Cincinnati Bengals TE Mike Gesicki part of No. 3 WR/RB/TE group.
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Cincinnati Bengals TE Mike Gesicki part of No. 3 WR/RB/TE group.
ESPN recently released its rankings for NFL teams based on its wide receivers, running backs and tight ends collectively. With all of the roster mismanagement of the Cincinnati Bengals, they do seem to be really good at putting together these offensive skill positions. After ranking No. 11 in the 2024 rankings, the Bengals have rocketed up to third on this year’s list.
Since Joe Burrow isn’t under consideration as a quarterback, this ranking has to start with the great Ja’Marr Chase.
“Welcome back, Ja’Marr Chase,” Bill Barnwell writes. “After an injury-impacted 2022 season and a merely very good 2023 campaign, he won the receiving triple crown in 2024. Chase led the league in routes, which helped boost those counting stats, but he averaged a robust 2.5 yards per route run and was a big-play factory. He had seven receiving touchdowns of 40 yards, three more than any other player and the most since Jordy Nelson had seven in 2014. Asking Chase to do that every year is a lot, but the 25-year-old did have six of them as a rookie, so if anyone can do it, it’s him.”
Tee Higgins is best No. 2 in football?
But, it’s not just Chase; the Bengals also signed fellow wideout Tee Higgins to a four-year, $161 million deal back in March. A healthy Higgins is a huge boost to this offense.
“The only things holding the Bengals back are the hamstrings of Tee Higgins,” Barnwell continues. “A healthy Higgins might be the best second wideout in football, but he has missed 10 games over the past two seasons, primarily because of hamstring and quad issues. He still managed 911 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns last season — a reminder of how he can make an impact even with Chase on the field — but it’s disheartening to see such a talented player battle repeated hamstring injuries.”
Higgins is absolutely in the discussion for the best No. 2 in the entire NFL. Philadelphia Eagles fans will sure complain (do they ever need a reason?) that DeVonta Smith wins that honor, but it’s a good discussion.
Running back is a surprising strength
Last offseason, the Bengals lost running back Joe Mixon to the Houston Texans. Considering the dearth of talent behind him, it’s a bit eyebrow-raising that they got as much production from the position as they did. Chase Brown filled in admirably and Barnwell extrapolated his 2024 stats into a full season, and the results are promising moving forward.
“Another Chase also emerged, as after a quiet rookie season, running back Chase Brown took over for departed Joe Mixon and quickly added a more well-rounded and explosive element to the Cincinnati backfield,” Barnwell writes. “The Bengals flirted with Zack Moss as their lead back early in the season, but after he went down with a neck injury, Brown took over as a three-down playmaker. Over his eight-game stretch as the primary back, his numbers prorate over a full season to 321 carries, 81 receptions, 1,976 yards from scrimmage and 12 scores. That’s not far from Bijan Robinson’s 2024.”
Just reading this far, one would think the Bengals have a stacked team. No, they’re stacked at these positions plus Burrow. They finished 9-8 last year and missed the playoffs because the rest of the roster is so lacking.
“There’s a big drop-off to the rest of the roster, unsurprisingly,” Barnwell concludes. “Mike Gesicki had a bounce-back season and averaged 1.7 yards per route run as a “tight end,” but he scored only twice and hasn’t been able to turn his 6-foot-6 frame into any sort of red zone production. Andrei Iosivas racked up 479 yards and six scores, but that’s a product of running 34 routes per game in an explosive offense. He ranked 91st out of 95 qualifying wideouts in yards per route run and finished 151st in receiver score.”