Most of the talk around the Cincinnati Bengals currently revolves around Dexter Lawrence. And for good reason. Lawrence is a three-time Pro Bowl selection and two-time second-team All-Pro, who the team acquired in a blockbuster trade that saw the Bengals exchange the No. 10 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
However, one analyst listed free agent acquisition Bryan Cook as the team’s X-Factor. And the reason primarily had to do with the player he’s replacing.
Former Cincinnati Bengals Starter Called Out
While appearing on The Mina Kimes Show ft. Lenny, former NFL scout Brentley Weissman picked an X-Factor for the Cincinnati Bengals in 2026. Weissman selected free agent acquisition Bryan Cook, who is replacing former safety Geno Stone.
Weissman criticized Stone’s play with the Bengals last season as he said: “Geno Stone was awful, I mean, truly terrible. The Bengals allowed the most explosive 20+ yard plays on defense in the NFL. A lot of those plays were long run plays, that was directly because of Geno Stone’s missed tackles. Last year in 2025, he missed 17 tackles, 17% of his attempts he missed, that’s unacceptable. He took poor angles to the football. Just really not a good player as your last line of defense.”
Weissman is not the first to criticize Stone’s play with the Bengals, as Bengals On SI’s Russell Heltman previously wrote:
“The veteran (Stone) was one of the poorest performers on the team over the past two years and a big reason why the Bengals ranked last in yards per play last season. He posted 53.1 and 54.3 Pro Football Focus grades in 2024 and 2025. Stone tallied six interceptions and 10 pass breakups combined the last two seasons, after posting seven picks and nine PBU’s alone in 2023.”
Stone left the Bengals in free agency and signed with the Buffalo Bills
Bryan Cook’s Fit With the Bengals
Regarding how Cook is an improvement over Stone, Weismann added:
“Bryan Cook coming in, look, he’s not Kyle Hamilton or anything like that, but what he provides this defense is a good reliable player in both coverage and run support. Takes good angles to the football. Good open field tackler. And, for me, that improvement over Stone is gonna yield major differences in this defense.”
Additionally Heltman said of Cook’s role with the Bengals: “Cook figures to immediately slot into a starting role with the Bengals after playing great football in Kansas City over the past four years. The new deal makes him the NFL’s 13th-highest-paid safety by average annual value.”
Pro Football Focus ranked Cook as the fourth-best safety in the NFL last season. Heading into free agency, Cook was ranked as the No. 37 free agent available by The Athletic’s Daniel Popper.
Popper wrote of Cook: “Cook is a two-way safety who can play in the deep part of the field and closer to the line of scrimmage. He has a complete skill set: consistent eyes in zone, a deep-field presence, run-and-hit ability in the alley, physicality and a quick trigger on screens and swings. Cook will deliver the boom on tight-window throws over the middle. Though he played mostly as a deep-field safety in coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s Chiefs defense, he has the potential to do more, particularly as a blitzer.”
Former Bengals Starter Called Out: ‘He Was Awful’