Quarterback

The Bengals were dealt a crippling blow to their playoff chances in week 2 of last season when Joe Burrow suffered a foot injury that would require surgery and keep him out months. Even with Burrow, one of the best quarterbacks in the league, the Bengals were not a guarantee to make the post-season in 2025 because of their awful defense and, without Burrow for an extended period of time, their playoff chances completely disappeared. They immediately turned to backup Jake Browning, but he fared so badly that they traded for Joe Flacco, who was surprisingly decent, but still managed to go just 1-5 in his six starts because of the Bengals’ terrible defense that finished 31st in the NFL in schedule adjusted efficiency.

Burrow did return late in the season and seemed like his usual self, finishing the year with 66.8% completion, 6.98 YPA, 17 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions, while actually leading the Bengals to a 5-3 record in 8 starts. Durability has been an issue for Burrow throughout his career, costing him at least six games in three of six seasons in the league, but when healthy he has played at a high level in his career, completing 69.0% of his passes for an average of 7.54 YPA, 144 touchdowns, and 46 interceptions over the past five seasons. In his last fully healthy season in 2024, the Bengals ranked 8th in schedule adjusted efficiency on offense, but missed the post-season because their defense ranked 30th.

Burrow has a higher than average chance of missing more time with injury this season, but he is still likely to play significantly more games than he did a year ago and, if he does miss time, the Bengals prioritized re-signing Flacco as the backup this off-season. Flacco’s play didn’t lead to a lot of wins last season, but he completed 61.7% of his passes for an average of 6.50 YPA, 13 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions. His age is a major concern, now heading into his age 41 season, but he has still shown the ability to be a solid spot starter over the past few seasons, completing 61.8% of his passes for an average of 6.75 YPA, 40 touchdowns, and 25 interceptions in 21 starts since 2023. Unless he completely drops off this season, which is a possibility, he should remain a solid backup option, although the Bengals obviously hope he doesn’t have to play.

The Bengals also prioritized upgrading their defense this off-season. It is still not a good unit, but even going from terrible to mediocre would be a boost for this team, given how good their offense is when Burrow is healthy. The Bengals did not retain Trey Hendrickson as a free agent and he had been their best defensive player in recent years, but he only played seven games due to injury last season anyway and they added several upgrades across the defense, which should more than offset the loss of Hendrickson. If the Burrow can stay relatively healthy and their defense can be noticeably better, the Bengals should have a good chance to return to the post-season in 2026.

Grade: A

Receiving Corps

Burrow isn’t the only reason why the Bengals have an elite offense when healthy, as they have arguably the best wide receiver in the league in JaMarr Chase and, opposite him, they have one of the best #2 wide receivers in the league in Tee Higgins. Despite Burrow missing half of the season in 2025, Chase still had a 125/1412/8 slash line in 16 games, while averaging 2.23 yards per route run. 

In 2024, when Burrow was healthy all year, Chase led the league in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns with a 127/1708/17 slash line, while averaging 2.41 yards per route run. In total, Chase has averaged a 113/1490/12 slash line per 17 games in his career with an average of 2.25 yards per route run and he has been pretty durable, only missing time with injury in one of five seasons in the league. Still very much in his prime in only his age 26 season, Chase should continue playing at an elite level in 2026 and should be considered one of the favorites to lead the league in receiving yardage.

Higgins isn’t as good, but he is very good as far as #2 receivers go. Last season, he had a 59/846/11 slash line on 98 targets with 1.62 yards per route run and, in his career, he has averaged a 78/1088/9 slash line on 122 targets per 17 games, while averaging 1.89 yards per route run. He is good enough to be the #1 receiver for a lot of teams and, if he received as many targets as a #1 receiver, he could be one of the most productive wide receivers in the league. Also still very much in his prime in his age 27 season, Higgins should continue playing at a similar level in 2026. His one concern is durability, as he has missed 15 total games in six seasons in the league, with at least two games missed in four of those seasons.

The vast majority of the targets in this passing game go to Chase or Higgins. Running back Chase Brown finished third on the team with 88 targets, 4th in the NFL among running backs, but he only had 34 in 8 games with Burrow and, in 2024 when Burrow was healthy all season, he only had 65. Brown also was not very efficient on his targets last season, only managing a 69/437/5 slash line, good for just 4.97 yards per target. With Burrow likely to play more games this season, I would expect fewer low efficiency targets to running backs and more targets downfield to Chase or Higgins.

Andrei Iosivas is nominally the Bengals third receiver, but he doesn’t contribute much, with slash lines of 36/479/6 and 33/435/2 on 0.84 yards per route run and 0.77 yards per route run respectively over the past two seasons. He could face competition for his job from 4th round rookie Colbie Young, but regardless of who wins that job, they are unlikely to have a big role in this offense. Mike Gesicki and Noah Fant split time as the primary receiving tight end last season, finishing with a 28/307/2 slash line on 1.22 yards per route run and a 34/288/3 slash line on 1.35 yards per route run respectively.

Gesicki had a 65/665/2 slash line with 1.58 yards per route run as the primary receiving tight end in 2024 when Burrow was healthy and Fant wasn’t on the roster, so he could bounce back a somewhat statistically in 2026 with Fant now gone, but Gesicki is also heading into his age 31 season, so his best days are probably behind him and he could face some competition for routes from Erick All, a 2024 4th round pick who showed promise as a rookie (1.48 yards per route run), before missing a year and a half with a brutal knee injury. 

All has a significant injury history dating back to his collegiate days, part of why he fell to the 4th round, and he is a complete question mark coming off yet another serious injury, but it is possible he is able to return somewhat to form and contribute as a pass catcher in this offense. The Bengals also have Drew Sample at tight end, but he is a blocking specialist who has averaged just 0.68 yards per route run in his career, with 115 catches in 95 career games. This is a top heavy receiving corps, but they have arguably the best wide receiver duo in the league.

Grade: A-

Running Backs

In addition to his involvement in the passing game, Chase Brown is also the Bengals’ lead back by far, totaling 232 carries in 2025, to 84 for backup Samaje Perine. Brown also had 229 carries in this role in 2024. Brown is a decent, but unspectacular runner, averaging 4.36 yards per carry over the past two seasons, with 3.07 yards per carry after contact, a 19.7% missed tackle rate, and a 52.3% carry success rate. The Bengals could probably upgrade on him as a runner if they tried, but they like his all-around solid game.

He will continue being backed up by Samaje Perine, who is a pure backup on both early downs and passing downs. He hasn’t exceeded 95 carries in a season since his rookie year in 2017, he only has averaged 4.13 yards per carry on 558 career carries, and he is now going into his age 31 season, but he is a solid pass blocker and pass catcher (career 1.27 yards per route run) who the Bengals trust when Brown needs a breather. The Bengals also have Tahj Brooks, a 2025 6th round pick, who might be a more explosive runner than Perine, but he would have to prove himself in the passing game to earn more than the 47 snaps as he played as a rookie. This is a decent, but unspectacular backfield.

Grade: B-

Offensive Line

As disappointing of a season as the Bengals had in 2025, the one bright spot was that their offensive line was noticeably better compared to 2024, when it was actually a bit of a weakness. Guards Dylan Fairchild and Dalton Risner were added in the third round of the draft and free agency respectively last off-season and, while both were only marginal starters, that was still a significant upgrade from the year before. Meanwhile, at tackle, right tackle Amarius Mims, who struggled as a rookie in 2024, took a big step forward in year two, showing why he was a first round pick, while veteran left tackle Orlando Brown played all 17 games, after missing six games the prior year.

Going into 2026, the Bengals return the same starting five offensive linemen from a year ago. Risner, who has consistently been a decent starter across 92 starts in seven seasons in the league, is now going into his age 31 season and could start to decline, but any potential decline from him could be offset by potential improvement from Fairchild in his second season in the league. The tackle position is a similar situation. Brown, who has mostly been an average to above average starter in his career, is now going into his age 30 season, but Mims is only going into his age 24 season and could take another step forward in year three, after going from a below average starter to an average starter between 2024 and 2025.

The two biggest concerns on this offensive line are the center position, where Ted Karras is also on the wrong side of 30, going into his age 33 season, and depth, which could be needed more this season than last season, when three of the Bengals’ five starters all made every start and only five total games were missed across the five starters. Karras has mostly been a decent starter throughout his career, but if he declines in 2026, he could be a liability. The Bengals used a 4th round pick on Connor Lew to potentially replace him long-term, but I am not sure he would be an upgrade in the short term. 

Other depth options include 6th round rookie guard Brian Parker, who is unlikely to contribute in a significant positive way in year one, 2025 5th round pick Jalen Rivers, who was a disaster across 476 snaps (7 starts) as a rookie, and Cody Ford, a veteran who has made 42 starts in his seven seasons in the league, seeing action at both tackle and guard, but who also has been a liability whenever he has had to start and is now heading into his age 30 season. This is still not a good offensive line and they might take a little bit of a step back in 2026 compared to 2025, with three starters on the wrong side of 30, but they are likely to be better than they were in 2024, when this unit was overall a liability.

Grade: B-

Interior Defenders

The biggest addition the Bengals made on defense this off-season is interior defender Dexter Lawrence, who the Bengals acquired in exchange for the 10th pick in the draft. Lawrence had a down year last year, but he was not as bad as his sack total of 0.5 suggests, as he added 7 hits and a 7.1% pressure rate, while playing solid run defense. Both his run defense and his pass rush were a drop off from the previous three seasons though, when he totaled 21 sacks, 45 hits, and a 12.7% pressure rate across 44 games, while playing at a high level against the run. 

Lawrence is only going into his age 29 season, so he is young enough to bounce back in 2026, especially since his relative struggles last season are likely the result of coming off of an elbow injury that ended his 2024 season early, an injury he is now another year removed from. I would expect him to at least be a little better than he was last season, with his best case scenario being a return to All-Pro form. Even at his worst, he is still an above average interior defender and even that would be a big boost to this defense.

The Bengals also added veteran Jonathan Allen in free agency on a 2-year, 25 million dollar deal. Allen is going into his age 31 season and is a below average run defender at this stage of his career, but he still had 3.5 sacks, 8 hits, and a 8.3% pressure rate last season, which isn’t far off of his career 9.7% pressure rate. Allen could decline further in 2026, but he should still be an upgrade for a team where the majority of their interior defenders struggled last season.

Fellow veteran BJ Hill is the only Bengals interior defender who was at least average last season and he returns this season to a much better position group. Hill has been a solid every down player for the Bengals over the past four seasons, averaging 743 snaps per season and playing at an average level both as a run defender and a pass rusher, totaling 14.5 sacks, 37 hits, and a 7.7% pressure rate in 65 games over that stretch. He is also going into his age 31 season and could decline this season, but the Bengals won’t need as much from him with more talent around him. 

TJ Slaton (582 snaps) and Kris Jenkins (498 snaps) finished second and third among Bengals interior defenders in snaps played last season behind Hill and still remain on the roster. Both were liabilities last season and figure to remain liabilities this season, but I don’t expect them to play nearly as many snaps. Jenkins at least has upside, as a 2024 2nd round pick who is still only going into his age 25 season, but Slaton is going into his age 29 season and has mostly struggled in five seasons in the league, across an average of 445 snaps per season. 

The Bengals also have 2024 3rd round pick McKinnley Jackson, who could theoretically have upside, although he has shown next to nothing across just 377 snaps in two seasons in the league. He is likely on his last chance and could easily be left off the final roster. With Lawrence and Allen being added, this is no longer a position of weakness anymore and could be a position of strength if Lawrence bounces back from a down year and Jonathan Allen and BJ Hill both avoid decline in their age 31 season.

Grade: B+

Edge Defenders

As I mentioned, Trey Hendrickson was the Bengals’ best player and he left as a free agent this off-season, but he only played seven games last season, totaling 4 sacks, 5 hits, and a 13.0% pressure rate, so he won’t be missed as much as he would have been if he was healthy all season last year. The Bengals signed Boye Mafe to a 3-year, 60 million dollar deal in free agency to replace him. He is a downgrade, but should at least play more games than Henrickson did last season. A second round pick in 2022, Mafe played an average of 599 snaps per season in four seasons in the league and has been an all-around decent player, holding up against the run and adding 20 sacks, 15 hits, and a 11.8% pressure rate in 65 career games. He should continue playing at a similar level in 2026, now in his age 28 season.

Joseph Ossai, who was decent across 616 snaps last season, also left as a free agent this off-season, and without him the rest of this position group consists of recent high draft picks with upside, but also significant downsides. Myles Murphy is the most proven of the bunch. The 2023 1st round pick struggled in the first two seasons of his league, but made strides in year three, totaling 5.5 sacks, 4 hits, and a 10.5% pressure rate while overall playing at an average level across 682 snaps. Murphy is still only going into his age 24 season, so he could have even better days ahead of him.

Shemar Stewart was the Bengals’ first round pick in 2025, but his rookie year was disastrous, as injuries limited him to just 280 snaps in 8 games and he was awful when on the field, struggling against the run and only managing a 7.2% pressure rate as pass rusher. Stewart could be better in year two, but he has a long way to go to even be an average player. Considered a boom or bust prospect coming out of college, Stewart looks a lot closer to bust than boom now, but he still has time to turn it around. The Bengals also further added to this position group in this year’s draft, taking Cashius Howell, who could have been a first round pick, in the second round. This group has a lot of upside, but also a lot of downside.

Grade: B-

Linebackers

Linebacker was the Bengals’ biggest weakness on defense last season, as starters Demetrius Knight (798 snaps) and Barrett Carter (792 snaps) were both among the worst starting linebackers in the league. The Bengals opted not to upgrade the position at all, but both Knight and Carter were rookies, selected in the 2nd and 3rd round of the 2025 NFL Draft respectively, so both could be better this season. However, both have a long way to go to even be an average starter and chances are at least one of them will never develop into a capable starter.

Oren Burks remains as the third linebacker and he was just as bad across 340 snaps last season. Burks has mostly been a backup and special teamer in his career, starting just 26 of 125 career games, and he has mostly struggled when forced into action. Burks is now going into his age 31 season and, regardless of how the Bengals feel about their young starting linebackers, it was a mistake to not add another veteran option behind them aside from Burks. This looks likely to be one of the worst linebacking corps in the league again this season, even if the young starters do improve in their second season in the league.

Grade: C-

Secondary

The Bengals did add a pair of safeties this off-season. Bryan Cook, signed to a 3-year, 40.25 million dollar deal, will immediately upgrade a position where both starters (Jordan Battle and Geno Stone) struggled last season. Cook, a 2nd round pick in 2022, was an above average starter in 2025. Previously he had only been an average starter, so there is some concern he could regress in 2026, but it is also possible he has permanently turned a corner and, even if he is only an average starter, it would still be a boost for this defense.

The other safety the Bengals added, Kyle Dugger, will compete with Jordan Battle for the other safety spot, with Geno Stone not being retained this off-season. Dugger is probably the favorite for the job. He is going into his age 30 season and is not what he was in his prime with the Patriots, which is why the Patriots benched and eventually traded him to the Steelers for a late round pick last season, but Dugger was not bad across 559 snaps in 9 games with the Steelers. Unless he continues declining, he should be a better option than Battle, who showed promise across 524 snaps as a 3rd round rookie in 2023, but has struggled over the past two seasons.

One of the few bright spots of this defense last season was cornerback DJ Turner, a 2023 2nd round pick who broke out as an above average starter, after struggling across 827 snaps as a rookie and only being average across 508 snaps in an injury shortened second season in the league in 2024. He is still a one-year wonder in terms of playing at the level he did last season and he could regress somewhat, but it is also possible he has permanently turned a corner and will remain an above average starter.

Turner will continue starting opposite Dax Hill, a former first round pick who has not lived up to the billing. Hill began his career as a safety, played sparingly as a rookie (130 snaps), struggled across 1,089 snaps in his second season, moved to cornerback in 2024, showed improvement before tearing his ACL, and then was decent, but unspectacular across 1,012 snaps in 2025. He could still have further untapped potential, only going into his age 26 season, but there is no guarantee he is any better than average.

Cam Taylor-Britt was the third cornerback last season, but was underwhelming across 348 snaps before getting hurt. Jalen Davis took over for Taylor-Britt and was decent across 270 snaps, but he never played more than 100 snaps in a season prior to last season and is now going into his age 30 season, so he isn’t a reliable option. With Taylor-Britt leaving as a free agent, Davis will compete for the #3 cornerback job with 2024 5th round pick Josh Newton, who has been mediocre across 779 snaps in two seasons in the league, and 3rd round rookie Tacario Davis, both of whom are underwhelming options. This secondary should be better than last year due to the upgrades at safety, but this group still has some issues.

Grade: B

Kickers

Evan McPherson, who the Bengals added in the 5th round of the 2021 NFL Draft, has been inconsistent throughout his career, finishing below average compared to an average kicker in two of five seasons in the league (2022 and 2024), but overall he has added 9.43 points above average in 84 career games. It is tough to know what to expect from him in 2026, but he at least averages out to be an above average kicker.

Grade: B+

Conclusion

The Bengals have missed the post-season in three straight seasons, but in two of those three seasons Joe Burrow missed significant time with injury and their defense has struggled in all three of those seasons. This season, their defense looks at least slightly improved and, while Burrow remains an injury risk, he could easily be healthier this season than he was in 2023 or 2025. Overall, it looks like there is a good chance the Bengals get back to the post-season in 2026, but there are still things that could go wrong and cause them to miss the post-season.

Prediction: 10-7, 2nd in AFC North