2023 NFL Power Rankings: Cincinnati Bengals

Throughout the 2023 NFL season, we will compile a consensus NFL Power Rankings that averages the rankings of all 32 NFL teams.

Below you will find a Week 3 roundup for the Cincinnati Bengals in our consensus 2023 NFL Power Rankings.

ESPN -- Rank: 18

Player: WR Tee Higgins
Current contract situation: Under contract through the 2023 season

Higgins did not receive a long-term deal this offseason, and one seems to be unlikely. Cincinnati could be looking at giving Higgins a one-year franchise tag for 2024 and exploring its options. The tag is projected at $23 million according to overthecap.com. The Bengals could pay that amount to keep Higgins for one more year or see if they can find a team willing to trade for a top receiver. Higgins has amassed more than 3,000 receiving yards in his first three seasons combined. -- Ben Baby

NFL.com -- Rank: 12

You'll be reminded multiple times this week that last year's Bengals started 0-2, too, and it's fair to look back. Heck, the 2021 team was 1-1 to start, with an overtime win over a so-so Vikings team and still made the Super Bowl. However, my panic meter is not insanely low because there are some unpleasant realities this team absolutely must address. The two supposed bedrocks entering the season were supposed to be the passing game and the front seven on defense. Both have severely underachieved. Joe Burrow's calf injury gives the offense some cover, but what is the defense's excuse? Failing to get off the field on several third-and-short plays will be the lasting memory of Sunday's loss to the Ravens.

Continue reading Cincinnati Bengals NFL Power Rankings Roundup

2023 NFL Predictions: AFC North

KEVIN HANSON (@EDSFootball)
Updated: Thursday, September 7th

Before the start of the season, I will post my NFL division-by-division predictions for the 2023 NFL regular season and postseason.

Instead of projecting an outright winner and loser in all 272 regular-season games, I've assigned a win probability to each team in every game and totalled them up.

With that said, here are our early AFC North projections for each team including their win total.

1. Cincinnati Bengals - Projected Wins: 10.34

The Bengals have one of the league's best offenses — top seven in scoring in back-to-back seasons — and it all begins with Joe Burrow. Although Burrow sustained a calf injury early in camp, he says he is "ready to go" for Week 1. Cincinnati has a talented trio of receivers with Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Tyler Boyd. Both Chase and Higgins eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark last season, and they are arguably the two most talented receivers in the division. Joe Mixon is back after accepting a paycut, and the team upgraded its offensive line by signing Orlando Brown Jr. in free agency. In other words, it should be business as usual for Burrow & Co.

Safeties Jessie Bates III and Vonn Bell had eight of the team's 13 interceptions last season, but both departed via free agency in March. Former first-rounder Dax Hill will take on an expanded role, the team signed Nick Scott in free agency and drafted Jordan Battle in the third round. In addition, the Bengals have a talented cornerback room with Chidobe Awuzie, Cam Taylor-Britt (potential breakout candidate), Mike Hilton and second-round rookie DJ Turner. With Trey Hendrickson, DJ Reader and Logan Wilson anchoring their front-seven, the Bengals should have a strong defense in 2023.

From 1990-2020, the Bengals won only one playoff game (Wild Card round against the Houston Oilers in 1990). During that span, their playoff record was 1-8. Since then, however, they have gone deep into the postseason losing in the Super Bowl two seasons ago and in the AFC Championship Game last year.

Continue reading our 2023 NFL Predictions: AFC North

2023 Fantasy Football Projections: Cincinnati Bengals

Our Fantasy Football Projections will be viewable by both position and team.

Below you will find our 2023 fantasy football projections for the Cincinnati Bengals.

MORE: Fantasy football projections for more NFL teams

QUARTERBACKS

Player	Att.	Comp.	Yards	TD	INT	Rush	Yards	TD	Points
Joe Burrow	557.8	381	4183.5	31.79	12.27	64.3	212.2	4.18	316.26
Jake Browning	38.8	24.6	273.5	1.36	0.87	3.2	6.4	0.06	15.64

Joe Burrow: Does any team have as talented of a trio as the Bengals do with Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd? Burrow's rookie season (2020) ended prematurely after sustaining a torn ACL, but he has a 69.3% completion rate, 69 touchdowns (6.1 TD%) and 8.1 yards per attempt average over the past two years. Returning to practice after missing roughly a month, Burrow (calf strain) is on track to play Week 1 against the Cleveland Browns.

MORE: Continue reading our 2023 Fantasy Football Projections: Cincinnati Bengals

Cincinnati Bengals: 2023 NFL Schedule

Below you will find the weekly NFL regular-season schedule for the Cincinnati Bengals in 2023.

MORE: 2023 NFL Strength of Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Time (ET) / Tickets
Week 1	Sun., Sep. 10	at Cleveland Browns	L 3-24
Week 2	Sun., Sep. 17	vs. Baltimore Ravens	L 24-27
Week 3	Mon., Sep. 25	vs. Los Angeles Rams	8:15 PM / Tickets
Week 4	Sun., Oct. 1	at Tennessee Titans	1:00 PM / Tickets
Week 5	Sun., Oct. 8	at Arizona Cardinals	4:05 PM / Tickets
Week 6	Sun., Oct. 15	vs. Seattle Seahawks	1:00 PM / Tickets
Week 7		BYE
Week 8	Sun., Oct. 29	at San Francisco 49ers	4:25 PM / Tickets
Week 9	Sun., Nov. 5	vs. Buffalo Bills	8:20 PM / Tickets
Week 10	Sun., Nov. 12	vs. Houston Texans	1:00 PM / Tickets
Week 11	Thu., Nov. 16	at Baltimore Ravens	8:15 PM / Tickets
Week 12	Sun., Nov. 26	vs. Pittsburgh Steelers	1:00 PM / Tickets
Week 13	Mon., Dec. 4	at Jacksonville Jaguars	8:15 PM / Tickets
Week 14	Sun., Dec. 10	vs. Indianapolis Colts	1:00 PM / Tickets
Week 15	Sun., Dec. 17	vs. Minnesota Vikings	TBD / Tickets
Week 16	Sat., Dec. 23	at Pittsburgh Steelers	4:30 PM / Tickets
Week 17	Sun., Dec. 31	at Kansas City Chiefs	4:25 PM / Tickets
Week 18	Sun., Jan. 7	vs. Cleveland Browns	TBD / Tickets

MORE: Cincinnati Bengals historical W-L records - Cincinnati Bengals historical head-to-head records

Fantasy Football Strength of Schedule (SOS)

How easy or difficult is the fantasy football schedule for Cincinnati Bengals players?

Fantasy Football Strength of Schedule by position:

Cincinnati Bengals Mock Draft Roundup 1.0

Throughout the year and leading up to the 2024 NFL Draft, we will update our Cincinnati Bengals Mock Draft Roundup showing picks for the Cincinnati Bengals from several prominent sites and draft analysts.

The following are picks in recent mock drafts for the Cincinnati Bengals:

EDSFootball - Kevin Hanson (5/9)

30. Xavier Worthy, WR, Texas

Both Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd are scheduled to become free agents next offseason. Even though last year's production (60/760/9) declined year over year from his 2021 true freshman campaign (62/981/12), the speedy wideout has been extremely productive through two seasons and could hear his name called much higher than this with a strong junior season.

CBS Sports - Josh Edwards (5/8)

28. Ja'Tavion Sanders, TE, Texas

Cincinnati adds another pass-catching element to the offense for Joe Burrow.

ESPN - Todd McShay (5/4)

28. Kingsley Suamataia, OT, BYU

Suamataia is a huge 6-foot-6, 325-pound transfer from Oregon who started 12 games at right tackle last year and allowed just five pressures. Cincinnati cut down on sacks allowed last season (44 against, tied for 20th), but it was 30th in pass block win rate at 50.1%. Signing Orlando Brown Jr. is a big move in the right direction, but will Jonah Williams stick with the team after requesting a trade? Suamataia could slide right in and give the Bengals massive bookends to keep their franchise QB upright.

The Athletic - Dane Brugler (5/2)

28. Emeka Egbuka, WR, Ohio State

Ohio State had a pair of first-round receivers (Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave) two years ago, and they might do it again next April. Harrison is a lock, and Egbuka has the athletic and nuanced skills that will appeal to pro teams.

MORE: Continue reading our 2024 Cincinnati Bengals Mock Draft Roundup

Cincinnati Bengals - 2023 Draft Results

The table below are all of the 2023 NFL Draft picks selected by the Cincinnati Bengals.

Round	Overall	Player	Position	School
1	28	Myles Murphy	EDGE	Clemson
2	60	D.J. Turner II	CB	Michigan
3	95	Jordan Battle	S	Alabama
4	131	Charlie Jones	WR	Purdue
5	163	Chase Brown	RB	Illinois
6	206	Andrei Iosivas	WR	Princeton
6	217	Brad Robbins	P	Michigan
7	246	D.J. Ivey	DB	Miami (FL)

More: 2023 NFL Draft Results - Cincinnati Bengals Draft History