Ranking all 32 NFL secondaries ahead of the 2021 season
Ranking all 32 NFL linebacker units ahead of the 2021 season15. CINCINNATI BENGALS
A collection of secondary starters that includes Trae Waynes, Chidobe Awuzie, Mike Hilton and Vonn Bell won’t necessarily scare opposing offenses. But there aren’t many weak links in this group, either. The Bengals have done a good job of solidifying the unit through free agency over the past two offseasons.
Jessie Bates III is the star of the unit and will instill fear into quarterbacks. The 2018 second-round pick out of Wake Forest is in the conversation for best free safety in the NFL. Bates’ 12 forced incompletions in 2020 were three more than any other safety in the league.
Ranking all 32 NFL defensive line units ahead of the 2021 season31. CINCINNATI BENGALS
Cincinnati’s linebacker corps has been a problem for years, and it’s still an issue on paper heading into the 2021 season. Nobody likely to see significant playing time posted an overall PFF grade higher than 61.0 last year, and two of the three proposed starters earned grades of 41.5 or lower. The best hope for Cincinnati’s linebackers may be an improved defensive line in front of them.
Ranking all 32 NFL offensive line units ahead of the 2021 season25. CINCINNATI BENGALS
It’s not often that a team signs a defensive end to a four-year, $60 million contract in the offseason and gets worse at the position. We saw it this offseason in Cincinnati. Trey Hendrickson will likely be a downgrade from Carl Lawson, considering what he accomplished as a pass rusher last season. D.J. Reader‘s return should give Cincinnati a major boost on the interior, though. He recorded a career-high 85.4 PFF grade back in 2019 with Houston before injuries cut his 2020 Cincinnati debut short after just five games.
Ranking all 32 NFL receiving corps ahead of the 2021 season24. CINCINNATI BENGALS
One of the biggest stories of the offseason was how the Bengals were going to rebuild their offensive line. Since then, they’ve taken a few steps in the right direction.
Left tackle Jonah Williams is the team's best lineman, producing a 70.1 overall grade last year — good for 45th among tackles. He had the 12th-best pass-blocking grade on true pass sets, a great indication of future pass-blocking success, though he ranked just 72nd out of 84 qualifiers in run-blocking grade (53.4).
Cincinnati signed Riley Reiff to a one-year contract to play right tackle, and he should be an upgrade over what the Bengals have had there in recent years. Reiff has earned grades of 69.9 or better in all but one of his nine NFL seasons, and he’s a good fit for the Bengals zone-heavy rushing attack.
Perhaps the most intriguing lineman is second-rounder Jackson Carman, who represents the “other” piece to the decision to draft wideout Ja’Marr Chase with the fifth overall pick. Carman will likely start at right guard after playing left tackle for three years at Clemson. He was a solid college player, grading between 73.0 and 79.2 in all three seasons, and his size and power should play well at guard. The Bengals will also eye starting Carman at right tackle in 2022.
Trey Hopkins returns at center after grading out at 63.8 last season, the 19th-best mark among centers. He’s settled into that grading range over the past three years, so it certainly could be worse. Left guard is a battle between Xavier Su’a-Filo, Quinton Spain and Michael Jordan. Spain has the best grading profile of the trio, though he’s a few years removed from his best work and has graded in the 50.0s in his two years with the Bengals. Either way, left guard looks like a weakness again for Cincinnati.
The Bengals also added tackle D’Ante Smith and center Trey Hill in the fourth and sixth rounds, respectively. It wasn't exactly the offensive line overhaul Bengals fans expected, but they're players who could pay dividends in a few years.
Overall, Cincinnati has moved in the right direction on the offensive line, but they need better play from the interior trio.
Ranking all 32 NFL running back units ahead of the 2021 season12. CINCINNATI BENGALS
The Bengals have done a fine job building their receiving corps — the trio of Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd is now one of the league’s best.
Chase adds an outside threat who can win as a route-runner and at the catch point, all leading to a 91.1 grade back in 2019. His familiarity with Joe Burrow is only a bonus. Higgins earned the No. 3 receiving grade among rookies last season at 79.0, and his massive catch radius makes him a mismatch threat as the depth chart gets stronger. Having Chase and Higgins takes the pressure off Boyd, who has become one of the league’s most dependable receivers. He’s posted a receiving grade of 72.0 or better in each of the last three seasons, and he’ll continue to work out of the slot, where his 739 yards were third-highest in the NFL in 2020.
Auden Tate returns as a contested-catch specialist. He has the lowest percentage of open targets over the last two years, but he knows how to use his 6-foot-5 frame to add another mismatch option on the outside.
Like many teams around the league, the receiving corps is strong, but tight end has few legitimate receiving threats. Last season, Bengals tight ends posted a receiving grade of just 51.1, good for 29th in the league. Drew Sample and C.J. Uzomah return with Sample leading the way with 40 catches for just 349 yards (8.7 yards per reception) a year ago.
The Bengals have an excellent group of receivers, but they could use a better threat at tight end to round out their group of pass-catchers.
PFF QUARTERBACK RANKINGS: ALL 32 STARTERS AHEAD OF THE 2021 NFL SEASON20. CINCINNATI BENGALS
Joe Mixon is returning from the lowest PFF grade of his career (65.3) in an injury-shortened 2020 season, but there are reasons for optimism heading into next year. The offensive line should be improved, and Mixon did earn PFF rushing grades of at least 74.0 in each of his first three NFL seasons.
The loss of Giovani Bernard does make this a thinner group heading into next season. The Bengals will rely on Samaje Perine to spell Mixon, who did end last season with back-to-back 80.0 rushing grades in Week 16 and 17 for Cincinnati.
18. JOE BURROW, CINCINNATI BENGALS
Burrow had the fifth-best passing grade (92.5) when targeting throws 10-19 yards downfield, but he ranked 32nd out of 36 qualifying quarterbacks on 20-plus yard throws. He had a passer rating of just 50.8 on those 20-plus yard passes. But the good news is that deep passing can fluctuate from year to year.
The Bengals added some key weapons outside with the addition of Burrow’s former teammate Ja’Marr Chase, who should help with the downfield attack. We still need to see Burrow fully healthy, and the Bengals need to do a better job of protecting him. He showed a lot of promise as a rookie based on the number of snaps he took and the volume of the playbook he was executing.