After its debut season led by first-rounder Myles Murphy, the Cincinnati Bengals draft class returns pretty rave reviews.
It was far from perfect, but looking at the draft class over the long term, it looks like Duke Tobin and Co. might have a hit.
That’s the consensus from NFL.com’s Chad Reuter, who gives the draft class a “B+” grade after the season and especially liked the Day 2 showings:
On the other hand, the Bengals needed both Day 2 picks to step into big roles right away, thanks to veteran departures in the secondary last offseason. Battle was thrown into the fire in the second half of the year and acquitted himself nicely, making plays against the run and pass. Turner’s athleticism was obvious, and he did not shy from contact, but the rookie gave up three touchdowns in the final four games and missed several tackles through the season, according to Pro Football Focus. He’ll need to clean things up in Year 2 to be an above-average NFL starter.
That’s a good summary — DJ Turner and Jordan Battle had their obvious mistakes, but both appear to be starters for the secondary from here.
Same story with Murphy, who didn’t break into the rotation in a notable way until late in the season, yet showed some serious signs he can be an every-down contributor.
Wideouts Charlie Jones and Andrei Iosivas, as well as running back Chase Brown, also suggested in small sample sizes that they could have bigger roles as soon as next year.
Meaning, if things keep trending this way, the draft grade could actually improve in future years, which would be nothing but a good thing for a team that wants to keep its contention window open as long as possible.
