The Bengals were so close to winning it all last season, powered by their high-octane offense led by the pillars of Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Joe Mixon. The good news is that the coaching staff that led them to that point are all returning, and there has been very little roster churn offensively too.
Notable Offseason Moves
Additions
- Hayden Hurst (TE)
Departures
- C.J. Uzomah (TE)
Positional Previews
Notable Players- Joe Burrow
Burrow just took the chains off from his rookie year. The offensive line protected him well enough, and his strong connection with Ja’Marr Chase from college continued into the NFL. With the mix of Tyler Boyd and Tee Higgins at receiver, as well as good production from Joe Mixon, Burrow should be set to have another good season.
The thing is, while he has moved the ball with his legs, he isn’t really a dual-threat which pulls his overall value down slightly. He is in that cluster of QBs that should be considered to be QB1s.
Notable Players- Joe Mixon & Samaje Perine
Mixon finally seems like he has turned a corner in the NFL. After having struggles previously, he is doing well with handling the workload out of the backfield.
Burrow has also used him out of the backfield, which helps him compete for the top of the position when it comes to fantasy scoring. Mixon (injury permitting) should be a top half RB1 this season.
Perine has some value as a backup, having been used to spell Mixon at times. Equally, when Mixon was forced to miss time, Perine was a more than capable stand-in.
Notable Players- Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins & Tyler Boyd
The Bengals receiving trio have to be the best in the league. Chase immediately stepped into the offense and had a string of big games. Chase’s deep threat makes him a constant scoring threat, and allows him to put up some big box scores.
Then you have Higgins and Boyd who have both seperately had big games. Higgins is the one that feels like he has another gear that he can step into and be a mid-level WR2 with some WR1 weeks.
The strength of this passing attack though means that Chase can have a big game alongside Higgins or Boyd.
Notable Players- Hayden Hurst & Drew Sample
The only position where there has been change on offense (of note) has been the TE position. Hurst had alot of hype in Atlanta, but after the team drafted Kyle Pitts it never materialised.
I’m not expecting the same hype with this move. Uzomah was available all season and only had a handful of strong performances, which is what I’d expect for Hurst. He will have some flash performances, but really not in consideration for drafting outside of the deepest of leagues.
Strength of Schedule
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Image Credit: Joseph Maiorana – USA TODAY Sports
