Bengals' 2025 Draft Gamble Still Haunting Them as Emmanwori Shines for Seahawks
The 2026 NFL Honors came and went-and once again, the Cincinnati Bengals were left standing in the shadows. No major accolades.
No Hall of Fame nods. And for many around the league, that wasn’t exactly a shock.
The Bengals are still fighting a long-standing reputation for being a franchise that just can’t quite get out of its own way.
And while that might sound harsh, the evidence keeps piling up. Case in point: the Bengals’ decision to draft defensive end Shemar Stewart with the 17th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
A swing-for-the-fences move on a raw, athletic pass rusher. But in doing so, they passed on a player who’s now proving to be one of the most dynamic defenders in the league-Seattle’s breakout nickelback, Nick Emmanwori.
Emmanwori: A Star Cincinnati Could’ve Had
In the lead-up to Super Bowl LX, Emmanwori spoke candidly about his draft experience, listing the Bengals as one of five teams that showed serious interest in selecting him in the first round. “I thought it was going to be the Seahawks, Bengals, Bills, Commanders, and the Eagles,” he said.
But when Cincinnati went on the clock at 17, they opted for Stewart. Seattle, sitting right behind them at 18, went with offensive lineman Grey Zabel and later circled back to snag Emmanwori with the 35th pick in the second round.
Now, less than a year later, Emmanwori is a key cog in one of the league’s most complex and versatile defenses. Seattle had a plan for him from day one: plug him in at nickelback, let him use his elite athleticism and instincts to wreak havoc, and build a defense around his flexibility.
The result? A rising star who’s already earning praise as one of the league’s top defenders-regardless of position.
It’s hard not to look back at Cincinnati’s decision and wonder what might’ve been.
The Bengals’ Ongoing Struggles with Player Development
This isn’t just about missing on a player. It’s about a pattern. The Bengals have struggled to identify and develop talent in key areas, and nowhere was that more evident than in their handling of the nickelback position in 2025.
Cincinnati entered the season without a clear plan at nickel. Dax Hill, their 2022 first-round pick, was slotted in there-his third different starting role in as many seasons.
Coming off a torn ACL and more comfortable on the outside, Hill was miscast yet again. It wasn’t until late in the year that the Bengals finally made a change, promoting veteran Jalen Davis from the practice squad and moving Hill back to the boundary, where he looked far more natural.
By then, though, the damage was done. The defense had already cratered, and with Joe Burrow sidelined for much of the year, the team’s playoff hopes never got off the ground.
What If?
It’s fair to ask: would Emmanwori have thrived in Cincinnati the way he has in Seattle? That’s a tougher question.
The Bengals’ track record with young defenders is mixed at best. It took them three years to unlock anything close to consistent production from Myles Murphy, their 2023 first-round edge rusher.
And Hill’s development has been a rollercoaster. There’s no guarantee Cincinnati would’ve known how to use Emmanwori, let alone maximize his potential.
But the raw tools were there. Emmanwori posted a perfect 10.00 Relative Athletic Score (RAS), ranking first out of over 1,200 strong safeties since 1987.
That’s rarefied air. Stewart, to his credit, also earned a 10.00 RAS among edge rushers, showing just how freakishly athletic both players are.
The difference? One landed in a system that had a clear vision and plan.
The other was thrown into a defense still trying to figure out its identity.
Draft Decisions That Still Sting
It wasn’t just Emmanwori. The Bengals also passed on Xavier Watts, the Notre Dame safety many fans hoped would reunite with his former college coordinator, Al Golden, who’s now calling the shots on defense in Cincinnati.
Watts slid to pick No. 96, where Atlanta scooped him up to play alongside former Bengal Jessie Bates. Meanwhile, Cincinnati used its second-rounder on linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr.-a player who struggled mightily as a rookie and, even with a solid Year 2 jump, would likely top out as a below-average starter.
That’s a tough pill to swallow when you consider what Emmanwori or Watts could’ve brought to a secondary still searching for answers.
The Bigger Picture
What all of this underscores is a deeper issue within the Bengals’ football operation: a lack of cohesive vision. From draft strategy to player development, the team too often feels like it’s playing catch-up.
They’ve had success, no doubt-Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and others have helped elevate the franchise. But the margin for error in the AFC is razor-thin, and every missed opportunity matters.
Seattle saw something in Emmanwori and built a role around him. Cincinnati saw the same potential-but went a different direction. And now, as the Seahawks prepare to play on the league’s biggest stage, the Bengals are left wondering what could’ve been.
The hope in Cincinnati is that Stewart develops into the disruptive force they envisioned. But right now, the early returns suggest they passed on a defensive cornerstone to take a gamble. And in today’s NFL, that’s the kind of decision that can define a franchise-for better or worse.