that thrilled at fixing a team with too many holes to fix. Some of these critiques might bite a bit, but again, no one knows much of anything at this point.
NFL Executives Weigh in on Cincinnati Bengals Draft