Look: ESPN Projects Bengals Top Offseason Need, NFL Draft Fix

Cincinnati is floundering in the middle at 4-6 this season.

Oct 12, 2024; Amherst, Massachusetts, USA; Massachusetts Minutemen safety Tyler Rudolph (4) tackles Missouri Tigers wide receiver Luther Burden III (3) during the second half at Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images / Eric Canha-Imagn Images

CINCINNATI — ESPN's Aaron Schatz started nailing down offseason needs for all 32 NFL teams and landed on wide receiver as the Bengals top hole in a few months. It makes sense with Tee Higgins seemingly on the way out and no players rising up behind him so far.

"Cincinnati isn't likely to franchise-tag Tee Higgins again," Schatz wrote. "Second-year wideout Andrei Iosivas has just 15 catches for 199 yards, though he does have four touchdowns. Even if the Bengals trust Iosivas in the slot, they'll still need a new playmaker on the outside."

Fellow ESPN writer Matt Miller likes Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden for Cincinnati in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft.

"The 5-foot-11, 208-pound Burden has developed into a legitimate deep threat who can produce even when Missouri's offense is struggling," Miller wrote. "He has the strength and start-stop speed to open the field opposite Ja'Marr Chase."

Burden is currently the 16th-best player on the consensus 2025 big board and the second-best wide receiver.

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