Joe Burrow is back baby. With that, this is an offense we want to invest in for 2024 and beyond. Fantasy football will be a blast for players who drafted the 2024 Cincinnati Bengals, let’s take a closer look at their season-long projections.
Cincinnati Bengals 2024 Fantasy Football Outlook
Values
Jermaine Burton sticks out like a sore thumb. Tyler Boyd has been an integral part of the offense. 13% or more of the targets went his way over the past three seasons. Burton is going outside the top 50 receivers in 2024 ADP right now. He would be very much in FLEX consideration with an expected target share of just under 15%. With over 20 yards per reception in his final year at Alabama, he’s the deep threat this offense needs after Boyd is gone.
Tee Higgins is the other player in this offense criminally undervalued. In Burrow’s two healthy seasons, his TD% (how often one of his attempts became a touchdown) was well above league average. In 2023 that came crashing back down to earth. But, if he can return to form with this loaded WR room, Higgins will benefit the most. While a trade might still be on the table, Higgins was targeted in the red zone almost 20% of the time last year. With Burrow back at the helm and Burton/Chase taking pressure off of him, he’s due for another big season. Players are drafting Higgins as the WR30 according to FantasyPros, but these projections have him comfortably in WR2 territory.
Players to Avoid
The running back situation is messy at best. Joe Mixon has been able to volume his way to RB1 territory, but neither Moss nor Chase Brown have the clear hold on the backfield. It’s unlikely either is a plug and play running back in managed leagues. However, they can be useful deeper running backs in best ball formats. More likely it will be a painful split that leaves fantasy managers disappointed.
The tight ends are a mess. As a matter of fact, if every tight end on the roster combined into one player, they’d be a low end TE1. At this point, it’s more likely that Mike Gesicki, Erick All and the rest of the room share a small pie of a good offense. They’re streaming options at best in 2024.
Players That Are Priced Appropriately
Ja’Marr Chase and Joe Burrow go together like peanut butter and jelly. Like green eggs and ham. Like a WR1 and a QB1. With both on the field, the Bengals are a better team and their fantasy outputs skyrocket. At WR3 overall, Chase is priced at his ceiling, but he’s priced at a ceiling only a handful of players can hit. In 2022 Chase had the 6th highest target share of any player in the league and then paired that with the 13th most yards after the catch. He’s a big play threat every time he touches the ball, and should be drafted with confidence.
Although Burrow doesn’t have the rushing floor of other quarterbacks, he’s still a QB1. At QB7 prices, he’s more tolerable than when he was going top five in seasons prior. If a pocket passer can put together extreme efficiency, it’s Burrow and the Bengals in 2024.
Main Photo Credit: Syndication: The Tennessean
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