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It’s not hard to like the future outlook for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Those Bengals added Joe Burrow. They’re heading into Year 2 with a new coaching staff. The front office let said coaching staff spend big in free agency.
The result away from the football field itself is — if nothing else — a general trend upward in something like power rankings.
ESPN’s future power rankings, for example, already slot the Bengals up to No. 27 (they were hardstuck at 32 in most rankings everywhere):
“Why they’re here: There’s nowhere to go but up for Cincinnati, which landed the prize of the 2020 draft in Joe Burrow to kickstart the rebuild. But the Bengals’ willingness to spend in free agency also shows the potential turning over of a new leaf. There are many roster holes (the offensive line is a focus), but Cincy has a chance to establish an upward trajectory soon. — Yates”
Again, 27th doesn’t sound like much. But that’s not terrible for a team that just won two games and has to break in a rookie passer in the middle of a limited stretch of training camp and preseason games.
The Bengals are blatantly headed in the right direction though. The hope is the offensive line takes a jump with Jonah Williams, speedy additions in the draft and big names in free agency reshape the defense and an already-superb cast of weapons around the quarterback help speed up Joe Burrow’s development.
If the on-field performance gets close to matching the on-paper potential in 2020, the Bengals could quickly turn into one of those fast-rising teams in power rankings.
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