The state of the Bengals' offense following the NFL Draft

The first big project that Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher and new offensive line coach Scott Peters worked on together was diving through hours and hours of guard tape, scouring the NFL Draft class for potential immediate contributors.

This was far from the first time that the Bengals tried to find quality interior offensive linemen in the middle rounds of the draft, and anyone who follows the Bengals knows how those picks have gone. Mid-round guards have been a graveyard for Bengals’ draft picks as Jackson Carman, D’Ante Smith, Trey Hill and Hakeem Adeniji, among others, have failed to pan out.

Peters brings a new perspective that the Bengals desperately needed.

“I learned a lot from Scott,” Pitcher said. “As you guys get to know Scott, (he's a) tremendous technician (with) a lot of energy for that element of his job. The hand-to-combat, giving guys tools to win in that phase, that's who he is. It just seeps out of him, so when you see him interact with these young players, they really gravitate to that. You see their eyes light up when he starts talking about how he's going to be able to develop them. That's what makes us go.”

We won’t be able to truly grade the selections of Dylan Fairchild and Jalen Rivers for a few years. If the Bengals get what they’re expecting out of these two picks, then this offense will be the be one in football for the next few years. If these picks flop, then the Bengals’ offense will face the same roadblocks that it has had to deal with for the entirety of Joe Burrow’s career.

"We feel great about where we are as an offense,” Pitcher said. “If we were being self-critical, the area that was most readily available for improvement was in that (guard) room, and so we've devoted valuable resources to improving that room. How that shakes out, I have no idea, but I know we got better."

The draft brought a lot of clarity to the Bengals’ offensive line.

Ted Karras is the center, and Orlando Brown Jr. and Amarius Mims are the starting tackles.

Fairchild is now the favorite to win the left guard battle, but he’ll have to earn the job in camp.

“(He has) a blend of stoutness, power, ability to anchor versus power, the ability to redirect laterally with quickness,” Pitcher said. “There's a lot explosive, twitchy interior rushers in our league, so you have to have that appropriate blend of strength and lateral mobility and we believe Dylan has both those things in spades."

Cody Ford, Lucas Patrick, Cordell Volson, Jaxson Kirkland and (to a lesser extent) Rivers will all be competing to start at guard. It’ll be a “let the best man win” type of situation.

Because of Ford’s experience in Cincinnati and his underrated performance last season when he was playing his natural guard position, I’d label him as a slight favorite. Since Rivers is now in the mix as the potential swing tackle, Ford will be able to focus on guard in training camp.

Before the Bengals’ drafted Rivers, Devin Cochran and Andrew Steuber were their swing tackles. They sorely needed a player with Rivers’ skill set.

“(Rivers’) versatility really speaks to the value I think he'll provide us at this level,” Pitcher said. “We're adding a super high-character guy with great length. A very good pass protector. Had him in the building here on a visit, and we couldn't have been more impressed with him as a person."

While Patrick is making backup money, he’s also experienced and viewed as an upgrade over what the Bengals had last season.

"Lucas is a guy we identified early in the free agency process,” Pitcher said. We did our research on him. We heard tremendous things about him as a leader… He was a good pass protector last year, and he produced in that phase last year.”

By the end of August, it will probably be blatantly clear who the Bengals’ guards will be. Some of these guys will have good camps, and others won’t. Injuries also typically shape these competitions.

The Bengals didn’t make the investment in free agency that they needed to to truly solidify either guard spot with a proven, dependable, true plug and play veteran starter. It’s a risk as the Bengals cast a wider net for these position battles at guard. There aren’t many teams in the entire NFL who don’t know who either of their starting guards will be this season, and the Bengals are one of them. If Pitcher, Peters and the Bengals drafted the wrong guys, then Burrow will pay the price.

But ultimately, team building trends in the NFL show that to build a great offensive line, you simply have to be able to hit on mid-round picks and low-tier free agents at guard. The Bengals refreshed their approach this year in their efforts to assemble the offensive line that can make Burrow’s life a lot easier.

What the draft showed about the Bengals’ approach at running back

Sixth-round pick Tahj Brooks estimates that he totaled eight under-center runs in his entire college career at Texas Tech. Landing with the Bengals’ — the NFL’s third-most shotgun heavy offense in 2024 — is a perfect fit.

“I'm very versatile,” Brooks said. “I can catch the ball out of the backfield, I'm very explosive in the run game and I have very violent hands in pass protection. That's something you see on my tape a lot, and I'm very blessed to be about that."

Since this was a historically deep running back class, the Bengals landed a fourth-or-fifth round talent in Brooks in the middle of the sixth round. He profiles as the ideal complement to Chase Brown.

While Brown’s home run ability and breakaway speed are some of the best in the NFL, Brooks is an efficient singles hitter who breaks tackles in the backfield and gives the Bengals a true bruiser.

"He’s tough, great lateral quickness, good ball skills, can protect for us as well,” Zac Taylor said. “"I think that we have a good mix of running backs in our room — all shapes and sizes, all abilities. So it's really good to get a mix of those guys in there."

Running back depth has been the weakness on the Bengals’ depth chart for most of Taylor’s head coaching career. There’s a reason why Trayveon Williams, Rodney Anderson and Chris Evans barely got the opportunity to show what they could contribute as ball carriers. Last year, the Bengals desperately needed to shake up their running back depth midseason and acquired Kendall Milton and Khalil Herbert.

Brooks could become the Bengals’ long-term backup behind Chase Brown.

“I feel like I have the best hands in this running back class,” Brooks said. “That's just the attitude that I bring toward the organization, in just the pass game and being explosive that way."

The Brooks pick has as much value as any that the Bengals made in the 2025 draft, and the running back room is in great shape.

Brown could easily be a Pro Bowler this year. We all know what Samaje Perine brings to the table, and he showed during the Chiefs’ playoff run last year that he still has the same pop that he did during his first stint with the Bengals.

Taylor said that Zack Moss (neck) is "progressing along. I'm excited about where he's at." The Bengals signed Moss to be their starter last season because they didn’t know yet what they had in Brown. Moss was totally fine in his role, showing an efficient rushing style and contributing in pass protection.

Looking at the rest of the offense (wide receiver and tight end)

How much confidence do you have in the Bengals’ backup wide receivers?

Charlie Jones’ career so far has been defined by injuries, and he had one catch in eight games last season. Isaiah Williams is a return specialist. Cole Burgess and Kendric Pryor were on the practice squad last season and have stuck on the 90-man roster entering 2025.

That brings you to Jermaine Burton, who the Bengals need some production from this season. On paper, his ability to contribute as a kick returner plus his ability to take the top off the defense with deep routes down the sideline is exactly what this group needs.

Technically, Mike Gesicki and Tanner Hudson both profile as potential backup slot receivers on the roster.

The Bengals have six tight ends: Gesicki, Drew Sample, Hudson, Cam Grandy, Tanner McLachlan and Erick All Jr. (injured). Gesicki, Hudson and McLachlan are true receiving tight ends, and Sample and Grandy are true blocking tight ends. There’s zero versatility here.

Andrei Iosivas has bulked up and can provide some real versatility as a blocker. The Rams, among other teams, have had success using a big receiver as a de facto tight end (think of it as the reverse Mike Gesicki) and creating a size advantage when you run the ball vs. nickel defenses.