Arkansas Bengal Posted February 18 Report Share Posted February 18 Published: Feb 16, 2024 at 03:06 PM by Eric Edholm & Chad Reuter In a matter of months, the 2024 NFL Draft will usher a new wave of talent into the league. Before we get there, though, Eric Edholm and Chad Reuter are taking a team-by-team look back at the rookie class of 2023. Upon the completion of this series, Edholm and Reuter collaborated to officially rank every group, from 1 to 32. Here's the pecking order. Rank 7 Cincinnati Bengals Class grade: B+ Round 1 (No. 28) Myles Murphy, DE | 17 games/0 starts Round 2 (60) DJ Turner II, CB | 17 games/12 starts Round 3 (95) Jordan Battle, S | 17 games/7 starts Round 4 (131) Charlie Jones, WR | 11 games/0 starts Round 5 (163) Chase Brown, RB | 12 games/0 starts Round 6 (206) Andrei Iosivas, WR | 16 games/1 start (217) Brad Robbins, P | 17 games Round 7 (246) D.J. Ivey, CB | 8 games/0 starts REUTER: With Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard in place, Murphy would not have been expected to start as a rookie. He earned more snaps as the season went on, though, ending the year with 20 tackles and three sacks. With Hubbard (28) and Hendrickson (29) on the older end of the spectrum, the Bengals would surely love for Murphy to continue his growth and develop into someone who could take the pass-rush reins at some point. 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. The three skill-position players picked on Saturday were nice hits. Iosivas scored four times on 15 receptions. Brown fought through a hamstring injury early on, then played like the back who starred at Illinois while he was giving Joe Mixon a breather during the second half of the year. Jones did well as a punt returner, scoring once, and then caught six passes over the last month of the season. Robbins ranked near the bottom of the league in gross and net punt average, so it's unclear if he'll have the job again in 2024. https://www.nfl.com/news/2023-nfl-rookie-grades-ranking-the-classes-1-to-32 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.