The Cincinnati Bengals are a hard team to nail down offensively going into 2020.
That’s usually the case for a team about to start a rookie under center. But it’s even more the case for a team with major question marks along its offensive line and injury question marks elsewhere.
So when Touchdown Wire’s Mark Schofield tackled ranking all 32 offenses, it became must-read material. The Bengals slot 30th there:
“If you want to bet on a team making a huge improvement on the offensive side of the football from 2019 to 2020, the Cincinnati Bengals might be a safe play. They struggled offensively in 2019, working through two different quarterbacks and missing A.J. Green for the entire season. But 2020 could be different, with Green back in the lineup and first-overall selection Joe Burrow under center.
But until we see that in action, it is hard to move them higher up this list.”
It’s not unfair to throw the Bengals this low — right now. Burrow’s bound to have rookie growing pains no matter who flanks him and how great the plan Zac Taylor draws up is.
And that’s if everything else goes right. Burrow needs Jonah Williams to play well at left tackle as essentially a rookie and needs the rest of the previously shaky line to improve. He needs A.J. Green to stay healthy and on the field, which also applies to John Ross. And a completely remade defense needs to put Burrow’s offense in good positions consistently while keeping opposing offenses in check.
Could the Bengals far outperform this ranking next year? Absolutely. But for now, this has “underdog” written all over it — and fans know better than most how much the Bengals seem to like such a role anyway.
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