Fantasy Football: Best Bengals To Target and Which Ones To Avoid

Fantasy Football season is rapidly approaching and here are the Bengals to look for and the ones to avoid.

James Yarcho | Jun 23, 2022

Fantasy Football has become such a booming business that it's impossible to avoid. Not only that but players are getting smarter, strategies are getting more complex, and information is all over the place if you know where to look.

One of the biggest challenges of fantasy football is the leagues that you're in and the participants always looking to get players from their own team. Managers will reach for players well above their average draft position (ADP) just ensure that the player they're wearing the jersey of to the draft party is on their roster. For a team like the Cincinnati Bengals, this will be especially true in 2022 drafts.

With the Bengals coming off their most successful season in years and seeing the offensive explosions they're capable of, many managers will want a piece of that offense. For fantasy football novices the first name that will come to mind is Joe Burrow, but that would be a mistake.

As you prepare for your drafts and for those of you that will be in leagues made up of mostly Bengals fans, here are some players to pursue and to avoid in your upcoming draft—no matter how many of their jerseys hang in your closet.

Joe Burrow

Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Last season, Burrow finished as the No. 8 quarterback in fantasy football, averaging 19.6 points per game in 4-point touchdown leagues. This year, he's being drafted as the fifth quarterback with an ADP of 7.06 (sixth pick in the seventh round) in 12 team leagues.

Many believe Burrow will be a better fantasy quarterback than he was last season. With added protection up front and a second year with Ja'Marr Chase, it's possible that his numbers numbers go up.

With that said, the quarterbacks being drafted ahead of him are Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert and Lamar Jackson. Other players being drafted around the same time as Burrow are Courtland Sutton, Michael Pittman Jr., Jerry Jeudy, Amari Cooper, and Chris Godwin.

Quarterbacks being taken a round or more later than Burrow are Kyler Murray, Tom Brady, Russell Wilson, Matthew Stafford, Dak Prescott, and Aaron Rodgers. Quite simply, your roster will end up better if you target one of those receivers in the same spot Burrow is going in and take a Brady (11.08 ADP), Rodgers (13.01 ADP), or Wilson (11.01 ADP) later in the draft. Remember, you start one quarterback but three-to-four wide receivers and running backs. Load up with position players early and let someone else reach on Burrow.

Verdict: Pass

Ja'Marr Chase

Chase exploded for the Bengals and fantasy owners in 2021, finishing as the overall fifth-best wide receiver in his rookie season.

With a target share of over 23% and scoring touchdowns on 10% of his targets from last season, Chase is already a locked-and-loaded WR1 for your fantasy team this season.

Right now he has an ADP of 2.02 and is being drafted as the fourth wide receiver behind Cooper Kupp, Justin Jefferson, and Davante Adams. The receivers being taken after Chase include Stefon Diggs, CeeDee Lamb, Deebo Samuel, and Tyreek Hill.

Not much else to say on this one unless you're worried about a sophomore slump. Chase showed what he's capable of in his rookie season and there's very little to cause someone to think he can't do it again. If he's sitting there for you as your WR1, take him.

Verdict: Draft

Tee Higgins

If you miss out on Chase, what about Higgins? Higgins is currently being drafted at the 5.03 and is coming off a year where he finished as the WR22—just barely making the cut as a WR2 in 10-team formats.

Higgins actually finished with a higher target share than Chase by .6% - and had one more red zone target.

His overall finish is a little deceiving. Higgins only finished as a WR2 or better in five of his 14 games last season. He finished outside of the top 36 five times.

There's plenty of opportunity for Higgins and that is one of the key factors when constructing your fantasy roster. But 5.03 may be a little rich. Other players being drafted around Higgins include Diontae Johnson, Terry McLaurin, DK Metcalf, James Connor, David Montgomery, Cam Akers, Darren Waller, and George Kittle.

Higgins could be a fine play, especially in a PPR format, but the consistency worries me at that draft spot. When you can wait two rounds and get Amari Cooper, Chris Godwin, or Allen Robinson, I would be more inclined to do that and go with a running back since we all know after round five you're scraping the bottom of the barrel on those.

Verdict: Pass

Tyler Boyd

Boyd finished last season as WR31 in fantasy leagues—a middle of the pack third wide receiver or top flex option depending on your roster format.

While his target share is barely over 18%, that's pretty decent considering Chase and Higgins are ahead of him. With the same touchdowns per target as Higgins and being currently drafted at 16.09, Boyd might be the steal of this Bengals roster. He had four finishes inside the top 24, eight finishes inside the top 36 last season and is being drafted around players like Michael Gallup, Kenny Golladay, Russell Gage, Jakobi Meyers, Ronald Jones, Cole Kmet, Hunter Henry, and Justin Fields.

When you reach the 16th round, you're looking for upside, values, and steals while mitigating risk. No one does that better than Boyd in that range. He can absolutely steal you a week or two, but if he has a poor outing it isn't going to tank your team. He isn't Chase and he doesn't come with the risk of Higgins at his current ADP.

Boyd should absolutely be the guy you get while the rest of your league sleeps on him.

Verdict: Draft Steal

Joe Mixon

Running Backs are a priority in fantasy football. Why? Because most of the league is running their backfield via a rotation with multiple backs.

There are few teams in the NFL that have a bonafide, unquestioned lead back for rushing and receiving. The Bengals have one of those guys with Mixon. He finished 2021 as the RB3 and is currently being drafted at the 2.02—same spot as Chase.

He was responsible for over 80% of the Bengals' carries and had a 9% target share in the passing game. There was only one game where Mixon finished outside the top 36 for running backs and only four other weeks where he finished outside the top 24.

He also had seven top-5 finishes. Mixon is being drafted as the eighth running back off the board behind Derrick Henry, Christian McCaffrey, Dalvin Cook, Najee Harris, Jonathan Taylor, Austin Ekeler, and D'Andre Swift. Personally, I'm taking Mixon over McCaffrey, who can't stay healthy, as well as Harris and Swift. Much like Burrow, you can reasonably believe that Mixon's production will actually improve behind a revamped offensive line which is fun to think about considering he went for over 1,200 yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground with another 300 yards and three touchdowns through the air. Mixon is a sure-fire RB1 in all formats and should be taken in the first round of any fantasy draft.

Verdict: Draft

While these ADP's will fluctuate the closer we get to the NFL season and fantasy drafts truly start to ramp up, this gives you an early glimpse into what many fantasy managers are doing with the top Bengals right now.

No one is going to force you to hand in your fan card if you pass on Burrow or Higgins—and you can use other managers' homer picks against them to build a better overall roster. Let them reach for Burrow in the early sixth round or panic draft Higgins in the third after Chase comes off the board. That means you're going to load up with other key players that shouldn't have fallen to you and will crush them when you play one another.

Keep an eye on the trends as the weeks go by and enter your draft as informed as possible. Don't reach for players from your favorite team just because they play on your favorite team. Let other people make that mistake. Then, as if you were Evan McPherson with the game on the line, crush their hopes and dreams of defeating you.

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Published Jun 23, 2022

JAMES YARCHO

James Yarcho has been covering the NFL, primarily the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, for various outlets over the last eight years. He's written about the team for years and is the host of the Locked On Bucs Podcast. While primarily following the Buccaneers, James is a Dayton, Ohio native, which is about an hour from Cincinnati. He's lived in the Dayton area his entire life, so the Bengals have always been a team he has kept a close eye on. He currently resides in Miamisburg with his wife and four sons.