2025 NFL Season Preview: Cincinnati Bengals

2025 NFL Season Preview:

Veteran Additions:
RB Samaje Perine, G Lucas Patrick, DT Tedarrell Slaton, LB Oren Burks.
Early Draft Picks:
DE Shemar Stewart, LB Demetrius Knight Jr., G Dylan Fairchild, LB Barrett Carter. Bengals Rookie Forecast
Offseason Losses:
RB Khalil Herbert, OT Trent Brown, G Alex Cappa, DT Jay Tufele, LB Germaine Pratt, CB Mike Hilton, S Vonn Bell.

2025 Cincinnati Bengals Offense:
The numbers were truly amazing. Joe Burrow threw for a league-leading 4,918 yards and 43 touchdowns last year. Ja’Marr Chase logged a league-high 127 receptions, 1,708 yards, and 17 touchdowns. Tee Higgins chipped in with 73 receptions for 911 yards and 10 touchdowns despite missing five games. And yet, as great as this trio was, the Bengals still failed to make the playoffs.

There was concern this offseason about the trio remaining together. It was believed by many that Higgins would walk because he and Chase needed new contracts. Yet, despite ownership being known as very frugal, both prolific wideouts were re-signed. And that’s not all. Tight end Mike Gesicki, who had a breakout year with 65 receptions for 665 yards, was also retained.

It wasn’t just the passing game that was great for the Bengals. Cincinnati also ran the ball very well in the second half of the year. Zack Moss began the year as the starter and was very sluggish. It was clear that Chase Brown had more talent, but the coaching staff refused to bench Moss. The hand was forced halfway through the season when Moss suffered an injury. Brown stepped in and was predictably far more effective, rushing for 990 yards and seven touchdowns despite starting only 10 games.

There have been nothing but positives said about the offense thus far, but there is a liability on this side of the ball, which could derail the team against opponents with great defensive tackle play. That would be the interior blocking. Four players will be battling for two guard spots. There’s Cordell Volson, who struggled as the starter last year. There’s Cody Ford, a former second-round pick who has been a failure in the NFL. There’s the newly signed Lucas Patrick, a journeyman who has been pedestrian at best for most of his career, but just had his best season in New Orleans. And then there’s third-round pick Dylan Fairchild. It’s far to say that Cincinnati’s offensive line coach has his work cut out for him to figure out who to start in the interior, flanking quality center Ted Karras.

The tackle situation is much better, if only by default. The Bengals had big hopes for Orlando Brown when they signed him in free agency, but he was a huge disappointment last year. Still, he’s talented enough to rebound. His bookend will once again be 2024 first-rounder Amarius Mims, who did not play well as a rookie. Mims is still young, so he could also improve.



2025 Cincinnati Bengals Defense:
With all of the offensive firepower, how could the Bengals possibly miss the playoffs last year? As amazing as the offense was, the defense was just as bad. The team couldn’t stop the run or the pass last year, and despite having plenty of time to fix the issues this offseason, it seems as though Cincinnati’s defense could be even worse in 2025.

The primary issue the Bengals are confronted with right now is paying Trey Hendrickson. One of the best pass rushers in the league, Hendrickson is asking for a new contract, but the two parties aren’t even close at the moment. Given how stingy ownership is with its money, there seems like a good chance that Hendrickson will either hold out or retire. If so, Cincinnati will clearly miss his 17.5 sacks from a year ago, especially when factoring in that his bookend, Sam Hubbard, announced his retirement. The Bengals will fill Hubbard’s shoes with Joseph Ossai, who notched 5.5 sacks in 2024. If Hendrickson isn’t available, that’ll force first-round rookie Shamar Stewart into the lineup. Stewart, who has his own contract dispute, is an incredible athlete, but he was incredibly unproductive in college. The Bengals drafted a similar player in Myles Murphy two years prior, and that didn’t exactly pan out.

The Bengals need great play from the edge because the defensive tackles are terrible. They sorely missed D.J. Reader last year, as they had to turn to some miserable replacements. The best of the bunch was B.J. Hill, who offered nothing from a pass-rushing perspective, but was at least solid against the run. Two second-day rookies, Kris Jenkins Jr. and McKinnley Jackson, were expected to contribute, but neither did very much. Jenkins played more than Jackson, but both were awful. Perhaps one of them will improve, but it’s difficult to envision that right now. There’s also newly signed T.J. Slaton, but he struggled with Green Bay last year.

The secondary is in better shape than the defensive line, but it still has its problems. Cincinnati misses some departed veterans in addition to Reader like Chidobe Awuzie and Jessie Bates. The hole vacated by the latter is more significant because Cincinnati’s safety play was incredibly poor last year. Both Geno Stone and Vonn Bell were extreme liabilities. Stone is returning to pair with Jordan Battle, who was also guilty of woeful play.

Cincinnati got more out of its cornerbacks, and not just by default. Dax Hill, Cam Taylor-Britt, and D.J. Turner were all fairly decent when they played. The problem was that two of them missed extensive time. Turner missed six games, while Hill was out for a dozen contests. They’ll need to remain healthier if the Bengals want to have any chance of stopping the opposition.

The best aspect of Cincinnati’s defense is the linebacking corps, which makes it strange that the Bengals used a second-round pick on the position by drafting Demetrius Knight Jr. Knight was slated to play behind Logan Wilson and Germaine Pratt before the latter was released. Pratt was coming off a down year, so given that he’s 29, the move to get rid of him made sense with Knight set to take over his role.



2025 Cincinnati Bengals Schedule and Intangibles:
Cincinnati has developed a strong home-field advantage recently, going 56-35-1 over the past 11 seasons, excluding 2019, which was a lost year.

Evan McPherson has kicked well for the Bengals over the past few years. However, he’s coming off a down season. He was 16-of-22, including 3-of-7 from beyond 50. He missed five games with an injury.

The Bengals had a new punter last year, and he did quite well. Ryan Rehkow was ninth in net punting, and he did a decent job of pinning the opposition inside the 20.

The Bengals have a third-place schedule, but they have some tough opponents on the slate. Outside of the division, they have to battle the Bills, Lions, Vikings, Broncos, and Packers. There are some easy games as well versus the Jets, Dolphins, and Patriots.



2025 Cincinnati Bengals Rookies:
Go here for the Bengals Rookie Forecast, a page with predictions like which rookie will bust and which rookie will become a solid starter.



2025 Cincinnati Bengals Positional Rankings (1-5 stars):

Quarterbacks		Offensive Line		Secondary
Running Backs		Defensive Line		Special Teams
Receivers		Linebackers		Coaching