Team Profile
Cincinnati Bengals
-
12% 10thOff DVOA
-
33.8% 5thPassing DVOA
-
-14.6% 27thRushing DVOA
-
7.1% 26thDef DVOA
-
13.4% 22ndDef Passing DVOA
-
0.2% 23rdDef Rushing DVOA
2024 Team Stats
-
Points For27.1 5th
-
Points Against26.3 26th
-
Yards Per Game345.0 12th
-
Yards Allowed Per Game348.0 23rd
Cincinnati Bengals rookie tight end Erick All Jr. (knee) passed his physical and was cleared to practice. The 2024 fourth-round pick landed on the active/Non-Football Injury list after tearing his ACL during his final year at the University of Iowa. However, as expected, Cincy took the cautious approach by taking things slow with All's rehab process. The Bengals have Mike Gesicki and Drew Sample ahead of him on the depth chart. While that likely means All won't make an immediate impact for fantasy managers in redraft leagues this year, there is stash potential for those participating in dynasty formats.
Since the beginning of the Cincinnati Bengals training camp, Chase Brown has taken the majority of reps as the starting running back with the first-team offense. If Brown is indeed the preferred option to lead Zac Taylor's offense, fantasy managers are not drafting him high enough. The former Illinois product is currently the RB37 (No. 113 in ADP), while his backfield mate Zack Moss is going 20 picks before him -- the RB31 -- as the presumed lead back in the Bengals offense. It is presently unclear if Brown has superseded Moss in Cincinnati's pecking order, but this will obviously be a situation to monitor as we encroach on Week 1. Before Joe Burrow fell victim to multiple hindering injuries last season, the Bengals ranked in the top ten each of the prior two seasons in team points per game. Regardless of who the lead back is going into 2024, this should be an offense that presents many scoring opportunities.
With Cincinnati Bengals star wideout Ja'Marr Chase holding out early on in training camp, Andrei Iosivas has taken advantage of extra opportunities in practice and has been impressive. Iosivas spent the entire day on Wednesday working out of the slot for the first time in his life and looked like he belonged. He moved back outside on Thursday and caught everything thrown his way. The former sixth-rounder last year made significant strides in the offseason thanks to work with receivers coach Drew Lieberman in Atlanta. "He had a great spring," wide receivers coach Troy Walters said. "You want to get your best three players on the field. Right now, he's probably No. 3 and playing well." Iosivas will be competing with Jermaine Burton for the No. 3 job and could see a Year 2 leap if he wins the job.
Cincinnati Bengals star wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase is not practicing on Thursday for the second consecutive day. He was seen standing on the sidelines in uniform but with no helmet. It appears to be a "hold in" for Chase, who is seeking a new contract as he enters his fourth season with the Bengals. He's scheduled to make $1 million in base salary this season and $4.86 million overall, but general manager Mike Brown didn't make it sound imminent that an agreement on an extension would be reached this week. The 24-year-old superstar wideout remains a consensus top-five pick in fantasy drafts this summer, and it's not time to adjust his ADP for this development quite yet. Last year, Chase closed as the WR11 overall in full-PPR fantasy points per game (16.4) over 16 appearances for Cincinnati.
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins was franchise-tagged this offseason, and he requested a trade early in the process ahead of free agency. He ultimately decided to sign the franchise tag and stay put in 2024, but he knows this could be his last season with Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, and the organization. "This could be the last ride for me and the guys," Higgins said. "You never know. Instead of holding out and waiting and just watching from afar, I'd rather be in the mix with the guys and grind it out with them. That's how I've always been." The former second-round pick out of Clemson has been productive since entering the league in 2020, but he has battled injuries often and struggled to deliver a truly elite season while sharing targets with Chase. While his ceiling is likely capped in the WR2 range, a healthy Burrow could make him a draft steal at his ADP around the WR30 spot heading into his fifth NFL season. If he enters free agency next year, expect him to be highly sought after given the booming wide receiver market in today's NFL.