Whether it feels like it or not, the 2024 fantasy football season is fast approaching. Before long, we will be agonizing over players’ average draft position and trying to determine who is a sleeper in a draft and who is a bust. The Cincinnati Bengals are coming off a disappointing 9-8 season after quarterback Joe Burrow suffered a season-ending wrist injury. Getting to nine wins was actually quite an accomplishment with Jake Browning under center, but the last-place finish in the AFC North still stings.
As the Bengals try to rebound in 2024, let’s look at how they shape up for fantasy football purposes with some new faces on offense.
Joe Burrow
Burrow is expected to be fully healthy at the start of the season, but training camp reports will be worth monitoring. Even if he is healthy, a wrist injury, which was on his throwing arm, is cause for concern. Burrow played in only 10 games last season and finished with 2,309 yards, 15 touchdowns and six interceptions. He has now spent four years in the NFL and has had a season-ending injury in two of them. Burrow finished as the overall QB8 and QB4 in 2021 and 2022, respectively, and he played in 16 games in both of those seasons.
In 2024, Burrow will have some new faces around him. Joe Mixon left for the Houston Texans in free agency, and Cincinnati replaced him with running back Zack Moss. Despite the Bengals’ passing attack, they haven’t been able to sustain a fantasy-relevant tight end over the course of an entire season, but there is hope that Mike Gesicki can change that.
The floor and ceiling for Burrow’s 2024 are going to depend on the health of his wrist at the start of the season and if he can make it through 17 games. Assuming he can do that, Burrow should find himself as a QB1 once again, and his current ADP as the overall QB7 reflects that.
Zack Moss
Moss is an interesting addition to the Bengals’ backfield. He fizzled out during his time in Buffalo and was unable to take over the starting job. Then he was signed last year by the Indianapolis Colts and filled in when Jonathan Taylor missed time. Something must have clicked for the 26-year-old running back because he combined for 210 rushing yards and two total touchdowns over his first two games. Moss was forced into the backup role when Taylor was healthy and finished with 794 rushing yards, five rushing touchdowns, 192 receiving yards and two more scores to end the year as the overall RB29 in half-PPR scoring.
The Bengals didn’t invest much in Moss, signing him to a two-year deal worth $8 million. It’s almost like he was signed to a two-year prove-it deal while Cincinnati sees what it has with Chase Brown and Trayveon Williams. Moss shouldn’t be expected to pick up Mixon numbers. Yes, he was the backup to Taylor, but he had 205 yards and no touchdowns on 58 carries over his last seven games to end 2023. Moss is being drafted as the overall RB25 in half-PPR scoring, which feels a little high. If there were no question that he was the lead back then it would make more sense, but with Brown and Williams behind him, I think he projects closer to the RB30.
Ja’Marr Chase
Chase did a solid job showing that he was quarterback-proof last year. Even when Burrow went down and Browning took over under center, he didn’t take a step back. Chase has now played three seasons in the NFL and has finished with 1,455, 1,046 and 1,216 yards in that span. He did finish with a career-low seven touchdowns, but he still had seven scores with one coming in the six games that Browning was the starter.
Chase is expected to have a huge year and is being drafted as the overall WR3 and the fourth player overall, regardless of position, in half-PPR scoring. Fantasy football managers are expecting that the offense won‘t be as run-heavy with Moss in the backfield, which means more throws from Burrow. Tee Higgins is back on a franchise tag, and Gesicki was signed in free agency, but other than that, there shouldn’t be much more competition for targets from teammates.
Tee Higgins
Higgins is used to being the WR2 in the Cincinnati offense but took a step back in 2023 due to Burrow’s and his own injuries. The 25-year-old only played in 12 games last season and finished with 656 yards and five touchdowns, both career lows.
Still, there is plenty of upside for Higgins based on his ADP. He is being selected as the overall WR30 in half-PPR leagues, which is a good spot. If Higgins and Burrow can stay healthy, he projects to have around 74 receptions, 1,000 yards and six touchdowns. This would result in 173 fantasy points, which would’ve been good enough for a WR27 tie with Rashee Rice last season. He should be among the first few WR2s selected in fantasy football drafts.
Mike Gesicki
Gesicki looked like he was going to be in contention for the next great tight end from the growth that he showed with the Miami Dolphins from 2018 through 2021. Then, his target share declined immensely. He had 89, 85 and 112 between 2019-2021, but then 52 and 45 over the last two seasons. It looked like the talent was still there, just the Mike McDaniel offense wasn’t utilizing the tight end. They didn’t need to with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, and Gesicki was an afterthought.
Tanner Hudson was Cincinnati’s top tight end last season, with 39 receptions for 352 yards and a touchdown. Hayden Hurst had 414 yards and two touchdowns in 2022, so it remains to be seen if Cincinnati is going to alter its offense to support Gesicki for fantasy football purposes. He is being drafted as the TE29, but with the talent we have seen and my assumption that he is going to see more work with the reduced run game, Gesicki could finish as a TE2 this season.
Evan McPherson
Kickers are often overlooked for fantasy football, with many managers waiting until their final two picks to address the position. McPherson was drafted as the overall K3 last season but fell short of expectations. Part of that has to be attributed to the fact that Burrow got hurt halfway through the year, and even though Browning led the team to a winning record, the offense still took a giant step back. With a healthy Burrow under center, McPherson should be able to get back to his successful kicking ways and be a top performer at the position.
D/ST
The Cincy defense was expected to take a step back if for no other reason than losing both safeties Vonn Bell and Jessie Bates III to free agency. The Bengals D/ST finished as the overall D/ST19 last season. Sure, part of that was due to Burrow getting hurt and the offense not sustaining drives, but the defense didn’t do much to help itself. They’ve added some interesting pieces in Sheldon Rankins, Geno Stone and DJ Taylor while also re-adding Bell, but for now, don’t worry about drafting this unit for fantasy football.