Cincinnati Bengals

Head Coach: Marvin Lewis (14th year)
Offensive Coordinator: Ken Zampese (1st year)
Defensive Coordinator: Paul Guenther (3rd year)

Depth Chart

Quarterback: Andy Dalton, AJ McCarron
Running Back: Jeremy Hill, Gio Bernard, Rex Burkhead, Cedric Peerman
Wide Receiver: AJ Green, Brandon LaFell, Tyler Boyd (r), Mario Alford
Tight End: Tyler Eifert, Tyler Kroft
Kicker: Mike Nugent
Defense/Spec Teams: 2015-Finished 22nd in yards against and 31st in points against. Finished 10th in sacks and 3rd in interceptions.

Coaching Philosophy

With former offensive coordinator, Hue Jackson jumping ship to head to the “other” team in Ohio, Ken Zampese will take over the offense in Cincinnati. Zampese has been the Bengals’ quarterbacks coach for the last three years, so I don’t expect much to change this season as far as the offense. The Bengals drafted Carson Palmer the first year he was there and now he has helped Andy Dalton develop into a very good NFL quarterback, so he has shown that he can get production from the quarterback. I think it’s fair to say that we once again see a balanced offense in 2016.

Fantasy Outlook

Bengals Quarterbacks

The Ginga Ninja…I think I can get behind that.

Andy Dalton was having a fantastic season in 2015 until he suffered a thumb injury in Week 14 that caused him to miss the remainder of the year. Despite missing three plus games, he still finished as the fantasy QB18 and in ten of the 12 games he completed, he scored more than 20 fantasy points. He was on pace for roughly 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns and that would have been the second time in the last three seasons he hit that mark. Pundits are saying that losing Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu will impact his production negatively, but honestly, Brandon LaFell and rookie, Tyler Boyd aren’t much of a drop off, so I see similar production from Dalton this season. Some people call him the “Red Rifle”, but I prefer “Ginga Ninja” and I expect him to be a borderline QB1 this year.

Bengals Running Backs

Look for Hill and Bernard to be a nice running back combo once again this season.

Looking at the stats for both Jeremy Hill and Gio Bernard, I was amazed at how consistent each had been. Hill has had 222 and 223 rushing attempts in his two season in the league and averaged ten touchdowns. Gio is good for about 160-170 carries with about 45-50 receptions in each of his three seasons. With the Bengals running basically the same offense, I think we will see similar results this season. I do however want to note, that with the losses of Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu, I do expect to see a little more of Gio in the passing game, at least until LaFell and Boyd are able to get comfortable on their new team. I think it’s reasonable to predict 700 rushing yards to go with 55-60 receptions for another 500 yards. Hill had one more carry in 2015 than he did in 2014, but he averaged about a yard and a half less per carry so I expect him to rebound a bit in 2016. I think he could push for 1,000 yards this season and once again hit double digit touchdowns. Their average draft positions are around the fifth or sixth round which I feel is an appropriate spot to take them. If I were in PPR leagues, I would rank Gio ahead of Hill and in standard leagues, I would put Hill first. No other running back on their roster is worth drafting.

Bengals Wide Receivers

AJ Green is a favorite “target” of mine in fantasy drafts this year.

AJ Green. AJ Green. AJ Green. Get used to saying that because we are going to see a lot of AJ Green this season. Here’s why I like Green this year. In the three years that he’s played a full, 16 game slate (out of five years in the league), he has never had less than 132 targets, never less than 86 receptions, never had less than 1,000 yards and never had less than ten touchdowns. I love that kind of production! With Tyler Eifert in danger of missing a little time at the beginning of the season and the loss of Jones and Sanu, I think Green has a very legitimate shot of hitting 100 receptions for the first time in his career. If he stays healthy all 16 games, I’m calling it here…he will have 105-110 receptions for over 1,400 yards and double digit touchdowns. Right now I would take Green with the fifth pick in PPR leagues right behind Antonio Brown, Julio Jones, Odell Beckham and DeAndre Hopkins. I like him that much…

Where I like Green, I’m not quite so high on the other Bengals’ wide receivers. Brandon LaFell had a nice 2014 with the Patriots pass happy offense, but with the Bengals offense and slow pace of play, I don’t think he sees anywhere near the 119 targets he saw that season. He should see about 70-80 targets and that would put him in the 50-60 reception range. I can see him getting about 600-700 yards with another five or so touchdowns. He could be roster depth in 12 teams leagues, but would unlikely see major targets unless AJ Green misses any time due to injury. Bengals.com writer, Geoff Hobson recently stated that the Bengals see rookie receiver, Tyler Boyd as their slot receiver and filling the role that Mohamed Sanu played last year. Sanu had a grand total of 49 targets in 2015, so with Boyd being a rookie, I think he has very little fantasy impact this season. Boyd is an accomplished route runner as he caught a pass on 13 different routes in college and per Pro Football Focus, his pro comparison is Victor Cruz. Boyd has played a lot of time at both outside receiver and slot in college, so I think Cruz is a great comparison. If Green or LaFell goes down, I think a speculative waiver claim during the season would be in order, but he can be left alone on draft day in ten or 12 team leagues as of now.

Bengals Tight Ends

There are two things concern me about Bengals’ tight end, Tyler Eifert, health and being too touchdown dependent. As far as health goes, Eifert has missed a total of 19 games in his first three seasons. Not only that, but he underwent ankle surgery in May of this year and now his status for Week 1 is currently up in air which scares me.

Not only is health a concern with Eifert, but a lot of Eifert’s fantasy success comes from scoring touchdowns. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it can lead to a lot of up and down weeks. For example, last season, he finished as the sixth highest scoring tight end in fantasy PPR leagues. However, he only had more than four receptions in three games. He also had less than 15 fantasy points in seven of his 13 games played and scored single digit points in four of those games. He basically had big weeks in the four weeks he scored double digit touchdowns and the rest of the time, he was an average tight end.

I’m not telling you not to draft Tyler Eifert, but if you do, get ready for a potential roller coaster ride this year.

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