WR1...Chase. Like every other NFL player he should be better this year than he was as a rookie. Could easily develop into the best WR in the league.

WR2...Higgins. He may not be a classic WR1, but there are no where near 32 WRs better than him. He is a WR1 on a lot of teams.

WR3...Boyd. Here is where Burrow is getting his best value. I don't think any other team in the league with 2 top WRs would spend much on the WR3 position. For years Boyd was one of the top 5 third down WRs in the league. And he was #1 on fourth down with some crazy 10 for 10 conversion rate (my stat search engine is down right now).

Once Boyd's contract is up the only way Burrow will have 3 WRs this good is if they consistently hit on WR picks in the draft. Having Chase and Higgins both on rookie deals is crazy.

This is a duh thread. Three of the top 30 WR on one team, it doesn’t happen often.

(03-24-2022, 11:38 PM)fredtoast Wrote: WR1...Chase. Like every other NFL player he should be better this year than he was as a rookie. Could easily develop into the best WR in the league.

WR2...Higgins. He may not be a classic WR1, but there are no where near 32 WRs better than him. He is a WR1 on a lot of teams.

WR3...Boyd. Here is where Burrow is getting his best value. I don't think any other team in the league with 2 top WRs would spend much on the WR3 position. For years Boyd was one of the top 5 third down WRs in the league. And he was #1 on fourth down with some crazy 10 for 10 conversion rate (my stat search engine is down right now).

Once Boyd's contract is up the only way Burrow will have 3 WRs this good is if they consistently hit on WR picks in the draft. Having Chase and Higgins both on rookie deals is crazy.

Higgins is for sure a mid tier number 1

Boyd is a fantastic number 2

Bengals are loaded at the position

Not gonna crush Fred on this one. I believe Higgins will have a great year this season.

And it won't be just because Chase has everyone's attention Tee will be great all by himself.

Boyd always does the dirty work underneath, great player.

Hayden Hurst will open things up with his crisp routes that we haven't had from a TE since Eifert in 2015.

(03-24-2022, 11:43 PM)Frank Booth Wrote: Higgins is for sure a mid tier number 1

Boyd is a fantastic number 2

Bengals are loaded at the position

Higgins is a great receiver, but not your pro typical number 1. He is like Mike Williams or maybe even a top receiving TE. Your point stands, there are not 16-24 WR better.

Boyd, he has suffered the last 2 years with burrows injury and then playing with two top 24 WR.

Such a luxury.

Between burrow, chase and Higgins contract the window is open for three years (burrows contract will not have fuly kicked in, chases 5th year option ( technically will still be under contract in year 4) and they could franchise Higgins…. This is the time to win. I can only think this has a LOT to do with the 3 year contracts. This team will look much different in 3 years.

(03-24-2022, 11:47 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Not gonna crush Fred on this one. I believe Higgins will have a great year this season.

And it won't be just because Chase has everyone's attention Tee will be great all by himself.

Boyd always does the dirty work underneath, great player.

Hayden Hurst will open things up with his crisp routes that we haven't had from a TE since Eifert in 2015.

I don't think Hurst will get many more targets than Uzo did just because our WRs are so good.

But on the other hand there could be "inflation" just because everyone's stats are going up a little if this o-line stays healthy.

In '21 Bengals were #7 in the league in passing yards over 800 yards behind the league leader.  Since Zac likes to run the ball I doubt we will lead the league in passing yards, but I'd be surprised if we don't have 400-500 more this year.  When you have Joe burrow and these weapons it would be crazy not to use them.

So Hurst will probably have more yards than CJ did last year.

Quote:This team will look much different in 3 years.

This will be the real test of how well the scouting department and the rest of the FO can not only draft well, but attract top talent to pare with Joe Burrow in the future. We shall see.  I truly hope they exceed all expectations, but history may not be on their side. Perhaps experience will be by now.   

I agree. I think the hope is as Burrow hits his prime years in the next couple years, he won’t need to rely on having 3 top 30. I think you still want Chase around as much as possible, but you will have to live with other WRs as you will have to sacrifice something to pay the man.

The exciting thing is that these guys often didn't have the time to execute their full routes due to the sieve of a line. They all should benefit from Burrow having more time, but I'm notably interested in what Higgins will do, as he's not able to be as "Swiss-army-like" as Chase by creating screen passes and quick hitters to counter the lack of time for route development. IMO, Higgins was affected most from the line's deficiencies last year, although the entire offense should benefit (as well as the Zac Taylor play-calling narrative).

Yep Bengals are in a very short window for sure and their creativity will be tested in the near future.

Luckily WR's are more NFL ready than ever these days and could help them hit in draft, especially not needing a #1.

Have said it many times but as good as Tee is believe he will be the odd man out per his salary will command a price much greater than Boyds.

He will have great trade value as well, hope I'm wrong because I really love having Higgins in stripes but seems like Bengals will have to lean more on players on Rookie contracts after Burrow and Chase make their very large withdrawals. Wison will need his money too.

(03-25-2022, 12:21 AM)fredtoast Wrote: I don't think Hurst will get many more targets than Uzo did just because our WRs are so good.

But on the other hand there could be "inflation" just because everyone's stats are going up a little if this o-line stays healthy.

In '21 Bengals were #7 in the league in passing yards over 800 yards behind the league leader.  Since Zac likes to run the ball I doubt we will lead the league in passing yards, but I'd be surprised if we don't have 400-500 more this year.  When you have Joe burrow and these weapons it would be crazy not to use them.

So Hurst will probably have more yards than CJ did last year.

Burrow hits the open dude. Hurst can get open better than Uzo cause he is a better route runner, simple as that.

I do agree we will run it more with this OL cause we will be more successful at it. Also agree we will be much better passing
cause Burrow will have some time. We will do what works which is key. If Defenses shut down the run which is a tall task, good
luck shutting down Burrow with all these weapons and Mixon and Evans out of the backfield with a good route running TE.

Injuries WILL happen, Hurst and hopefully a new WR4 will need to step up at some point during the season.

(03-25-2022, 03:50 AM)grampahol Wrote: This will be the real test of how well the scouting department and the rest of the FO can not only draft well, but attract top talent to pare with Joe Burrow in the future. We shall see.  I truly hope they exceed all expectations, but history may not be on their side. Perhaps experience will be by now.   

Agreed.  If they can draft effectively at the bottom of the talent pool we'll know if we are going to have a dynasty.

Going to be a very interesting draft.

(03-25-2022, 02:02 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Burrow hits the open dude. Hurst can get open better than Uzo cause he is a better route runner, simple as that.

Burrow goes through a progression and hits the first guy who is open.  Very few plays where TE is option ahead of our 3 WRs.  Simple as that.

Also, based on Hursts production so far I doubt he is very much better at running routes than CJ.

I was just comparing our trio to the trio from 2015 in another thread. People used to call Dalton a product of that WR group, but as good as they were, this group is better.

Chase > AJ Green
Higgins > MJ
Boyd > Sanu

Enjoy it while it lasts, because there's no way we keep all 3. Tbh it might be difficult to keep anybody but Burrow and Chase.

(03-24-2022, 11:38 PM)fredtoast Wrote: WR1...Chase. Like every other NFL player he should be better this year than he was as a rookie. Could easily develop into the best WR in the league.

WR2...Higgins. He may not be a classic WR1, but there are no where near 32 WRs better than him. He is a WR1 on a lot of teams.

WR3...Boyd. Here is where Burrow is getting his best value. I don't think any other team in the league with 2 top WRs would spend much on the WR3 position. For years Boyd was one of the top 5 third down WRs in the league. And he was #1 on fourth down with some crazy 10 for 10 conversion rate (my stat search engine is down right now).

Once Boyd's contract is up the only way Burrow will have 3 WRs this good is if they consistently hit on WR picks in the draft. Having Chase and Higgins both on rookie deals is crazy.

The Bengals could routinely put 5 starters out wide for Joe Burrow, each capable of a mismatch against a defender. Mixon is a very capable pass catcher and can play as a wideout. TE ought to be considered early in the draft if there is one with speed, size and great hands.
That ability with those five guys was key during the playoffs.

2024: Bengals enter free agent talks with Justin Jefferson

We need to take advantage of the window we have with the whole team in general. However your correct, through the years we have always seemed to kill it in the draft when it comes to WR’s. From Chad, Housh & Henry ( my favorite, to Green, Jones, Sanu and now the trio we have. There’s a lot to be excited about if your a Bengals fan.

If you want to keep the window for winning Lombardis, you have to pay for the Top 8-12 QB (Burrow) and alpha #1 WR (Chase). The rest of the WRs have to be on rookie contracts or older vets ring chasing on a discounted contract.

It sucks but Higgins/Boyd are replaceable. They are awesome but The Cap is real. This is where "Eff them draft picks" is dumb. You can go for the big fish FAs only if you can also draft solid starters on rookie deals across the roster. Remember the Rams drafted Donald and Kupp who were the difference-makers in the Super Bowl.

(03-25-2022, 03:55 PM)Interceptor Wrote: 2024: Bengals enter free agent talks with Justin Jefferson

We wont be paying 2 WR's 30 mill a year and a QB 50 mill.....wishful thinking but won't happen.

(03-25-2022, 03:55 PM)Interceptor Wrote: 2024: Bengals enter free agent talks with Justin Jefferson