2025 was another lost season in Cincinnati, with turf toe limiting franchise player Joe Burrow to only eight starts. Five of Cincy’s six wins came with Burrow in the lineup, telling you all you need to know about the rest of the roster. Fill-in QB Joe Flacco put up fantasy points, but the “defense,” which surrendered a franchise-record 492 tallies, killed any chance of a Cinderella playoff run.
▶ 2025 Stats (Rank)
- Points per game: 24.4 (12th)
- Total yards per game: 329.2 (17th)
- Plays per game: 62.2 (11th)
- Dropbacks per game: 43.1 (4th)
- Dropback EPA per play: 0.01 (24th)
- Designed rush attempts per game: 22.4 (28th)
- Rush EPA per play: 0.01 (5th)
Can Joe Burrow stay healthy enough to keep the fantasy money printer operating?
The Bengals have been limited to nine, nine and six victories as they have missed the postseason each of the past three years, with Burrow’s injury woes and a nonexistent defense being the primary culprits. Burrow, of course, is currently healthy after finishing last season under center, while former Giant Dexter Lawrence was added for the cool price of the No. 10 overall pick to shore up the defense. The “philosophy,” as it were, still mostly amounts to: Pray Burrow stays on the field, and hope the other side of the ball doesn’t ruin everything.
▶ Passing Game
QB: Joe Burrow, Joe Flacco
WR: Ja’Marr Chase, Colbie Young
WR: Tee Higgins, Mitchell Tinsley
WR: Andrei Iosivas, Charlie Jones
TE: Mike Gesicki, Drew Sample, Erick All
Joe Burrow remains a fantasy money printer whenever he manages to play, which hasn’t been all that often over the past three years. He started all 17 games in 2024 but was limited to 10 appearances in 2023 and eight in 2025. In between, his rate stats remained those of an elite pick. Although 2023 featured sub-par output, Burrow was the QB2 by average points in 2024. His 2025 marks were depressed by a slow start and injury-shortened outing in Week 2, but he was the QB3 overall for Weeks 14-18. That’s winning time in fantasy, not to mention winter weather time in America. Burrow posting those numbers without the benefit of a dome is genuinely impressive. Burrow has still “got it,” but now headed into his age-30 campaign, staying on the field figures to get even more difficult as the gunslinger ages.
Not that we are worried about that for Week 1. Burrow still possesses the pound-for-pound best wideout in football, Ja’Marr Chase, as his primary weapon in the passing game. Unlike Burrow or his wide receiver running mate Tee Higgins, Chase rarely misses time. He’s been sidelined for two total games over the past three years and is coming off back-to-back 1,400-yard campaigns. His 185 targets led the NFL last season even though he was suspended for Week 12 after spitting on Steelers CB Jalen Ramsey. Unlike some seasons, Chase’s stats were not further inflated by marathon Higgins absences, as Tee was sidelined for “just” two contests. Still somehow only 26 years old, Chase remains fantasy football’s safest bet at wideout.
“Safe” is never a word we will ascribe to Tee Higgins, but he continues to offer as much upside as any WR2 in football, save for George Pickens. Higgins has missed 12 games over the past three years but has 21 scores over his past 27 appearances. Elite stuff, and a formula that should remain for 2026. With Chase petrifying opposing defenses inside the 20-yard line, Higgins should continue to see premium looks in the red zone. Not that Higgins only scores from close distance. In fact, seven of his 2025 touchdowns came from outside the 20.
In addition to the scores, Higgins was also one of the league’s most effective down-field wideouts, with only seven players drawing more targets of 20-plus yards. Although Higgins will never be amongst the league’s most targeted pass catchers, his big-play skill-set creates a reliable WR2 floor that also offers weekly WR1 ceiling.
Unlike some of the league, the Bengals still regularly used “11” personnel last season. In fact, Andrei Iosivas actually played more snaps than Higgins. Of course, he was mostly getting in cardio, with his 851 plays resulting in just 33 grabs for 435 yards and two touchdowns. All three totals were down from his 2024 marks. Already headed into his age-27 season and behind the league’s best receiver duo, Iosivas remains a player who would need injury ahead of him to come into fantasy viability. And in this case, “fantasy viability” would probably amount to temporary WR4 status in PPR leagues.
There’s no one else of note in the Bengals’ receiver corps. Charlie Jones has maxed out as a special teamer, and rookie fourth-rounder Colbie Young is an outside specialist coming off 2025 injury. Something will have gone majorly wrong for the 2026 Bengals if Young is seeing regular looks.
This being the pass-happy Bengals, we can’t leave without talking about the tight ends. Neither Mike Gesicki nor Noah Fant managed to provide more than matchup-based streamer appeal in 2025, though Gesicki now has the room to himself after Fant left for the Saints in free agency. Had Gesicki and Fant been one player last season, they would have posted a 62/595/5 line, putting them in low-end TE1 territory. 31-year-old Gesicki isn’t about to take another step forward this season, but perhaps he will be a more stable streamer with Fant no longer in the picture.
▶ Running Game
RB: Chase Brown, Samaje Perine, Tahj Brooks
OL (L-R): Orlando Brown, Dylan Fairchild, Ted Karras, Dalton Risner, Amarius Mims
Sometimes a player is just better in fantasy football. That’s 26-year-old Chase Brown, who posts replacement-level efficiency marks but has now finished as a top-14 PPR running back each of the past two seasons. The RB14 in 2024, he rose to RB8 status in 2025. That will happen when you rush for 1,000-plus yards, catch 50-plus passes and mix in for 10-plus scores. There is every reason to believe that will remain Brown’s baseline for 2026 in this explosive attack. Of course, there is scant difference between Brown’s floor and ceiling, but they should both remain intact considering the lack of credible touch competition behind him.
Which brings us to Samaje Perine and Tahj Brooks. Long since established as one of the NFL’s least inspiring backs to regularly touch the football, Perine is always in the mix to be a final-cuts casualty, but his mastery of the “little things” means he will probably hang on yet another season in Cincinnati. Last year, sixth-round rookie Brooks managed all of 17 touches across 16 games. As far as we know, Brooks is all but assured of RB3 status in the Queen City, but it’s possible the Bengals make an outside addition if Brooks fails to take a step forward in training camp. If the status quo holds, Perine and Brooks would form a wheezing committee in the event of a Brown injury, with Perine handling the money plays and Brooks attempting to set up third-and-shorts on first and second down. Neither are worth a contingency pick in summer fantasy drafts.
▶ 2026 Cincinnati Bengals Win Total
DraftKings Over/Under: 10.5
Pick: Under (-140)
10.5 is a skyscaping total for a team that’s averaged eight victories over the past three seasons. That’s especially true since even during Burrow’s three largely healthy campaigns — 2021, 2022 and 2024 — this team has still averaged just 10 wins. That’s usually enough to make the playoffs and qualify as a “dangerous out,” but this is a flawed roster whose ceiling isn’t quite what you think it is. Throw in a perennially tough division and a predictably brutal schedule — the league’s third toughest, per Warren Sharp — and the under seems like the best play even if you think the Bengals could make some noise in the AFC playoff tournament.
