Team Previews - Cincinnati Bengals
Projected Starting Lineup QB: Andy Dalton RB: Joe Mixon WR: A.J. Green WR: Brandon LaFell WR: Tyler Boyd TE: Tyler Eifert
LT: Cordy Glenn LG: Clint Boling C: Billy Price RG: Trey Hopkins RT: Jake Fisher
Bengals Offensive Profile Last Three Years 2015-2017 Pass Attempts Rank: 26th, 20th, 25th 2015-2017 Rush Attempts Rank: 7th, 9th, 29th 2015-2017 Play Volume Rank: 25th, 10th, 32nd 2015-2017 Yards Per Play Rank: 7th, 18th, 27th Unaccounted for Air Yards from 2017 (Rank): -14 (32nd) Unaccounted for Carries from 2017 (Rank): 37 (24th)
Bill Lazor average offensive production as an Offensive Coordinator in the NFL. (3 Seasons)
Passing: ATT COMP PCT YDS AVG YDS/G LONG TD TD% INT INT% SACK YDSL RATE
564 354 62.6 3894 6.87 222 60 25 4.5 12 2.13 44 340 89
Rushing: ATT YDS AVG LONG 20+ TD YDS/G FUM FUML 1DN 373 1578 4.2 69 11 10 99 5 3 81
Receiving: REC TAR YDS AVG TD LONG 20+ YDS/G FUM FUML YAC 1DN
354 564 3894 11 25 60 44 243 5 2 1821 195
Quarterback-
Well the good news for Andy Dalton is that the offense can only improve on last year’s disaster. After the departures of LT Andrew Whitworth and RG Kevin Zeitler via free agency, the Bengals decided to not sign anyone worth a damn nor draft anyone to fill those roles. Last year’s results led them to the conclusion of that being a poor decision. This year they decided to address some of those needs on the offensive line by drafting C Billy Price in the first-round and singing LT Cordy Glenn. They neglected to upgrade the coaching staff this off-season, but they’re the Bengals so you shouldn't be shocked. Andy Dalton had a very shaky season, but did manage to throw for 25 touchdowns while averaging a dreadful 208 yards a game passing. I have seen enough of the “Red-Riffle” and so should you, as he is not a take in fantasy football this season.
Wide Receiver-
A.J. Green unfortunately has to return to this team for yet another year. Despite topping 1,000 yards for the sixth time in seven seasons, he did not have a very good A.J Green type of year. He was extremely inconsistent and disappeared like his team at times catching a career-worst 51.7% of his targets. Happy belated birthday A.J as he turned 30 on July 31st by the way. While father-time is not on his side, we can expect a bounce back type year with a better offense returning. With his current ADP of 20, he is likely to be on all of my fantasy teams with a top 6 pick, as I will be happy to grab him in the back-half of the second round.
With the news of Brandon LaFell being cut today, it looks as though the Bengals are going to shift their focus to John Ross, Tyler Boyd and Josh Malone (VFL). The former first-round pick didn’t catch a single pass in his rookie season. That is an extremely difficult thing to do and for that we should applaud Ross and the Bengals front office. While Ross possesses elite speed he struggles to get off press-coverage and the ability to run a full route tree. I am hopeful that the Bengals realize Tyler Boyd is a slot receiver and it would really help this offense if he strictly played there. Last season he saw 30.5% of his snaps out of the slot and we need that to be more like 75% for him to be successful. Josh Malone is the wild-card here as he has prototypical NFL size and speed at (6’3/212) and 4.4 forty. He saw a dramatic uptick in his playing time weeks 7-17 and we hope that continues as the former 5-star recruit out of Tennessee has a lot of ability. Not much fantasy production to be had in the draft out of this group, but worth keeping your eye on early in the season as one of these players should add some production this season.
Tight End-
There are two things that Tyler Eifert has been exceptional at in his NFL career, catching touchdowns (15.7%) of his catches, and having back surgeries (3) in 5 years or (60%). He signs a one-year prove-it type deal to stay in Cincinnati after having only played in 39-of-80 career games. The tight end whisperer (Me) was keeping a close eye on Eifert this off season as he declared himself “100 percent”. In typical Bengal and Eifert fashion he was placed on the PUP list to start training camp. I might be tempted late in a draft to take a chance on him actually staying healthy, but I also like to wager on just about anything. Running Back-
While a ton of his fellow rookie running backs “ran” with the job (pun intended) Joe Mixon couldn’t get things going. While there are many to blame for his lack of production "ie" the fired offensive coordinator 3 games into the season and offensive line, we will focus on Mixon. Last year Mixon averaged 3.5 yards on 178 carries with only 4 rushing touchdowns. He should see a large uptick in carries with a better offensive line and the departure of Jeremy Hill. He is also extremely versatile and is great out of the backfield as he caught 30-of-34 targets for 287 yards. These are all reasons why I still have not given up on Joe Mixon and believe he can be a quality RB2 this season. He is someone that I am looking at in rounds 4-5 this season as he should see the volume needed to be a solid RB2 in all formats.
One of the better backups in the league is Gio Bernard. He is exceptional in the passing game and can handle the load for a couple of weeks when called upon in the run game. In the final five weeks of the season he had 71 carries for 337 yards along with 24 catches for 170 yards. While Bernard will be involved, I do not see his volume being enough to select him in any drafts unless I take Mixon as his handcuff.
2018 Vegas Win Total The Bengals’ Win Total opened at 7. They get no favors in having to deal with the improving AFC West and very tough NFC South. Even though Marvin Lewis is 0-for in the playoffs, he has still won seven games or more in 6-of-7 years. With no upgrades to the coaching staff and not much else done in free agency, I think the 7 is a very good number. I frankly would not want to bet on Marvin Lewis to win more than 7 games this year, but I also wouldn’t want to bet against him. I am just glad that this article is over and I can move on to a team with some actual excitement on offense.
