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Due to the measured, future-based approach by Duke Tobin and the front office, the Cincinnati Bengals have been a star attraction of grades and offseason takes so far.
That’s again reflected in full offseason rankings from ESPN’s Bill Barnwell, who liked quite a bit more about the offseason than simply the Orlando Brown Jr. move and ranked the Bengals with the sixth-best offseason:
Director of player personnel Duke Tobin & Co. are ready. Last year, knowing that Bates, Bell and Eli Apple were approaching free agency and with Waynes off the roster, the Bengals used a first-round pick on safety Dax Hill and a second-rounder on corner Cam Taylor-Britt. Hendrickson, Reader and Awuzie will be free agents in 2024, so Tobin used his 2023 first-round pick on end Myles Murphy and a second-rounder on corner DJ Turner.
As always, the future-minded moves to draft needs at least a year in advance (a luxury while the current core of the roster contends for titles) isn’t guaranteed to pay off. But it’s the ideal approach, to say the least.
This approach extended to other positions too, with Chase Brown at running back possibly the short-term solution in place of Joe Mixon eventually. The Bengals drafted two wideouts, too, with Charlie Jones notably the possible Tyler Boyd replacement beyond 2023 — he’ll be a force on special teams until then.
In Barnwell’s rankings, the only AFC team to chart with a better offseason than the Bengals was the Miami Dolphins. But the Chiefs and Bills ranked right behind Cincinnati in seventh and eighth, respectively.
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