Brown effective but erased from passing game

Brown saw most of his fantasy production come from the passing game, seeing nine targets in a pass-heavy game script. He fumbled on a handoff from Joe Burrow and also had a receiving touchdown called back for holding in the first half. Despite the dampened fantasy production, Brown saw most of the backfield opportunities for the Bengals, out-touching Samaje Perine 20-to-5. Brown’s production has been underwhelming the first half of the season but fantasy managers should hold tight given his large share of opportunities in pass-heavy game scripts. Brown’s production should regress to see more touchdowns the second half of the season. He is in the RB2 ranks for Week 9 against the Falcons.

The Ravens held Brown in check both on the ground and through the air, with his longest play coming on an eight-yard reception. Even with the Bengals scoring 35 unanswered points in the second half alone, Brown was unable to find the end zone, and watched from the sidelines as Samaje Perine vultured a one-yard touchdown run from him down near the goal-line. Brown out-snapped Perine 7-to-3 in the red zone, but that won’t help fantasy managers much. This continues to be a tough season for Brown, who has just one touchdown on the year and has yet to surpass 82 yards from scrimmage in any game this season. He shouldn’t be considered as anything more than an RB2 next week against the Titans.

Pitcher suggested that when they run the ball more from shotgun — as they did last week against the Dolphins — Perine’s a better fit for those kinds of plays. The Bengals spent a lot of time this offseason working on an under center run game to get Brown more explosives, but that has gone for naught early on in the season. We may indeed see more Perine in Cincinnati’s running game after they return from the bye week, lowering Brown into the RB2 range.

Brown took a surprising backseat to Samaje Perine in the Bengals’ win over the Dolphins. He still out-snapped Perine 38-to-33, but a red zone fumble hurt his fantasy production while splitting backfield touches 50/50. There were a few snaps where Brown lined up as a receiver with Perine in the backfield; the Bengals used both backs heavily. Brown previously dominated all sorts of touches for the Bengals backfield, so this is a new development. Game script certainly played a factor but Brown’s ceiling as an RB1 may be considerably lessened if Perine’s usage sticks. He is a fantasy RB2 with a Week 7 matchup against the Ravens on the horizon after a Week 6 bye.

It was a big pass-catching day for Brown, who saw 11-of-54 total Bengals targets on the day. After Ja’Marr Chase (concussion) exited, Brown and Tee Higgins saw massive upticks in usage. Brown saw 57 backfield snaps, catching a series of checkdowns and wheel routes despite just 10 rushing yards on the day. He worked ahead of Samaje Perine on passing downs, a good sign for his fantasy production moving forward. We don’t expect Brown to consistently see this many targets but a high backfield share gives him a consistent fantasy floor. Brown is a fringe RB1 for Week 5 against the Dolphins.

Brown was effective with the opportunities he received, but the Bengals did all of their damage through the air in this one, as Joe Burrow and the company aimed to keep pace with a surprisingly explosive Steelers offense. As far as the Bengals’ backfield is concerned, Brown continues to be the only game in town. He handled 71.4 percent of the Bengals’ running back opportunities in this one but has only one touchdown to show for his efforts this season. He’ll be a fringe RB1/RB2 in next week’s game against the Jaguars.

It was neither an efficient nor prolific outing for the Bengals’ lead back, but he found the end zone and out-touched No. 2 Samaje Perine 21-8. It was a full “as expected” day in the Bengals’ backfield. Brown will remain in the RB10-14 range for Week 2 against the Texans. That’s a tough defensive matchup, albeit one the similarly offensive-minded Bills just handled with ease.

Dehner has been covering the Bengals’ intent to increase the number of plays run from under center all summer. Last season, “the Bengals ran from under center 120 times on early downs. The league average was 210.” Per Dehner, it has become clear “over the weeks that the under-center offense would not be going away.” The Bengals are committed to changing their ways in pursuit of more explosive gains. Starting RB Chase Brown is a locked-in RB1.

Late in June, The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr. reported that QB Joe Burrow had agreed to try out more under-center concepts in spring practices. The Bengals’ quarterback prefers to operate from shotgun, but the offense has struggled to generate explosive pass and run plays in recent seasons. Meanwhile, 2025 playoff teams notably thrived under center, prompting a potential schematic switch in Cincinnati this year. Dehner previously reported on Brown’s efficiency leaps when switching from shotgun to under center. Burrow and his wide receiver should, theoretically, receive an efficiency bump from the intended changes as well. This is exciting for fantasy football purposes.

Brown, according to Dehner, is “being used all over the formation,” similar to the way Ja’Marr Chase has been deployed in recent years. Brown lines up in the slot and runs a slant one play, then takes a jet sweep the next. He’s part of 20 personnel with two running backs, motions into the backfield, behind a fullback and almost any other spot imaginable.” The Bengals are preparing to use motion at a much higher rate than they have during the Joe Burrow era, especially when Burrow is under center. It’s led to some early camp struggles, per Dehner. “We all got to prepare a little bit more, at least I do, a lot for the motions and playing F and wherever they are putting me takes a little extra study time because I haven’t really done that before,” Brown said. “It’s cool they trust me doing that and believe in my skill set enough. It’s been fun.” Dehner said the team’s “pre-snap eye candy and under-center emphasis have helped establish a refreshed run game” ahead of the 2026 season. Brown’s pass game involvement should give him every chance to be a top-5 back in PPR formats.