The Cincinnati Bengals‘ wide receivers have made headlines for all the wrong reasons this offseason, but when the season starts, all focus is set to be back on the field.
They will reunite the trio of Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins, while Jermaine Burton is expected to replace Tyler Boyd as the third option.
Will Chase and Higgins once again be fantasy assets, and has Burton got a chance to get to fantasy relevance?
Ja’Marr Chase’s Fantasy Outlook and Projections
- PPR Fantasy Points: 352.6 (235.4 non-PPR)
- Receptions: 117.2
- Receiving Yards: 1596.2
- Receiving TDs: 12.5
Whether Chase is actually a bargain in 2024 requires figuring out why he took a step back last year. Chase hauled in 100 balls for 1,216 yards and seven touchdowns in 16 games. His yards per reception only changed by 0.2. Meanwhile, his yards per route run only dropped by 0.12, and his yards per target actually increased by 0.6.
If there is one knock on Chase’s fantasy profile, he’s been a bit more boom/bust than we’d like from an elite WR1.
Guys like Jefferson, Tyreek Hill, and CeeDee Lamb rarely completely disappoint. Their ceilings are just as high as Chase’s, but Chase has a lower weekly floor.
Over the past two seasons (28 games total), Chase has obviously been a WR1, but he’s scored below 13 fantasy points 13 times. To be fair, he’s also scored over 28 fantasy points five times, including three games of 32+ points and an absurd 52-pointer in Week 5 of last season. Even if we go back to Chase’s rookie season, the pattern is the same.
This is what keeps Chase ever so slightly below Hill and Lamb for me. It would also keep him behind Jefferson, but Jefferson lost Kirk Cousins. J.J. McCarthy could end up being incredible. But until we see it, I feel more comfortable with the equally elite talent catching passes from Burrow.
Chase is a surefire first-round pick in 2024 fantasy drafts. I do think there is a case to make him the first wide receiver off the board. However, given what we saw from Hill and Lamb last season, Chase checks in as my WR3.
– Jason Katz, Fantasy Football Analyst
Tee Higgins’ Fantasy Outlook and Projections
- PPR Fantasy Points: 229.0 (153.8 non-PPR)
- Receptions: 75.3
- Receiving Yards: 1105.5
- Receiving TDs: 7.2
After a strong rookie season that saw him surpass 900 receiving yards, Higgins sure looked poised to be the Bengals’ WR1 of the future. Then, they drafted Ja’Marr Chase.
The two coexisted perfectly in 2021 with Higgins averaging 15.7 fantasy points per game, looking well on his way to becoming a fantasy WR1. In 2022, he regressed to just 13.1 fantasy ppg.
The 2023 season was just a disaster. Higgins averaged 11.5 fantasy points per game, finishing as the overall WR40. He was one of the worst picks fantasy managers could make.
A healthy Higgins with a healthy Burrow is still a borderline WR1/2. Yet, he’s going off the board as the WR27.
Furthermore, Higgins’ ADP is completely understandable. I have him ranked as my WR26, which is much lower than I think he can finish. There are simply many talented wide receivers with a ton of upside.
As long as Chase is around, Higgins is never going to be the top target on his offense. But that doesn’t preclude him from getting close to WR1 value.
Cincinnati threw the ball 63% of the time in neutral game scripts last season. Even after Burrow went down, the Bengals didn’t change their offensive philosophy. Head coach Zac Taylor believes in passing.
Higgins is playing out the current season on the franchise tag. He has every motivation to put together an impressive year to earn a big second contract. Subsequently, fantasy managers should absolutely be looking at him in the mid-single-digit rounds of fantasy drafts.
– Katz
Jermaine Burton’s Fantasy Outlook and Projections
- PPR Fantasy Points: 125.4 (75.2 non-PPR)
- Receptions: 50.2
- Receiving Yards: 551.7
- Receiving TDs: 3.3
Any time an offense is a franchise quarterback spends Day 2 draft capital on a receiver, it deserves to have our attention. Of course, this could be a long-term pick, with Tee Higgins likely moving on after this season and not one that returns much fruit in 2023.
Andrei Iosivas has been playing ahead of Burton all preseason long and is likely to occupy that WR3 role vacated by Tyler Boyd to open this season.
Will it last? Only time will tell, but without any certainty when it comes to opportunity, you can pass on Burton at your draft and pounce should the opportunity open up (he’d move from fringe roster-worthy to Flex consideration if Chase or Higgins were to go down).
– Kyle Soppe, Fantasy Football Analyst