Cincinnati Bengals Team Preview for the 26-27 Fantasy Football Season

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  • By Jon Mosales

    Last Updated on June 4, 2026 12:48 pm by Jon Mosales | Published: June 4, 2026

     

    I talk a lot about blueprints in fantasy and it’s because it’s good to have something to compare to, but the top of the food chain is the CIN blueprint with an explosive offense paired with a terrible defense.  It’s simple, yet deadly effective and we spend each summer trying to find the next perfect CIN recipe.  CIN was 4th in FPPG at QB, 1st at WR and 10th at TE two seasons ago, only to fall to 9th, 4th and 17th last season.  There might not be many hard rules in fantasy, but one is don’t chase career seasons and if you took did that and took Ja’Marr Chase first overall last season, you were left frustrated after only Week 1.  The Chase and Tee Higgins combo went from 1st/6th in FPPG to 3rd and 16th and while that might not feel like a substantial drop-off, it is when you factor in the ADP.  Higgins was terrible over the first half of the season, but then stabilized with Joe Flacco only to disappear again in the fantasy playoffs.  Higgins is quietly growing a reputation as a player who disappears from your fantasy team when you need him the most.  The duo was still effective scoring the ball as Higgins had three more TDs than Chase.  Chase remains the best WR in football with maybe the best arm.  It’s the best stack on paper in the history of fantasy and when it’s clicking, you almost can’t lose.  The Chase ADP is where it should be and you can’t go wrong taking him anytime he’s available.  His ceiling is one of the best fantasy seasons in history and his floor is pretty much a top-five season.  The Bengals haven’t really changed anything, are still going to suck on defense but finally have a top-10 o-line around Burrow.  We don’t want to invest in the year after supernova, but the year after the year after is still up for grabs.  Spoiler alert, I’m all in on CIN this fantasy season and might even try and “chase” the Burrow/Chase stack, despite the insane price tag on draft day.

    I will get into Burrow later, but CIN still has all the circumstantial factors propping up the fantasy offense.  The 36/64 run/pass split isn’t going to change overnight and for the second season in a row they were a top-two pass-heavy team with nearly 40 passes per-game.  As anyone who reads me knows, I’m all about chasing ceilings and there is no higher ceiling than the CIN offense combined with the atrocious defense.  The offense is going to remain pass-heavy even with the emergence of Chase Brown, who is exhibit A for Jekyll and Hyde seasons as he had zero top-15 finishes in the first seven games and didn’t finish outside the top-15 over the next 10.  That is an insane two halves of a season and it’s always better to peak later than early.  Brown is a top-three dual-threat back, but he’s not quite in the same tier as the Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs of the world because the CIN offense is so pass-heavy.  Brown was the RB17 in carries, but the RB7 overall.  Taking him with your second-round pick has a little risk and he’s probably the one Bengal I won’t aggressively target, but if I miss out on Chase and don’t feel like I will get Burrow, I will take the “consolation” prize.

    Player most likely to beat ADP: Joe Burrow (ADP 45, QB4)

    This feels like cheating because the Bengals offense is top-heavy and there really isn’t room for anyone to grow.  Burrow has either been a top-five QB or had an injury-plagued season over the last four.  The math says that’s a 50-50 shot and drafting him near his ceiling isn’t ideal, but I don’t care.  Everything in fantasy says don’t draft Burrow since he doesn’t run, but I’m all in and am willing to pay the price to ride the wave.

    Player most likely to fade based on ADP: Tee Higgins (ADP 33, WR15)

    Higgins is great and when he plays he posts WR1 numbers despite being the WR2.  It makes sense to grab him if you miss Chase, but he’s played less than 15 games or less in each of the three seasons and I hate that kind of health variance from one of my early round picks.  The highs are great, but the lows will ruin your season.

    Late-round Flier that could blow up: Colbie Young (ADp ?, WR148)

    This is just a pure lottery ticket with all the circumstantial toppings.  A great offense with a great QB that scores in bunches.  If Higgins or Chase go down, we’ve seen that Andrei Iosivas isn’t that guy, who why not throw a dart that could pay off big down the stretch.

    Writer’s Season Win Prediction: 10-7

    The entire offense is a strength as this team can score quickly and hang with anyone.  Even with Burrow only playing eight games, they were still 12th in scoring at 24.4 PPG.  The secret sauce to the offense is how bad the defense is and last season they allowed the most points in franchise history (492).  There is nothing that jumpstarts your fantasy team by having players play constantly from behind and even Chase Brown is perfectly suited for this style.  They were 29th in rushing attempts and rushing yards and while the team will seek a little more balance, make no mistake Burrow is going to let it fly.  The only real question with this team is whether you can trust Burrow to stay healthy and have the most optimized version of the offense firing on all cylinders.  Two seasons ago, Burrow completed 70.6% of his throws and led the NFL in completions (460), passing yardage (4,918), and TD passes (43).  That’s the team I’m predicting shows up this season and a lot of has to do with the improved o-line.  The Bengals OL ranked top-10 in sack rate and also added C Connor Lew in the third round.  The rap on the CIN offense has always been that Burrow is running for his life and he can mitigate some of that pressure and unnecessary sacks, it will go a long way towards keeping him healthy and in the pocket long enough to find Chase and Higgins downfield.  There is no weakness on this offense and they should be a top-five unit at worst and flirt with being the best offense in the league as long they can avoid untimely injuries.  There aren’t really any discounts with the core players and I’m fine with that.  The dream is chasing the Burrow/Chase stack and if you are lucky enough to score Chase with a top-three pick, just be aware the entire league will conspire to make sure you don’t get Burrow as well.


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    June 4, 2026, 12:37 pm