{"id":716820,"date":"2026-01-30T15:35:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T15:35:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/716820\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T15:35:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T15:35:20","slug":"what-is-the-bengals-sneakiest-need-on-offense-this-offseason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/716820\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the Bengals’ sneakiest need on offense this offseason?"},"content":{"rendered":"

CINCINNATI, Ohio \u2014 Heading into the offseason, the Bengals<\/a> have a long list of things to fix on a defense that ranked 30th in the NFL in scoring (28.9 points per game). But that doesn\u2019t mean there aren\u2019t any holes on offense to fix either.<\/p>\n

Obviously, offensive line is always going to be a need for the Bengals because protecting Joe Burrow is paramount, especially considering how much the team has struggled when he\u2019s not on the field. In 2025, for example, the Bengals went 1-8 when Burrow was out due to his turf toe and 5-3 when he played.<\/p>\n

But outside of the offensive line, the Bengals have a sneaky need that they should be looking to fill.<\/p>\n

That comes in the form of finding a third pass catcher to play alongside Ja\u2019Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.<\/p>\n

Chase and Higgins will be the top two receivers in Cincinnati as long as they\u2019re healthy, but the team could use a third option behind them.<\/p>\n

Where could that third option come from? <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a look at where the Bengals skill player roster stands and where they could be primed to improve.<\/p>\n

In case you missed it, this is part two of our three-part series looking at this offseason for the Bengals. Here is part one in which I picked out five defensive options in free agency<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Running back<\/p>\n

Outside of Chase (1,412 yards) and Higgins (846), no other Bengals player had 500 receiving yards in 2025. The closest was Chase Brown, who had a career-high 437 on 69 receptions.<\/p>\n

Brown is a very good receiving running back. However, the Bengals have utilized Brown in tandem with Samaje Perine. That could make it tough for him to have the receiving numbers of players like Christian McCaffrey and Alvin Kamara in the last decade.<\/p>\n

While the tandem has been good for the Bengals, it does make it hard for Brown to rack up big-time receiving yards.<\/p>\n

Brown is a very good running back who might make his way into a Pro Bowl before his career is over. He probably won\u2019t have the impact of players like McCaffrey and Kamara had in their primes, especially as a pass catcher.<\/p>\n

However, Brown could be the type of back who consistently gets to 1,000 yards rushing and 500 yards receiving over the next couple of seasons.<\/p>\n

Does it fill this need?<\/p>\n

No, but it\u2019s still an important role on this Bengals offense.<\/p>\n

Tight end<\/p>\n

While Joe Burrow has had two elite wide receivers for the vast majority of his career, the one thing he hasn\u2019t had is a star tight end.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s played with some solid tight ends over the years from C.J. Uzomah to Hayden Hurst. <\/p>\n

The Bengals have relied on a committee of tight ends in recent years, led by Mike Gesicki as the main receiving threat when healthy and depth players like Tanner Hudson, known more as a receiver, and Drew Sample, who is a good blocking tight end.<\/p>\n

They really haven\u2019t had that quality tight end like we\u2019ve seen in the rest of the AFC North over the years like Mark Andrews in Baltimore, Pat Freiermuth in Pittsburgh and David Njoku and Harold Fannin Jr. in Cleveland.<\/p>\n

In Burrow\u2019s six seasons, the only tight end to have more than 500 yards receiving in a single season was Gesicki in 2024 (665).<\/p>\n

Bengals coach Zac Taylor talked prior to the start of the season about how he likes using a variety of tight ends who have different skill sets<\/a>. Maybe that means tight end in 2026 remains a position done by committee.<\/p>\n

The other X-factor is Erick All\u2019s return in 2026. The former fourth-round pick missed all of last season as he continued to rehab a torn ACL from the year prior. He had a solid start to his career with 20 receptions for 158 yards in nine games.<\/p>\n

Even if he\u2019s not a star, he has a chance, if healthy, to contribute to the Bengals\u2019 tight end committee.<\/p>\n

Wide receiver<\/p>\n

That brings us to the last and most likely place for the Bengals to go after a third dynamic pass catcher: wide receiver.<\/p>\n

When they went to the Super Bowl in 2021, they leaned on a receiving trio of Ja\u2019Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd. Chase and Higgins each had 1,000-plus yards that season, and Boyd was very productive as well with 67 catches for 828 yards and five touchdowns.<\/p>\n

Boyd signed with the Titans in 2024, and the Bengals just have yet to find a third receiver who has been as productive.<\/p>\n

Andrei Iosivas has back-to-back seasons of more than 400 yards, but he\u2019s in the last year of his rookie deal.<\/p>\n

The Bengals drafted Charlie Jones in the fourth round in 2023. But he\u2019s more of a threat as a returner and has just eight receptions in three seasons.<\/p>\n

They used a third-round pick on Jermaine Burton in 2024. However, he never played in 2025 and was cut in December.<\/p>\n

When you factor those three things in, maybe the best course of action for the Bengals is using a decent asset to upgrade at slot receiver this offseason. That\u2019s not saying they need to use the 10th pick in the draft on USC\u2019s Makai Lemon.<\/p>\n

They need to save their top two picks for impact defensive players or maybe another offensive lineman.<\/p>\n

But late in Day 2 or early on Day 3, a pick on a slot receiver like Indiana\u2019s Omar Cooper Jr. or Clemson\u2019s Antonio Williams could be an option if available to the Bengals. <\/p>\n

To be clear, the Bengals need to fix their defensive problems much more than they need another receiver.<\/p>\n

However, in the world of the NFL where defenses spend months trying to catch up to these elite offenses, it pays to stay one step ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CINCINNATI, Ohio \u2014 Heading into the offseason, the Bengals have a long list of things to fix on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":716821,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2053],"tags":[228,227,256,94863,2296,94864,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-716820","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cincinnati-bengals","8":"tag-bengals","9":"tag-cincinnati","10":"tag-cincinnati-bengals","11":"tag-cincinnati-bengals-2025-2026","12":"tag-cincinnatibengals","13":"tag-cleveland-browns-2025-2026","14":"tag-football","15":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115984788658910084","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=716820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/716821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=716820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=716820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=716820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}