dex

Agree that Knight didn't tackle very well as a rookie. The bitter irony is that "strong tackling" was considered one of his draft profile strengths coming out of college. Not sure why it was so bad, but is there real reason to think he won't revert back to his college reputation as a 2nd year player? Playing Style and StrengthsKnight is recognized for his aggressive, physical style, strong tackling, and ability to read offensive schemes. He excels in gap penetration, delayed blitz timing, and pre-snap communication, making him a natural defensive signal-caller NFL DRAFT BUZZ+1.

If the Bengals have a top 20 defense, they should be in the playoffs. Even as horrible as the defense has played over the last 2 seasons, the Bengals are STILL a remarkable 12-5 when all of Burrow/Chase/Higgins have played together. The bummer with that is it only happened in half of the 34 games played over the 2 year period.

Just shows you what an offensive genius Sean McVay is. Stafford ended up with quite a few easy opportunities for TD passes.

Yeah, for the most part it's a group of one-trick ponies. I have some long-range hope for Jack Endries joining All as a blocking-receiving combo who can line up anywhere, but probably not as a rookie. At the moment Endries is most notable for possibly, eventually, becoming the only player in NFL history to catch passes from 3 different QBs drafted number one overall. TE is probably considered one of the most difficult positions to transition from college to the NFL. Some of the best TEs in the NFL didn't do much as rookies. Combo TE heavy teams like the Rams and the Bears will draft one in the 2nd/3rd rounds and then not give them many offensive snaps as rookies. Just the nature of the position where you have to line up all over the place, then be able to run/pass block and then also be a threat as a receiver. Usually, rookie TEs are either strong blockers or strong receivers, then have to develop the weakness in their games to at least average. Guys like Sample/Gesicki/Hudson have yet to do that even after so many years in the league. At this point it seems pretty obvious that they never will.

ESPN's Benjamin Solak chose one "breakout" player this season for each NFL team: Cincinnati BengalsErick All Jr., TE All, the Bengals' fourth-round pick in 2024, didn't play a snap in 2025. After just 231 snaps as a rookie, he tore his right ACL in Week 9 and spent the entire 2025 season rehabbing (he had torn the same ACL in college, and complications from that surgery lengthened his recovery time). For many players, such a prolonged unavailability would jeopardize their snaps. But All is so beloved by the Bengals' staff -- said coach Zac Taylor: "With the word physical in the dictionary is a picture of Erick All, trying to put his face through somebody's soul." -- that he remains a candidate to start. All outsnapped incumbent Mike Gesicki in five of the nine games he played as a rookie and brings a much-needed blocking dimension to Cincinnati's rushing attack. I expect him to lead the TE room in snaps and spring some big plays.

Not really trying to compare Burrow and All as players, only saying that coaches must be able to develop game plans for currently healthy playing without worrying that, "OMG, what happens if Player A breaks his wrist or gets a severe high ankle sprain?" If an injury occurs to a key player, then the coaches have to adjust accordingly. They should be used to players going down by now. It's football. As far as All being an irreplaceable TE as far as developing a more physical, bullying style of offense...I would say yeah, he kinda is. We already have Zac Taylor and Pitcher basically saying that All is the most physical player on the entire team, either side of the ball. Including all other TEs on the roster. On a recent podcast Dan Hoard not only echoed the comments of the head coach and OC, but somehow managed to take it even further. Hoard reminded listeners that he has been working for the Bengals since 2011 before saying that All is the most "violent" Bengal he has seen play during his tenure with the team. The Bengals have had other tough players in the timeframe like Whit and Burfict, others too, but Hoard apparently thinks All is more "violent" than all of those players. I hope "violent" was meant in a purely legal football context, rather than as a guy who would do all kinds of damage to the locker room in a fit of violent rage. But hey, if All does break an ankle or rupture his Achilles, Chase Brown averaged 5.17 ypc over his last 11 games as I noted above. With no Erick All anywhere to be seen on the field. The offense would still be okay, just less violent.

I fear they're betting too much on Burrow's availability. Can't have their entire offensive playbook hinge on the health of someone with that kind of injury history... For the record, I don't believe either one of Burrow or All are actually injury prone...at least not with how I define the term. Burrow has a wide assortment of injuries, but to all different parts of his body. All had a shitty knee surgeon and that butcher cost him a year and a half of his NFL career. I would be more worried about his mental state than his physical state after enduring all of that trauma.All's knee is 100% now for the first time since 2023; Burrow's knee, calf, ruptured appendix, throwing wrist, and toe are all 100% now for the time since the end of last season. For all of the talk of Burrow's and All's shaky health, the Bengal I would actually label "injury-prone" is Tee Higgins. Up until last season every season as a pro he had some sort of soft tissue injury that cost him official games and caused him to play at less than 100% in others. Last offseason Higgins took special preventive classes to avoid the nagging soft tissue injuries, only for it to be replaced by concussion protocols. Maybe this offseason he needs to take a preventive class on how not to bounce his head off of the hard turf.

Zac Taylor loves to talk about how the offense is so good (compared to the rest of the NFL) on 3rd/4th and long because they are so used to dropping back in shotgun and slinging it. As if you are used to doing that most of the game, you are better at it than teams that only do it when they have no other choice. And he is right. He just doesn't like to admit that success in that area comes at a cost in other areas. But other teams are better at playing under center and controlling the clock in the last 4 minutes because they are used to playing under center & being physical at running the ball. The defense has obviously been the biggest problem the past 2 years, but the offense has had to punt the ball away too many times with a small lead because they aren't used to running the ball down people's throats. So what helps them convert on 3rd-and-long is what hurts them when they try to convert short yardage or control the clock. That cuts both ways. The run blocking was so much better after the o-line got used to the Scott Peters system. Just look at Chase Brown. In the first 6 games of last season, he averaged 2.73 ypc. That's terrible. Yet over the last 11 games of the season, CBrown averaged 5.17 ypc. That's elite production on a level with any RB in the. So the hope is that Brown & the o-line blocking can pick it back up starting in Week 1. Only this time with a finally healthy Erick All leading the way on those runs. They actually used All as a fullback some in 2024. He was punishing would-be tacklers before they could even touch Brown.

Madden rankings of top 15 Bengals players. Some surprises here, at least for me. I think Dugger/Gesicki are too high, Turner/Mims too low. I don't know where I would rank Allen, but I would welcome him being at this level. # Player OVR GEN TOTAL 1. Ja’Marr Chase #1 WR | Deep Threat 99 92 2,927 2. Joe Burrow #9 QB | Field General 96 87 2,708 3. Dexter Lawrence II #97 DT | Field General 93 85 2,393 4. Jonathan Allen #93 DT | Power Rusher 88 81 2,246 5. Tee Higgins #5 WR | Physical 88 87 2,804 6. DJ Turner II #20 CB | Man to Man 83 84 2,538 7. Chase Brown #30 HB | Elusive Back 82 86 2,701 8. Evan McPherson #2 K | Accurate 81 68 1,469 9. Bryan Cook #6 FS | Zone 80 84 2,635 10. Boye Mafe #53 REDG | Smaller Speed Rusher 78 84 2,347 11. Daxton Hill #23 CB | Slot 78 85 2,703 12. Kyle Dugger #29 SS | Run Support 77 86 2,846 13. Mike Gesicki #88 TE | Vertical Threat 77 84 2,743 14. Amarius Mims #71 RT | Power 76 78 2,456 15. B.J. Hill #92 DT | Power 76 79 2,212

Both Higgins and Chase in the top 8 NFL WRs in this category over the past 2 seasons...

Good for Tee. What I would give to see Higgins play a full 17 game season. Over the last 2 seasons Higgins and Burrow have played together in only 17 out of 34 games. Keep in mind that among those 17 games played together, Higgins had his snap count limited in several because of those injuries. Burrow was far from 100% when he came back from the toe surgery last season. But these are the receiving stats for Higgins in those 17 games (a full regular season) played with Burrow: 92 receptions/1079 yards/13 touchdowns. Those are elite WR1 type numbers, even with another elite WR1 like Chase getting tons of targets on the other side.

The franchise tag seems to be going the way of the dinosaur. Only 4 players got tagged this season, 2 of them have already signed extensions. George Pickens is refusing to play on his tag. The tag for "Mauls" Murphy would be almost 25M, over 10M more than what they would have been on the hook for with the 5th year option. There is every reason to believe that the Bengals are trying to negotiate an extension, according to Bengals employee Geoff Hobson in a fairly recent article: "He's a 24-year-old guy that's just starting to scratch the surface," Tobin said in his press conference. "I was pleased with his progression last year and how he took ownership of the starting role and how he grew throughout the season. By the end of the year, he was a problem for teams. He's a guy that we believe in. He's going to be a big part of what Al and his staff does." According to Pro Football Focus, Murphy is coming off a season he had 41 pressures, a career-high, and a Bengals-best 31 hurries while logging more snaps than his first two years combined. Ahead of Friday's deadline for NFL teams to exercise a first-rounder's fifth-year year option, Tobin reiterated Thursday, "The organization believes in Myles and will continue to explore a long-term relationship." About half of Murphy's fellow 2023 first-rounders haven't had their fifth years exercised as the Bengals hope to take that $14 million option and convert it into a better salary cap fit for upcoming seasons. Since the Bengals locked up their premier offensive weapons to long-term contracts in 2025 and now have a hefty sum dedicated to a well-stocked defense, the front office appears to be prioritizing the flexibility associated with a future extension over the more rigid fifth-year option number.

In all likelihood, if they both ball out this season, they will go through the free agency process and end up elsewhere. Too many teams without franchise QBs with a ton of cap money to spend. If they cannot reach an extension with Murphy this offseason, I will regret (and so will they) not picking up his 5th year option after taking on Lawrence's contract. This all goes back to my earlier point. The Bengals had a horrifically bad defense last season, but some of their younger players actually played exceptionally well. Murphy's sack total wasn't that great, but it would have been much higher if they had gotten any kind of interior pass rush. The play below actually ends in a TD, but it's perfect because it illustrates what I'm talking about. Murphy destroys his man, but Maye is able to step up because there is zero pressure from the middle, and nobody bothers to cover the TE. And this isn't a one-off play for Murphy, there are quite a few other examples from last season. He is so big and quick, and anything but mild now that he has figured it out.

Maybe not safety Dax Hill or slot CB Dax Hill, but what about outside CB Dax Hill? You know, the most important position in the secondary, and certainly the hardest to find. This wasn't just 2025, it was also 2024 outside CB Dax Hill before his ACL injury. He excels on the outside.

A Turner extension before training camp would be a great development. Because the defense was so bad overall last year, I think even some Bengals fans don't realize how spectacular Turner's season was overall. Another curiosity about Turner's agent...he is also Dax Hill's agent.

Good Under Center analysis...

Bill Barnwell/ESPN ranking the best WR/TE/RB groups in the NFL: #3 - CINCINNATI BENGALS As you already know, the Bengals are the only team in the NFL that can credibly say it has two WR1-caliber talents anchoring the offense. In Ja'Marr Chase, the Bengals have a first-team All-Pro each of the past two seasons with an annual case to lead the league in any (or every) receiving category. Chase's big-play rate from 2024 inevitably regressed a little toward the mean in 2025, but there's no wide receiver in the NFL with a higher floor or ceiling. On a snap-by-snap basis, Tee Higgins has a solid case as a midtier WR1, particularly in the moments we've seen him without Chase on the field. Higgins has scored 21 touchdowns in 27 games over the past two seasons, and he ranked 11th in ESPN's receiver scores a year ago. The issue, frustratingly, is availability. Higgins missed five games in each of the 2023 and 2024 seasons, and while he was healthier in 2025, he was still sidelined for two contests. He hasn't played a full season since his rookie campaign in 2020. A 17-game season from Higgins would go a long way toward getting the 27-year-old back to the Pro Bowl for a second consecutive campaign. Chase Brown makes this a big three, although the Bengals are careful to limit his workload and haven't let their lead back top 240 carries in either of the past two campaigns. Brown's role as a receiver has grown; he garnered 88 targets last season on everything from slants out of the slot to shallow routes on mesh concepts to double moves. If he could do this with about 15% more workload, Brown would be a Pro Bowl contender in the AFC. After those three, well, good luck. Andrei Iosivas has been one of the least efficient receivers in the league, even when one of the players ahead of him has been absent. Tight end Mike Gesicki wasn't able to build on his resurgent 2024 campaign. Erick All Jr. quietly impressed early in his rookie season before missing the second half of 2024 and all of 2025 with a serious knee injury. Could the 25-year-old tight end be the player the Bengals need to make it to No. 1 on this list?

Another reason to think the Bengals will be going under center more to help the run game (CBrown's rush stats are much better under center than out of the shotgun). The new run game coordinator is James Casey, the TE position coach. Frank Pollack was the last full-time run game coordinator before Casey. Last season it was a group effort among all of the offensive coaches. It isn't just Erick All's physicality, now the other TEs are talking about needing to block better in the run game if they want more snaps or even to make the opening day roster. Gesicki has talked about needing to get more physical with his run blocking. Jack Endries, when asked what he needed to do to make the 53-man roster, said he wanted to strengthen his legs to get more power into his run blocking. Also mentioned being a factor on special teams, which also means being as physical as possible. Can a very productive finesse offense also become more physical and become unstoppable? I think we are about to find out.

A truly great article from Paul Dehner & The Athletic filled with all kinds of interesting stats and insights.

I know they have been practicing under center plays a lot. Even the wording "drop back" in this Burrow quote sounds like passing from under center to me. although admittedly many shotgun snaps also require some "drop back" too. Still feels like odd wording for shotgun imo.

These were the skill position starters on offense last season for the QBs, along with their snap count percentage per games played. RB1 -CBrown 66% WR1 - JChase 94% (16 games) WR2- THiggins 81% (15 games) WR3 - AIosivas 77% TE1 - DSample 54% Even though all of the above are scheduled to return this season, I anticipate some changes to the lineup. RB1 - BROWN (I know he has played 33 of 34 games the past 2 seasons, but there is a big drop off if he misses games) WR1 - CHASE (missed a game last season due to suspension; had more targets than in his record-breaking ‘24, but was less efficient with all of the QB turmoil) WR2 - HIGGINS (avoided the soft tissue injuries that have plagued his career, but concussion protocols cost him 2 games; he could have a monster season if he plays all 17 games) TE1 - ERICK ALL (I can see All getting a higher snap percentage of any TE since Uzomah’s 2021 season; all of Fant’s 38% could go to All; could also steal snaps from Sample and Hudson, some from WR3 if they run more 2TE sets as expected) TE/WR - I think the 5th spot will just be a week to week game plan matchup scheme, or down-and-distance with Sample/Gesicki/Iosivas/Young (hopefully)