CINCINNATI (WXIX) – Defensive line
Starters: Myles Murphy, BJ Hill, TJ Slaton
Free agents: Trey Hendrickson, Joseph Ossai, Cam Sample
Depth: Shemar Stewart, Cedric Johnson, Kris Jenkins, McKinnley Jackson
Adding more pass rush is going to be a big theme of this offseason, and finding ways to add more starting-level players to this room is going to be a focus of every free agency and draft conversation that we’ll have over the next four months.
Today, though, let’s check in on the depth.
Here’s defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery’s assessment of some of the backups.
Montgomery on Jenkins: “He does a good job. He works hard. He does a decent job in the run game. He does a good job of communicating for us on third downs, not that he was an elite rusher, by any means. We missed him. He has good energy and good juice. There’s still growth to be had there.”
Montgomery on Jackson: “He still has a long ways to go. A lot of mistakes have been made. He has to be able to learn from his mistakes. When something happens, you can’t keep letting the same mistake happen over and over again. That’s where being coachable comes in. Hey, you’re stepping the wrong way or you’re getting reached. We’ve got to fix this. This is how we fix it. That can’t keep showing up. Those are the things where he really has to take the next step so he can become a valuable asset. Otherwise, it’s going to be hard for him to get on the field.”
Montgomery on Johnson: “There’s still, still, still so much football for him to learn and grow and develop. Nowhere near where he can be. We’ve got to get him to play faster, stop overthinking and go play football. Get on edges more. He can be physical. Now, we’ve just got to get him to do it.”
Linebacker
Starters (TBD): Barrett Carter, Demetrius Knight
Depth: Joe Giles-Harris, Oren Burks, Shaka Heyward
After rewatching their high and low moments from the second half of the season, the strengths and weaknesses of the rookie linebackers came into focus.
Carter’s best moments this year took place when he got to show off his speed on rushes, blitzes and as a spy to hurry the quarterback (seven splash plays). He has underrated oomph in the phone booth (five splash plays), and he gets off of blocks well to make a play on the ball. He was also much better in the second half of the year at populating the ball as an extra hat for an impact tackle (four splash plays).
On the negative side, Carter allowed 10 plays where his zone awareness, especially on play action passes to tight ends, was capitalized on by the opposing offense. There were also five negative plays that he allowed where he took the eye candy (a trick play, a misdirection or a play action) and sold out to stop the initial action before getting beat. He’ll also need to improve his angles as a tackler (four negative plays) and his finish as a tackle (four impact missed tackles) heading into 2026.
Knight really popped with his ability to be a playmaker against screens, quarterback draws and plays where he needs to be patient at first before triggering quickly to the ball (five total splash plays). The biggest scheme change that helped the defense on third downs after the bye was using Knight on the line of scrimmage in packages that only had three defensive linemen, and Knight proved to be a versatile chess piece on third downs.
Similar to Carter, Knight struggled with misdirection and play action (four splash plats allowed).
The biggest difference between Carter and Knight during the second half of the season was that Carter’s performance was very loud (18 splash plays and 31 negative plays allowed) and Knight’s performance was much quieter (just 12 splash plays and 10 negative plays allowed).
Here’s linebackers coach Mike Hodges on Oren Burks: “He’s one of our vested vets. I lean on him. If I’m trying to communicate something, I’m quick to ask him to say it in your words… He has been good for us in that role. I don’t think he has played to his standard. I know he hasn’t. As a group, we have a lot of room for growth.”
Giles-Harris was fantastic on special teams this season.
Cornerback
Starters: DJ Turner, Dax Hill
Free agents: Jalen Davis, Cam Taylor-Britt, Marco Wilson
Depth: DJ Ivey, Josh Newton
Two years ago, 10 defensive backs played 500+ snaps in the slot. Mike Hilton was the archetype for the position as an elite slot corner who stayed in that role and didn’t move around a ton.
This year, just two defensive backs played 500+ snaps in the slot.
As defenses use more disguises and post-snap rotations and as slot players who can bring size and physicality at the point of attack become more and more valuable against offenses that are throwing more out of two or three tight end sets, versatility can be even more important at the slot position. There’s a reason why Zac Taylor couldn’t stop gushing about Kyle Hamitlon last year — Hamilton’s versatility can make life very difficult for an offense.
The Bengals’ initial plan for 2025 was starting the versatile Dax Hill in the slot. Before the bye week, while he was the starting slot corner, he still lined up out wide for an average of 16 snaps per game. His versatility gave Al Golden some more options, especially when the Bengals were in 4-3 looks on early downs against two tight end sets and Hill kicked out wide. Hill also lined up in a linebacker alignment on 126 plays, on the defensive line for 16 plays and at free safety for 11 plays.
After Taylor-Britt got hurt, Hill kicked outside full-time (he’s expected to stay there in 2026) and Jalen Davis (now a free agent) took over in the slot. Davis was fantastic in his role, but he’s a much less versatile player than Hill is. Davis barely moved out of the slot.
The teams with the best slot corners now have players in that role who can and do move all over the field. Cooper DeJean (Eagles), Jalen Pitre (Texans), Quentin Lake (Rams), Derwin James (Chargers), Nick Emmanwori (Seahawks), Minkah Fitzpatrick (Dolphins), Jalen Ramsey (Steelers) and Kyle Hamilton (Ravens) have all been listed at safeties at different points in their careers, and they each also ranked in the top-30 in slot snaps in the NFL in 2025.
Ideally, your defense has a slot/safety hybrid. The leaderboard of players with the most slot corner snaps in 2025 is filled with players who are still listed as safeties, and that versatility adds value. We’ll circle back to this idea in April as we evaluate Caleb Downs.
Looking at the Bengals’ cornerback depth, every year, you end up needing your fourth cornerback because a starter gets hurt. The first corner on the Bengals’ bench heading into the season between 2020 and 2025 has ended up playing a starter’s level of snaps (between 500 and 1,000) every year. Since Josh Newton really struggled as an outside cover corner in 2025 and since Ivey is best suited in the role of tight end stopper (where he’s elite), the Bengals need another outside corner who they trust in coverage on the roster in 2026.
Safety
Starters: Jordan Battle
Free agents: Geno Stone, Tycen Anderson
Depth: Daijahn Anthony, PJ Jules
The slot corner conversation and the free safety conversation go hand-in-hand. Signs from last year’s scheme point toward Al Golden wanting to make this a more versatile secondary with how the slot corners and safeties are used.
For example, in 2024 under Lou Anarumo, Geno Stone played the most free safety snaps in the league (958) and only blitzed 21 times. In Golden’s defense, Stone blitzed more in 2025, and this year he ranked all the way down at 16th in the league in snaps at free safety (729).
Ideally, the Bengals continue to get more athletic and more versatile at both slot corner and free safety and upgrade the versatility of the defense in 2026.
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