The Cincinnati Bengals need a big swing from second-year linebacker Demetrius Knight.
Those Bengals have done nothing but stress belief that young ‘backers Knight and Barrett Carter are heading for big sophomore campaigns.
But Knight’s rookie debut was, in a word, horrendous. The team unceremoniously threw him to the wolves on a bad overall unit before spurring the Logan Wilson trade drama.
The result, as Bradley Locker of Pro Football Focus explained, was catastrophic.
“His 40.2 overall PFF grade ranked 56th out of 59 qualified linebackers in 2025, finishing below a 45.5 mark in both run defense and coverage,” Locker wrote. “The South Carolina product also missed 15% of his tackles, tied for 15th-highest in that contingent.”
Keep in mind that Knight was an older prospect the Bengals took a little earlier than most expected in the hopes it would make him more pro-ready right out of the gates.
That has yet to materialize, but there’s hope: The Bengals beefed up the interior of the defensive line’s depth with Dexter Lawrence and Jonathan Allen. In theory, the linebackers should have more room to read and react before and after the snap.
As Locker writes, though, it will take Knight being able to “unlock another gear” compared to his rookie film for the unit to really be able to turn things around with him at the heart of it.
This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Bengals’ Demetrius Knight challenged to ‘unlock another gear’
Reporting by Chris Roling, Bengals Wire / Bengals Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Chris Roling, Bengals Wire | USA TODAY Network
