{"id":277051,"date":"2025-08-10T13:58:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-10T13:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/277051\/"},"modified":"2025-08-10T13:58:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-10T13:58:09","slug":"cincinnati-bengals-rookie-grades-after-preseason-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/277051\/","title":{"rendered":"Cincinnati Bengals rookie grades after preseason debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cincinnati Bengals<\/a> rookies were a major focal point of the team\u2019s first preseason game in Week 1.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While that\u2019s usually the case, this year was a more dramatic example than in years past for a roster that doesn\u2019t usually put rookies in big roles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That changes in 2025, with the first preseason game as proof. Here are some rookie grades from the game against the Philadelphia Eagles<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Shemar Stewart, edge: B<\/p>\n

Stewart wasn\u2019t perfect, which social media is sure to point out. He had some problems rushing the passer at times while working with the second team. And yet\u2026the first-rounder was still far ahead of where most probably thought he would be after missing a chunk of time during his contract dispute. The coaches are already kicking him inside and across formations and it only feels like a matter of time before he\u2019s promoted to the starting rotation this preseason.\u00a0<\/p>\n

RELATED: Bengals quietly have a problem brewing on the offensive line again<\/a><\/p>\n

Demetrius Knight Jr., LB: B<\/p>\n

Steady is the word that comes to mind with Knight. No major flashes, but seemingly no major issues, either. That\u2019s a big deal for an older rookie being trusted to come in and start right away next to Logan Wilson now that Germaine Pratt is gone.<\/p>\n

Dylan Fairchild, G: B<\/p>\n

Like Knight, Fairchild didn\u2019t stick out much one way or another. And for Bengals<\/a> fans who have long suffered through poor guard play, that\u2019s an excellent thing. This is especially the case when free-agent signing Lucas Patrick notably struggled at times against the Eagles (though he is working back from an injury).<\/p>\n

Barrett Carter, LB: B<\/p>\n

Fun moment for Carter against the Eagles when he picked up his first NFL sack<\/a>. He\u2019s still projected as a rotational, subpackage player in the Akeem Davis-Gaither vein. Some of the versatility was on display already.<\/p>\n

Jalen Rivers, OL: C<\/p>\n

Rivers is struggling so far. He\u2019s been getting some notable usage in training camp, but he\u2019s got a climb to make the final roster. There are glimpses of swing-tackle backup status, if not a move to guard.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tahj Brooks, RB: A<\/p>\n

Brooks has quietly been a star of training camp and it showed up on the field, too. He\u2019s looking versatile out of the backfield and even his smaller runs behind a struggling line filled with backups showed promise of decisiveness. Sixth-rounder or not, he\u2019s on the path to the 53.\u00a0<\/p>\n

RELATED: Bengals’ Tee Higgins playing key role in mentoring Jermaine Burton<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cincinnati Bengals rookies were a major focal point of the team\u2019s first preseason game in Week 1.\u00a0 While…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":277052,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2053],"tags":[247,265,228,53616,19870,12672,227,256,2296,25,7,10802,2977,20842,7515,14705,1184,7788,4444,10536,10142,246,88,6,35196,245,264,858,242,109,10803,1602,2517,9,266,2359,1434],"class_list":{"0":"post-277051","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cincinnati-bengals","8":"tag-american","9":"tag-american-football","10":"tag-bengals","11":"tag-breanna","12":"tag-breanna-stewart","13":"tag-burton","14":"tag-cincinnati","15":"tag-cincinnati-bengals","16":"tag-cincinnatibengals","17":"tag-eagles","18":"tag-football","19":"tag-germaine","20":"tag-germaine-pratt","21":"tag-hub","22":"tag-jermaine","23":"tag-jermaine-burton","24":"tag-listicle","25":"tag-logan","26":"tag-logan-wilson","27":"tag-lucas","28":"tag-lucas-patrick","29":"tag-neutral","30":"tag-news","31":"tag-nfl","32":"tag-nfl-hub","33":"tag-overall","34":"tag-overall-neutral","35":"tag-patrick","36":"tag-philadelphia","37":"tag-philadelphia-eagles","38":"tag-pratt","39":"tag-smg","40":"tag-smg-listicle","41":"tag-sports","42":"tag-sports-news","43":"tag-stewart","44":"tag-wilson"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115004827864273583","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}