NFL preseason report: Cincinnati Bengals

This page will be regularly updated with news and analysis regarding the Bengals’ skill position players throughout training camp and the preseason. ⬆︎ ⬇︎ Indicate which way a player’s fantasy value is trending and (R) denotes rookies.

Warren Sharp projects the Bengals as having the 13th easiest schedule this year.

Quarterback

Andy Dalton ⬆︎ -- Similar to Carolina, Cincinnati is expected to face a number of high scoring offenses with questionable pass defenses (Per Sharp). This bodes well, at least from a matchup/volume standpoint for Dalton. He’ll need to throw to keep his Bengals in games. Additionally, the Bengals revamped their offensive line with key additions at LT and C (Cordy Glenn and Billy Brice, respectively).

Running Back

Joe Mixon ⬆︎ -- Mixon looked sluggish last year, after ballooning up to over 230lbs, thinking it would help at the NFL level. After that experiment failed, he’s slimmed back down to his college weight of 218lbs. He’s looked great so far and should be expected to handle a sizeable workload this year.

Giovani Bernard ⬆︎ -- Gio played very well last year and I think he could take on a larger role than many are expecting. He’s a steady all-around back that can be had for nickels in the 13th round. Consider Gio a priority late-round pick with RB2 upside, should Mixon falter in his starting role.

Wide Receiver

A.J. Green ⬆︎ -- A.J. Green is an All-World talent that’s been stuck in an unfavorable situation. If another pass-catching option can get it together, it would force defenses away from double-teaming Green and he’d be a killer volume play at his current 2.09 ADP

Tyler Boyd ⬆︎ -- Boyd has reportedly been dicing up the defense from the slot. He’s shown well all camp and the release of Brandon LaFell tells us that the team has confidence in his ability.

John Ross ⬆︎ -- Don’t look now but John Ross has been turning heads in camp. The speedster would instantly improve the offense with his field-stretching ability. He won’t be a weekly starter but if he continues to improve he’ll produce a number of useful weeks against vulnerable secondaries. Similar to Boyd, LaFell’s release bodes well for the team’s confidence in Ross.

Josh Malone ⬆︎ -- Malone had been playing well before being sidelined with a bad hammy. Word is he’s back at it though.

Auden Tate (R) ⬆︎ -- Tate was the talk of the town before suffering a concussion last week. He’s somehow recovered already though, and has returned to form. Matt Minich over at Cincy Jungle thinks Tate could be the real deal

Tight End

Tyler Eifert ⬇ -- I’m not a fan of Tyler Eifert. That’s the clearest way to put things. He’s an All-Pro talent with an awful history of soft tissue injuries. My go-to for injury info is Stephania Bell and the biggest takeaway I have, after following her work for years, is this: Players with nagging soft tissue injuries continue to have nagging soft tissue injuries. Guys like Mark Ingram and Keenan Allen have improperly been given the Injury Prone label due to their collision-based injuries. Breaking a bone on someone’s helmet doesn’t indicate someone is injury prone. Having pulled hamstrings and back problems year in, and year out, does. I love Eifert as a player but I absolutely will not draft him this year. Eifert did just pass his physical to come off of PUP but the issue is that he was already on PUP and it’s only August…

C.J. Uzomah ⬆︎ -- Uzomah has reportedly been working with the 1’s in camp, not Tyler Kroft. Keep an eye on him as we may be looking at Cincy’s No. 1 TE for 2018.