Bengals Bye Week Awards: Most Improved Returning Player

With the bye week here, it’s time for some awards for the Cincinnati Bengals through the first five games of the 2026 season, starting with the most improved player.

The 2025 defense gave up 28.9 points a game, ranking 30th in the NFL. Through five games in 2026, it’s allowing 21.8 points per game, which ranks 11th. A lot of that is the new additions up front, but some of the guys who were here last year have grown up, too.

Only players who were on the 2025 roster qualify for this one.

Barrett Carter, LB

2025: 106 tackles, zero sacks, one tackle for loss in 17 games. 2026: 41 tackles, 1.5 sacks, four tackles for loss and a forced fumble in five. He already has four times last season’s TFL total in less than a third of the games, and he’s playing more like a three-down linebacker.

Dax Hill, CB

2025: one interception, 11 passes defensed, no forced fumbles in 17 games. 2026: five passes defensed and a forced fumble in five games. That’s a pace of 17 passes defensed. The coaches keep calling Hill a guy who “can do whatever you ask,” and they’ve been asking a lot with the secondary banged up.

Kris Jenkins, DT

2025: 1.5 sacks in 14 games. 2026: two sacks in five games, as part of the rotation behind Dexter Lawrence and Jonathan Allen.

Mike Gesicki, TE

2025: 28 catches, 307 yards, two touchdowns in 13 games. 2026: 12 catches, 159 yards, four touchdowns in five. He’s already doubled last year’s touchdown total.

Jordan Battle, S

2025: 125 tackles, four interceptions. He had four interceptions in all of 2025 and has three already. There are still some tackling issues, but his turnovers have been big momentum-swingers.

Demetrius Knight, LB

2025: 106 tackles, three sacks, two interceptions. Knight has shown improvement thus far and currently has an 81.2 run defense grade from Pro Football Focus, ranking sixth among all linebackers.

And to further the discussion, who’s the returning player you expected to take a leap who hasn’t yet? Shemar Stewart? Myles Murphy?

Make your case in the comments!