"Unlike most situations highly drafted quarterbacks find themselves in, Joe Burrow will actually have weapons to throw to in Cincinnati next season. A.J. Green has struggled to stay healthy of late, but he is one of the game’s elite when he’s at 100 percent — he has recorded grades of 80.0 or higher in each season he has played in since 2012. Tyler Boyd, Tee Higgins and John Ross form a strong supporting cast, as well, and all bring their own strengths to the table. The big question with Cincinnati’s offense is the offensive line, but if that group can manage to hold up, Burrow could impress with this receiving corps early in his career."

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-2020-nfl-season-receiving-corps-rankings

Not sure I agree there is 10 better WR groups around the league. We should probably be ahead of Carolina, even with factoring in McCaffrey. I’ll take our WR’s over Denver’s and Buffalo’s, too.

I do go get a kick out of Miami being 29th though. But yeah, Tua is definitely set up better to succeed than Burrow...lol

(05-20-2020, 07:32 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: Not sure I agree there is 10 better WR groups around the league. We should probably be ahead of Carolina, even with factoring in McCaffrey. I’ll take our WR’s over Denver’s and Buffalo’s, too.

The article isn't about WR groups, but pass receiving groups as a whole.

(05-20-2020, 07:50 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: The article isn't about WR groups, but pass receiving groups as a whole.

It's almost as if they feel like Joe and Gio aren't threats to catch the ball and gain yardage..

Lions @ 6 and the Falcons @ 13???

Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley makes the Lions duo of Kenny Galladay and Marvin Jones look like they're running out Jim Abbott and Rocky Dennis from Mask as their 1/2.

I really find it hard to believe that Danny Amendola in the slot, and/or slightly better receiving backs is going to elevate them that far ahead. And the Falcons did replace Hooper with Hayden Hurst who looks to at least be a competent option at TE. It's not like he's Daniel Coates.

And as much as it pains me to say this, the Browns are way too low on this list. That piece of human garbage Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landy matches up with any duo in the league. They just signed Austin Hooper and still have Njoku too. And Kareem Hunt is a pretty good receiving back.

To be completely honest, I find it hard to argue they shouldn't be in the top 3. I mean, you can knock that midget they have at QB, or that city is a dumpster of sadness and smells like a giant Arby's, but there's no way their receiving options are that low.

(05-20-2020, 07:32 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: Not sure I agree there is 10 better WR groups around the league. We should probably be ahead of Carolina, even with factoring in McCaffrey. I’ll take our WR’s over Denver’s and Buffalo’s, too.

The fact of the matter is we have a lot of unknowns.

AJ Green is a complete unknown. Can he stay healthy?  If he does stay healthy is he 2015 AJ Green or is 2017 AJ Green?  Is he elite, is good, is hurt?  No one knows yet.

John Ross is also a complete unknown. Does he look like he did early last year or does he look like the other 2.75 years he's played, and offer very little?  Can he stay healthy?  Can he cut on drops?  Where does he fit in? No one knows yet.

Higgins, as a rookie, is the definition of an unknown. He's never played at this level. Where does he fit in?  Does he start?  Does have a great rookie season, a good rookie season, a disappointing rookie season...?  No one knows yet.

How are our backs used in the passing game? Does Gio revert to early in his career where he's a true threat in the pass game?  Is Mixon used more?  Does Zach Taylor and Co. make using them more of a priority than last year?  No one knows yet.

And lastly, as it stands right now, our TE group really hurts us in these rankings.  Uzomah is average at best, and that's probably a generous description. 

The man has 1,011 yards and 7 TD's in 5 years. His career best year was 439 yards with 3 TD's.  Does he break out now that Eifert is gone, and Taylor opens up the playbook more than Marvin and Co.?  Maybe.  But who knows.  It's hard though to count on that right now.  And what about  Drew Sample?  Complete unknown.  I think even the world's biggest homer has to admit that, as of right now, on paper this is a sub-[ar group in comparison the rest of the league.

The one known commodity we have is Tyler Boyd.  The rest our question marks.  Not necessarily in talent, but in all the things discussed above.

This unit could greatly climb up those rankings though.  If Green can stay healthy and give 1,100 + yards and Higgins can produce right away, them coupled with Boyd gives a top teir 1-3. If Ross can contribute and we can get Gio involved, and the TE group is even average, then you're talking probably a top 5 group.  And maybe even higher.

But right now that's a lot of if's.  I'm not sure you can really expect us to be much higher considering a lot of the question marks.  We definitely have the potential to have some great weapons, but I think it's pretty easy to understand why other's may be cautious about elevating us into the top 10 just yet.

Just my .02.

(05-20-2020, 08:22 PM)Wes Mantooth Wrote: The fact of the matter is we have a lot of unknowns.

AJ Green is a complete unknown. Can he stay healthy?  If he does stay healthy is he 2015 AJ Green or is 2017 AJ Green?  Is he elite, is good, is hurt?  No one knows yet.

John Ross is also a complete unknown. Does he look like he did early last year or does he look like the other 2.75 years he's played, and offer very little?  Can he stay healthy?  Can he cut on drops?  Where does he fit in? No one knows yet.

Higgins, as a rookie, is the definition of an unknown. He's never played at this level. Where does he fit in?  Does he start?  Does have a great rookie season, a good rookie season, a disappointing rookie season...?  No one knows yet.

How are our backs used in the passing game? Does Gio revert to early in his career where he's a true threat in the pass game?  Is Mixon used more?  Does Zach Taylor and Co. make using them more of a priority than last year?  No one knows yet.

And lastly, as it stands right now, our TE group really hurts us in these rankings.  Uzomah is average at best, and that's probably a generous description. 

The man has 1,011 yards and 7 TD's in 5 years. His career best year was 439 yards with 3 TD's.  Does he break out now that Eifert is gone, and Taylor opens up the playbook more than Marvin and Co.?  Maybe.  But who knows.  It's hard though to count on that right now.  And what about  Drew Sample?  Complete unknown.  I think even the world's biggest homer has to admit that, as of right now, on paper this is a sub-[ar group in comparison the rest of the league.

The one known commodity we have is Tyler Boyd.  The rest our question marks.  Not necessarily in talent, but in all the things discussed above.

This unit could greatly climb up those rankings though.  If Green can stay healthy and give 1,100 + yards and Higgins can produce right away, them coupled with Boyd gives a top teir 1-3. If Ross can contribute and we can get Gio involved, and the TE group is even average, then you're talking probably a top 5 group.  And maybe even higher.

But right now that's a lot of if's.  I'm not sure you can really expect us to be much higher considering a lot of the question marks.  We definitely have the potential to have some great weapons, but I think it's pretty easy to understand why other's may be cautious about elevating us into the top 10 just yet.

Just my .02.

My sentiments exactly

(05-20-2020, 07:50 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: The article isn't about WR groups, but pass receiving groups as a whole.

Ah, that’s my mistake then. That’s more reasonable considering our TE group.

Lol our receiving group is top 5... obviously if everyone stays healthy and Mixon/Gio are used in the passing game.

That isn't too much to ask for IMO. Burrow is going to blossom into a big scary Bengal

(05-20-2020, 07:55 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: It's almost as if they feel like Joe and Gio aren't threats to catch the ball and gain yardage..

Mixon was 24th in RB receiving yardage in 2019, Gio was 35th.

Also the TEs were bad in 2019, and with Eifert leaving, now worse.

(05-20-2020, 09:28 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Mixon was 24th in RB receiving yardage in 2019, Gio was 35th.

Also the TEs were bad in 2019, and with Eifert leaving, now worse.

That’s on Taylor though. Both players should be used more than they are. Alex Erickson should not be tied for 2nd in receptions on any NFL team.

(05-20-2020, 09:28 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Mixon was 24th in RB receiving yardage in 2019, Gio was 35th.

Also the TEs were bad in 2019, and with Eifert leaving, now worse.

Could be because the QB was garbage and still with had 2 RBs in the top 35 of a 32 team league. To suggest Joe and Gio are not threats out of the backfield is silly. 

TE's are terrible 

(05-20-2020, 09:28 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Mixon was 24th in RB receiving yardage in 2019, Gio was 35th.

That's not a stat representative of their ability, just a measure of how little they were used.  Give each of them one more target each, per game, and I'd be willing to bet that after a season their rankings would show a serious bump.

The Bengals WR core is filled to the brim with potential.

AJ Green, if he can stay healthy, is a top 10 WR in the NFL.
John Ross, if he can stay healthy, is the fasted man in the NFL. If he can be utilized properly, he can kill teams.
Tee Higgins is a rookie who could blow up the NFL with his catch in traffic ability and insane body control.
Tyler Boyd is a rock solid slot receiver who can get you 1000 yards a year.

The top 3 are big ifs due to a variety of issues, but the talent is there.

I don't have a problem with putting them at #11 due to the top 3's uncertainty.

I'm most curious on were going to use Tate I expect them to use him like how we used Eifert over the past couple of seasons.
Also I expect Mixon to be used more in the passing game this year. That's what he was best at in Oklahoma.

(05-20-2020, 09:33 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: That’s on Taylor though. Both players should be used more than they are. Alex Erickson should not be tied for 2nd in receptions on any NFL team.

(05-20-2020, 09:36 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Could be because the QB was garbage and still with had 2 RBs in the top 35 of a 32 team league. To suggest Joe and Gio are not threats out of the backfield is silly. 

TE's are terrible 

(05-20-2020, 09:39 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: That's not a stat representative of their ability, just a measure of how little they were used.  Give each of them one more target each, per game, and I'd be willing to bet that after a season their rankings would show a serious bump.

I don't disagree with any of you three on this. Gio and Mixon CAN be a potent receiving threat. Potential and reality are two different things, though.

I agree it's mostly on Taylor, but Taylor is still controlling playcalling duty in 2020 so there's no reason to expect it to improve. Doubly so since they are hopefully getting AJ back and adding a 2nd round WR. If the RBs can't get targets in Taylor's offense when there's a bad WR group, I doubt they get significantly more with a better WR group.

Even with both of their 2019 receiving yards combined, there were still 5 RBs who had more yards on their own, and no doubt that number would increase quite a bit if you did RB duos. Gio and Mixon only combined for 521 yards receiving in 2019. In 2013, Gio had 514 receiving yards on his own.

(05-20-2020, 10:12 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: I don't disagree with any of you three on this. Gio and Mixon CAN be a potent receiving threat. Potential and reality are two different things, though.

I agree it's mostly on Taylor, but Taylor is still controlling playcalling duty in 2020 so there's no reason to expect it to improve. Doubly so since they are hopefully getting AJ back and adding a 2nd round WR. If the RBs can't get targets in Taylor's offense when there's a bad WR group, I doubt they get significantly more with a better WR group.

Even with both of their 2019 receiving yards combined, there were still 5 RBs who had more yards on their own, and no doubt that number would increase quite a bit if you did RB duos. Gio and Mixon only combined for 521 yards receiving in 2019. In 2013, Gio had 514 receiving yards on his own.

Would half a dozen less 3 and outs per game change their stats any ?

(05-20-2020, 10:12 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: I don't disagree with any of you three on this. Gio and Mixon CAN be a potent receiving threat. Potential and reality are two different things, though.

I agree it's mostly on Taylor, but Taylor is still controlling playcalling duty in 2020 so there's no reason to expect it to improve. Doubly so since they are hopefully getting AJ back and adding a 2nd round WR. If the RBs can't get targets in Taylor's offense when there's a bad WR group, I doubt they get significantly more with a better WR group.

Even with both of their 2019 receiving yards combined, there were still 5 RBs who had more yards on their own, and no doubt that number would increase quite a bit if you did RB duos. Gio and Mixon only combined for 521 yards receiving in 2019. In 2013, Gio had 514 receiving yards on his own.

These ratings are usually based on potential. Just look at the team ranked just above the Bengals. 

(05-20-2020, 10:22 PM)bfine32 Wrote: These ratings are usually based on potential. Just look at the team ranked just above the Bengals. 

Yep. Lamb and Juedy haven’t caught a single pass in the NFL yet, but both are cited as big reasons for their teams rankings.