Ian Hartitz analyzes the Cincinnati Bengals from a fantasy football perspective in this 2025 Team Preview.

The 2024 Bengals were one of the more entertaining squads in recent memory thanks to their ability to score with anyone … and also their inability to stop anyone:

Cincinnati Bengals in 2024:

  • Points per game: 27.8 (6th)
  • EPA per dropback: +0.19 (6th)
  • EPA per rush: -0.08 (19th)
  • Points per game against: 25.5 (25th)

Overall, Joe Burrow and Co. lost a whopping four games despite scoring at least 30 points—tied for the most in a single season in NFL history.

Fast forward to present day, and this group once again looks ready to light up scoreboards, even if the defense (again) sure looks rather meh on paper.

This brings us to today's goal: Answering key (mostly fantasy-related) questions about the Bengals ahead of their 2025 season.

As always: It's a great day to be great.

Cincinnati Bengals 2025 Fantasy Football and Team Preview

Does Joe Burrow deserve to be prioritized over cheaper pocket passers?

Last year Burrow scored a whopping 92% of his fantasy points through the air. The only other top-12 QBs with sub-10% rushing production were Jared Goff and Sam Darnold.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing; fantasy points count just the same regardless of whether they're scored through the air or on the ground. Burrow has also probably earned the benefit of the doubt at this point, as his only meh post-rookie season was due in large part to an early-season calf injury—and season-ending November wrist injury—in 2023.

Burrow fantasy points per game by year:

  • 2024: 21.9 (QB3)
  • 2023: 14.7 (QB23)
  • 2022: 21.9 (QB4)
  • 2021: 19.6 (QB10)
  • 2020: 17.4 (QB16)

A mobile Burrow is a huge problem for pretty much any defense to deal with. Some QBs never manage to feel comfortable stepping up into the pocket when pressure arrives. Burrow? He sprints into the danger. 

Ultimately, Burrow joins Patrick Mahomes, Drew Brees, and Andrew Luck as the only QBs to average at least 275 passing yards per game with 50-plus career starts. Critiques over his sack rate are a bit overblown, especially considering the largely bad offensive lines that have been protecting him.

Joe Burrow Fantasy Football Outlook for 2025

This is the league's reigning most pass-heavy offense in terms of dropback over expectation rate. Current Fantasy Life Projections have Burrow leading the league in total pass attempts, yards, and TDs.

Burrow is Fantasy Life's consensus QB5 and is ranked behind only dual-threat mavens Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Jayden Daniels, and Jalen Hurts. Now, I don't love the idea of spending a Round 5 pick on a QB with such limited rushing upside, but the reality that you'll already know if you have one of his stacking buddy WRs by then makes it a bet I'll still make more than a few times this summer.

Was Chase Brown's end-of-season dominance real or a fugazi?

Brown had a rather meh 39% snap rate and worked as the RB33 in PPR points per game (11) in Weeks 1-8 before Zack Moss was sidelined with a season-ending neck injury. After? Brown played on an elite 85% of the offense's snaps and averaged 20.9 PPR points per game—the fourth-highest mark among all RBs.

Now, it'd make sense if the late-season surge leads to a more consistent full-time role in 2025; Brown was also beginning to see his snaps tick up prior to the Moss injury anyways. Still, we shouldn't discount the possibility that Moss and old friend Samaje Perine do make this an annoying committee of some sorts; it's not like Brown was the world's most efficient rusher (21st in rush yards over expected per carry) or receiver (34th in yards per route run) with his opportunities.

Still: Brown is the projected lead back inside a Bengals offense we all fully expect to light up the scoreboard on a weekly basis in 2025. We're talking about one of just five RBs projected for 200+ carries and 50+ targets next season.

That's tough to be too upset about!

Chase Brown Fantasy Football Outlook 2025

Brown is going in the middle of Round 3 in early drafts, and you know what? I like it. I like it a lot. The top-two TEs are off the board by then, basically every WR going around him has one red-ish flag, and the QB run usually doesn't start until the end of the round.

Now, I don't quite get why Brown is going 20-plus picks earlier than guys like Joe Mixon, RJ Harvey, and Chuba Hubbard, but one of the lessons I've learned in fantasy over the years is that a cheaper archetype doesn't necessarily make the more expensive player in question a bad pick in and of himself. Brown will be more than worth his price tag should last season's second-half excellence persist into 2025.

Should fantasy managers prioritize both Bengals WRs?

All Ja'Marr Chase has done since entering the league in 2021 is average the most PPR points per game (19.6) of any WR … ever. Of course, capturing Triple Crown honors in 2024 was the 25-year-old's greatest accomplishment yet.

NFL Triple Crown receiving winners over the last 50 years:

Literally only Lamar Jackson (25.3) averaged more fantasy points per game than Chase (23.7) last season. Now fully secured as the highest-paid non-QB in NFL history, it'd be surprising to see Chase's status as one of the singular best overall fantasy players alive go anywhere anytime soon.

And then there's Tee Higgins, who caught a career-high 10 TDs last season despite being limited to just 12 games. Injuries have unfortunately been par for the course here in recent years, as the 26-year-old veteran has missed 10 total games during the last two seasons.

Still: Few pass catchers have flashed Higgins' ceiling when he's ready to run up the hill go.

Higgins PPR points per game:

  • 2024: 18.5 (WR5)
  • 2023: 11.5 (WR41)
  • 2022: 13.8 (WR19)
  • 2021: 15.7 (WR12)
  • 2020: 12.2 (WR38)

An average of five teams have enabled multiple top-24 WRs in the same season over the past 10 years. Getting two within the top 12 has been a bit harder, but the Bengals boast one of the few duos who have accomplished this difficult task.

It sure seems like Andrei Iosivas is the next-man-up after Chase and Higgins, although rising second-year talent Jermaine Burton could theoretically snatch that job should he keep his head on straight (big if). Fantasy Life Projections give Iosivas the lead for now. Either way, neither complementary WR figures to be anything more than a prayer FLEX option inside a passing game very content to flow the overwhelming majority of volume through its big-two ballers.

Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins Fantasy Football Outlook 2025

Chase's status as THE 1.01 in fantasy football makes sense: He has essentially zero red flags in his entire profile in terms of talent, volume, offensive environment, and age.

Meanwhile, Higgins proved plenty capable last season of supplying an upside WR1 ceiling even as his own passing game's second banana; his status as the WR12 in early ADP ahead of No. 1 options in slightly less-inspiring passing games like Garrett Wilson, Tyreek Hill, and Terry McLaurin is fair, albeit I haven't exactly gone out of my way to single him out in this group.

Iosivas is someone who I've thrown a LATE-round dart or two at this offseason when looking to add a stacking buddy to a Burrow team or nerd out with Week 17 correlation; just realize it seems more likely our next subject would be the real winner should either of Cincy's top-two WRs miss any game action.

Is Mike Gesicki one of the best late-round TE darts you can throw?

Mike Gesicki, or "Mike G" according to Joe Burrow, found new life in Cincinnati last year, racking up his most yards since his 2020-21 seasons in Miami.

The 29-year-old veteran can supply some big slot goodness while also more or less serving as Higgins insurance considering the longtime stud WR has suffered a hamstring injury of some degree in each and every year since 2019.

Seriously: Just look at Gesicki's performance in five games with Higgins sidelined last season:

  • Week 1: 3 receptions-18 yards-0 TD (4 targets)
  • Week 2: 7-91-0 (9)
  • Week 8: 7-73-0 (8)
  • Week 9: 5-100-2 (6)
  • Week 10: 4-30-0 (9)

Now, Gesicki isn't really a TE considering he spent just 12% of his snaps inline last season—he doesn't even celebrate National TE Day!—but that didn't stop the Bengals from giving him a solid three-year, $25.5 million deal. It'd make sense if this is a sign of a more consistent full-time role in 2025, especially with 2024 fourth-rounder Erick All unfortunately expected to miss the entire season while rehabbing his ACL injury.

Bottom line: Gesicki is one of my most-drafted TEs this offseason due to his potential to (in a best-case scenario) flirt with triple-digit targets in this borderline-erotic offensive environment. Similarly priced olds like Zach Ertz and Hunter Henry might carry higher floors, but I'd rather trust the involved passing games of Gesicki and Cade Otton when digging deep at the position in best ball land.

Could this offensive line be a major problem?

Well, it's basically been just that every season of Burrow's young career.

PFF end-of-season offensive line ranks for the Bengals:

  • 2024: 30th
  • 2023: 26th
  • 2022: 28th
  • 2021: 20th
  • 2020: 30th

Unfortunately, no overly meaningful additions have been made. Starting RG Alex Cappa took his talents to the Raiders in free agency, leading Cincy to bring in 31-year-old former Saints G Lucas Patrick. Maybe third-rounder Dylan Fairchild or fifth-rounder Jalen Rivers are gems; just realize the big uglies up front don't exactly profile as anything close to a strength entering 2025.

Prediction for the Bengals 2025 Season

I believe in Burrow. I believe in Chase. I believe in Higgins.

And that's about it here. Sure, Trey Hendrickson too—if he, you know, plays—but man: This team seems more invested in a few select blue-chip talents than most would-be contenders. 

Accordingly, I'm forced to take UNDER 9.5 wins even though it'd make a lot of sense if Cincy (again) proves to be a tough out for pretty much everyone. My bold fantasy call is that Mike Gesicki catches a career-high 8 TDs on his way to posting top-10 numbers at the position.