CINCINNATI (WXIX) – As good as the Cincinnati Bengals’ offense was in 2024, the Bengals technically never even got to see it firing on all cylinders.
Chase Brown didn’t become the starting running back until Week 9, and his burst onto the scene didn’t begin until the second half of the season. From Week 9 to the end of the season, Orlando Brown was either out of the lineup or playing on “one (expletive) leg.”
A healthy Orlando Brown Jr. and Amarius Mims only played in two complete games together last season.
The guard play was as poor as any team’s in the NFL.
The skill position player depth was decimated by injuries.
So yes, the Bengals’ offense was incredible last season. But the Bengals haven’t even really seen this group at full strength yet.
“Our standard may seem unrealistic, but we’re more than capable of making that type of growth as an offense,” Orlando Brown Jr. said. “I think we will.”
During the second half of the 2024 season, so much changed about the Bengals’ offense. Tee Higgins was back healthy again after missing five of the first 10 games. Ja’Marr Chase started playing more in the slot as the season went along. It took a bit for the Bengals to figure out the best ways to use Mike Gesicki. Joe Burrow started turning more off-schedule plays into big gains. Chase Brown became a big factor.
“We have the most dynamic passing game in the league,” Ted Karras said.
The back half of last season started to showcase how this offense can continue to evolve when it’s at full strength.
At this point last year, a lot about the Bengals’ offense was new.
Dan Pitcher was the new offensive coordinator. Joe Mixon and Tyler Boyd were gone. Zack Moss, Mike Gesicki and Andrei Iosivas were new starters. Amarius Mims and Trent Brown were battling for the starting right tackle spot. Burrow had a freshly repaired wrist. There was a lot that the Bengals had to figure out. Add in a holdout from Ja’Marr Chase and an eleventh-hour quad injury before Week 1 from Higgins and the Bengals’ offense wasn’t set up to start well.
This year, there’s a lot more continuity. It’s an offense with plenty to build upon.
“I just loved how high-powered we were,” Orlando Brown Jr. said. “Our consistency. When you’ve got a quarterback like No. 9 and players like Ja’Marr, Tee, Mike Gesicki and Chase Brown, our group of five playing together up front, I was very impressed.”
The biggest moves the Bengals made this offseason were giving extensions to Chase and Higgins. While Higgins’ future with the Bengals was once in question, he’ll now be with Burrow and Chase for the long haul.
“Most teams only have one really good receiver,” Jake Browning said. “We have two. It’s a big advantage. You can’t double one or the other. If you want to double Ja’Marr, Tee has a one-on-one. If you double them both, then you can only put five people in the box and we should be able to run the ball pretty well. It’s a lot of firepower when they’re both out there.”
When the Bengals’ offense was rolling in 2021 and 2022, Mixon made defenses pay when they sold out to stop the pass. For most of the 2023 season as well as the front end of the year in 2024, the Bengals didn’t have that quality as a rushing attack.
Then, Chase Brown’s ascension gave the Bengals’ run game a brand new explosive element.
“I’m a big Chase Brown fan,” Browning said. “He made a lot of people miss. The amount of times where he touches the ball and the guy that should make the tackle, he makes him miss, that’s just huge for an offense. With all of the weapons that we have, we have to remember to get him the ball any way we can.”
Brown surprised everyone with how quickly he developed as a pass catcher as well as a pass protector. In the second half of the season, the Bengals recognized that they couldn’t really afford to even take him off the field.
At this point last year, Brown was a change-of-pace backup. This offseason, the coaching staff is focusing a lot more on ways that Brown shapes the Bengals’ scheme.
“He has opened up so many things,” Orlando Brown Jr. said. “It’s the extra element. It gave us another opportunity to spread the ball around even more and create more space with his type of speed.”
Mims’ development is another thing that the Bengals feel like they can count on in 2025 that they weren’t sure about a year ago. Last May, Trent Brown was the Bengals’ starting right tackle and Mims was a developmental piece.
Heading into 2025, Mims has told the coaches that he expects to be a Pro Bowler this season. For the first time in Burrow’s career, he could be playing behind two great tackles.
“We ask our tackles to do a lot,” Browning said. “(Mims) played really well. Playing as a rookie tackle has to be (one of the toughest spots), especially in this division. Trent Brown went down, he hopped in, and that was a very impressive rookie year. Hopefully he continues to build and becomes one of the better tackles in the NFL.”
Having Mims and Brown together at the tackle spots, which didn’t happen a ton last year, should help the Bengals get more downhill with their run game. Brown said that this year is about linemen finishing their blocks in the run game and getting to the second level. Karras said, “I’d love to give Joe a run game.”
Factoring into that mix will be two new starting guards, which could include Cody Ford, Lucas Patrick, Dylan Fairchild, Jaxson Kirkland, Jalen Rivers or returning starter Cordell Volson (who had his contract restructured after a poor 2024 season).
The guard position remains a concern until proven otherwise, and there isn’t a single proven starter in this group. While the bar is low and the guard play was some of the worst in the league last season, guard play heading into matchups vs. teams like the Chiefs, Ravens and Steelers could keep the coaches up at night. Also, offensive line depth might be the roster’s biggest weakness as Rivers slots in as the swing tackle.
The Bengals, who have a bad recent history of drafting offensive linemen after round one or finding value at that position in the margins, are really banking on new offensive line coach Scott Peters to make an immediate big difference.
“He has a very special ability to coach the guys from an individual standpoint,” Orlando Brown Jr. said. “That’s so important for growth.”Frank Pollack was the Bengals’ run game coordinator last year, and the change at this spot on the coaching staff also signals an evolution in how they’ll marry the run game with the pass game.
The Bengals saw some positives in 2024 when they sprinkled in more under center and play action, and they could build on that this season.
“Every offseason, there are wrinkles,” Browning said. “We can try some different things in OTAs that we saw other teams do. Sometimes, there are plays that they saw in college from someone they evaluated in the draft. Let’s try that. There are always wrinkles. It’s about finding ways to be explosive. The main thing is new O-Line coach. Take some things he has done well in the past.”
At the skill positions, Chase Brown, Chase, Higgins, Iosivas and Gesicki are all back. Browning said, “A lot of people need their touches. We have a lot of weapons.” An intriguing storyline this season will be how the depth behind them establishes itself.
The Bengals seemingly made a steep course correction at running back. In recent seasons, they haven’t had much running back depth. Then after a 2024 season that saw the Bengals have to make a trade deadline move (which they had never done) for running back Khalil Herbert, the Bengals invested heavily in running back depth by signing Samaje Perine, bringing back Moss and drafting Tahj Brooks. All three of those backs should be more valuable than Herbert was last season.
The Bengals essentially bring back the same receiver depth, highlighted by Jermaine Burton and Charlie Jones. While Burton has a lot to prove with his approach, Jones has to prove that he can stay healthy. It won’t take much for them to provide more value than they did last season, and they’ll never be featured pieces of the game plan any way as the Bengals build their plans around their five starting skill position players.
Kendric Pryor has impressed on the practice squad, and Cole Burgess will be fun to watch in camp as a developmental receiver who now has a full year of pro experience under his belt.
The Bengals weren’t able to find a short-term replacement for Erick All Jr. (who will likely miss the entire season) because tight ends like that are very difficult to find. But All only played in 231 snaps last season.
The Bengals bring back their other backup tight ends in Drew Sample, Cam Grandy, Tanner Hudson and Tanner McLachlan. Prediction: UDFA tight end Kole Taylor leads the team in preseason receptions.
From top to bottom, it looks like a great offense led by an even better quarterback.
“That’s (Burrow’s) standard, to play at the level he’s played at,” Zac Taylor said. “(He’s continuing) to help grow the team as a leader. He’s part of the onboarding process with a lot of our new players, a lot of our veteran players. He’s an enormous part of this team. Him getting guys up to speed to help us win that’s part of the process he’s a part of. He’s always embraced that, and I’m proud of how he’s accepted that role.”
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