2025 Team Previews: Cincinnati Bengals
All ADP data is courtesy of Fantasy Pros.
** = target in drafts at this ADP
Relevant Players
Ja’Marr Chase, WR (ADP: 1, WR1): Chase doesn’t need much written about him. He’s the No. 1 overall player off the board for a reason. He’s utterly unstoppable at all three levels of the field, he’s catching passes from one of the league’s very best passers, and he’s blessed with a defense that gives up tons of points and keeps the Bengals throwing. His 2024 season was one of the best we’ve ever seen. He caught 127 passes for 1,708 yards and 17 touchdowns. We fully expect more of the same. Perhaps the only interesting thing I can say about Chase, is moreso a commentary on strategy overall. It is very possible that Chase takes a step back from these numbers and is still an elite WR1, or even the WR1. I would still probably take one of the elite RBs with the first overall pick, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with locking in a truly dominant wideout either.
Chase Brown, RB (ADP: 24, RB11): Brown has really experienced an ADP glow up this summer, and nobody’s wondering anymore whether he’ll outsnap Zack Moss. Brown was so much better than Moss that he organically took over the backfield last season until an injury ended Moss’s season. Now Moss is off the team entirely, and this backfield is Brown’s.
Brown isn’t a big back by any means, but he proved he could handle a lot of work by logging 229 carries for 990 yards and seven touchdowns. I don’t know that his workload is going to go up much more than that in 2025, but we don’t need it to. Brown is impacting this team in an Alvin Kamara-esque fashion, chipping in 54 receptions for 360 yards and four touchdowns last year. We don’t care how Brown arrives at his 1,350 yards from scrimmage, just that he gets there. Cincinnati’s offense is such a fantasy dream with the porous defense creating shootouts, and the hyper talented gunslinger making sure all the key skill guys get fed. I have zero hesitation about taking Brown at this ADP.
Tee Higgins, WR (ADP: 31, WR14): Higgins would be a WR1 on most teams, but here he’s an overqualified WR2 who gets to feast even while Chase gets fat. Injuries are always an issue for Higgins, but even though he was limited to 12 games last year he still got to 73 receptions, 911 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Higgins has always been good, but last season he was special from a press-beating standpoint, winning at a 78.6% clip, placing him in the 86th percentile in that metric. He also posted a healthy 72.4% win rate vs. man. His health risk is actually built into this ADP, in my opinion, because if he manages to log a full season or close to it this team can easily have two WR1s playing alongside each other. Not only do the Bengals have the QB and the constant shootout environment, Burrow has no problem with hypertargeting his best options, and that’s Chase and Higgins. From an injury standpoint he’s risky, but from a skills perspective there’s no risk at all. Don’t play scared.
Joe Burrow, QB (ADP: 36, QB5): Burrow went from being a value last draft season to now being picked ahead of Jalen Hurts. I absolutely love him, but I cannot in good conscience recommend a pocket passer be picked inside the Top 40. There is simply too much value to be found later in the draft at QB. I was all over Burrow last season when he was the No. 63 overall pick. If he stays upright, he’ll probably justify this ADP, he’s that good. I’m not anti-Burrow in any way, and it may seem contrary for me after saying “Don’t play scared” to be off Burrow when I think he’s good enough to perform at this level. But there are other players in this range – Alvin Kamara, Garrett Wilson, George Kittle for example – that you aren’t able to find later. There are just other QBs who can put up big, big numbers that can be found in the double-digit rounds so unfortunately we’re back to pricing Burrow at his ceiling.
Interesting Sleeper(s)
Jermaine Burton, WR (ADP: 303, WR96): Burton did nothing of note last season, and it wasn’t all because of Chase and Higgins. It was clear early in the summer that the rumors of Burton being a difficult personality were not just rumors. It’ll be a shame if he lets these issues completely derail him in Cincy, because he’s very talented and someone that could absolutely be fantasy relevant in this environment. Higgins misses time almost every season, and Burton has the goods to capably fill in if he can buy in. He’s not draftable, but I do think he’s interesting.
Notable Players
Mike Gesicki, TE (ADP: 194, TE25): Gesicki is a man whose talent I struggle to quit, especially after setting a career-high mark for receptions (65) last season in his first year with the Bengals. Still, he only scored two touchdowns, and just won’t see enough volume to be a weekly starter. He’s certainly a high-end streamer though, and the addition of Noah Fant doesn’t worry me.
Andrei Iosivas, WR (ADP: 295, WR92): Iosivas is a solid player who will have some nice games out of the slot for Cincy. He scored six times last year, a very nice number on 36 receptions. I don’t believe he has season-long upside though, unless the injury bug is biting and you’re playing in a full-PPR league. It didn’t work out this way last season, but if we see Higgins or Chase get hurt this year I’ll be reaching for Burton before Iosivas.
Handcuffs
Tahj Brooks, RB (ADP: 245, RB70): Brooks was super productive in his final two seasons at Texas Tech, putting up over 2,300 yards from scrimmage with 28 touchdowns combined. He has proven at the college level he can handle a bell cow workload, and he also showed he can catch the ball. With Moss out of the picture, Brooks looks like a very sturdy bet to be Brown’s handcuff. If you draft Brown, I think it makes some sense to lock down Brooks too because whoever has the lead role in this backfield will carry fantasy value.
Samaje Perine, RB (ADP: 319, RB86): Perine has been around the block, and with the Bengals too. He is a solid player and contributor, particularly on passing downs as a capable pass-catcher and blocker, but he’s not a real option as a handcuff. If Brown were to get hurt, Perine would mix in, but never take over. He hasn’t logged 100 carries since his rookie season, which was nine years ago. Perine is not fantasy relevant, and that’s why Brooks makes for a very low-cost and potentially high upside pick.