Cincinnati Bengals 2020 Season Preview
Chris Ransom follow @DraftUtopia Posted on 8/19/2020.
Cincinnati Bengals Free Agency Recap
The Bengals got right guard Xavier Su'a Filo to be their new starting right guard. Cincinnati also signed D.J. Reader at defensive tackle and Trae Waynes at cornerback who will unfortunately miss this season due to injuries. Von Bell was another signing that Cincinnati made in Free Agency, but the former starting Saints safety will be a backup in Cincinnati.
Cincinnati Bengals Draft Recap
Cincinnati had one of their best drafts in years. Quarterback Joe Burrow went first overall and is the face of the Bengals. The Heisman Trophy winner from LSU is now the third Heisman Trophy Winning quarterback in the AFC North Division. Tee Higgins is a wide receiver who could replace A.J. Green in a year from now. Cincinnati got three linebackers in this draft with Logan Wilson, Akeem Davis-Gaither, and Markus Bailey. Cincinnati also drafted Hakeem Adeniji out of Kansas and Khaled Kareem out of Notre Dame as a 4-3 left end for depth behind Carlos Dunlap.
Cincinnati Bengals Quarterback Summary: Joe Burrow is now the starting quarterback for Cincinnati after going first overall in the 2020 NFL Draft. Ryan Finley out of North Carolina State, a 2019 fourth round pick, as the backup. Head coach Zac Taylor was a former quarterback at Nebraska. He was a quarterbacks coach with the Los Angeles Rams and has no experience in play-calling despite specializing with developing quarterbacks. I think Burrow's play can make Taylor look like a competent coach. Offensive coordinator Brian Callahan is the offensive coordinator on Cincinnati for the second year in a row. Dan Pitcher will take over for Alex Van Pelt after being an assistant with Cincincinnati for five years before earning the assistant quarterbacks coach job in 2018 before taking over for Alex Van Pelt in 2020. Cincinnati has three coaches that specialize in developing quarterbacks, but none that specialize in calling plays. It is paramount that Joe Burrow stays fully healthy in 2020 since he studied the Bengals playbook harder than their coordinators.
Cincinnati Bengals Running Back Summary: Joe Mixon and Giovani Bernard are back to give opposing run defenses crap while offending fantasy owners in the process. Trayveon Williams out of Texas A&M, a 2019 sixth round pick, beat out Rodney Anderson for that third string spot behind Mixon and Bernard. Running backs coach Jemal Singleton enters his second season with the Bengals.
Cincinnati Bengals Wide Receiver Summary: A.J. Green is still this teams #1 flanker receiver, but he had a season ending injury after the Bengals got off to a bad start in 2018. He injured his right foot this year and his left foot in training camp in 2019 and missed all of last season. Now he's got a hamstring injury, but it's uncertain whether Green plays right away in 2020 or not. Cincinnati has Tyler Boyd next to him. Tee Higgins is expected to start in the slot over John Ross and Auden Tate. Bob Bicknell returns as the wide receivers coach.
Cincinnati Bengals Tight End Summary: C.J. Uzomah ended up starting at tight end last year with Tyler Eifert's injury. Drew Sample is now expected to challenge and push Uzomah for the starting tight end job after being used as a third string tight end last season. Cincinnati also has Cethan Carter, Mason Schreck, and Mitchell Wilcox an UDFA from South Florida will compete for that third string tight end job. Former Rice tight end James Casey enters his second season as the tight ends coach for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Cincinnati Bengals Offensive Line Summary: Cincinnati has Jonah Williams at left tackle, Michael Jordan at left guard, Trey Hopkins at center, Xavier Su'a Filo at right guard, and Bobby Hart at right tackle who got a three year extension despite his mediocre play in 2018. Hart now enters year two of that three year deal and the right side of Cincinnati's offensive line really concerns me, but having Billy Price and Hakeem Adeniji gives their interior offensive line the depth and backups to compliment their starters.
Jim Turner, the offensive line coach at Texas A&M is taking over as the offensive line coach with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2019. Turner turned Ohio State guard Michael Jordan who was a rookie and Trey Hopkins into quality starters. Cincinnati sucked at offensive tackle last year in large part due to Jonah Williams season ending injury. With Williams at full health, we'll get to see what Turner can do.
The Bengals are capable of having a top 15 offense in rushing yards and a top 16 offense in passing yards. I also feel like Cincinnati is a top 20 team in points scored and total yards. The right side of the offensive line is the only liability. Last year, I said this was a top 25 offense in every category with Andy Dalton. I feel Cincinnati can be a top 20 offense in every category with Joe Burrow starting right away after being the first pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Burrow has this offense running on all cylinders and is ahead of the coaching staff with playbook knowledge so the Bengals may end up being a top 15 offense in every offensive category from points scored, total yards, rushing yards, and passing yards. It will be fun to see what this offense does this year.
Cincinnati Bengals Defensive Line Summary: Sam Hubbard is starting at 4-3 right end. Cincinnati still has Carlos Dunlap at 4-3 left end. Cincinnati also has Geno Atkins and D.J. Reader as their defensive tackles. Hubbard had 8.5 sacks in his second season and first year as a full-time starter after having 6 sacks as a rotational edge rusher in his rookie season. Dunlap can get 11-15 sacks at 4-3 left end. Cincinnati will need 11-15 sacks from both Hubbard and Dunlap if they want to contend this season. If they do not get that, I won't be surprised if they get someone like Greggory Rosseau in the draft as a pass rusher if they cannot land Penei Sewell.
Cincinnati is thinner then usual at defensive tackle, but they got Nick Eason as their new defensive line coach so maybe he can help bolster the defesnive line. Eason kept his job as the defensive line coach.
Cincinnati Bengals Linebacker Summary: The Bengals are awesome at developing linebackers. Germaine Pratt and Jordan Evans will be the two starting linebackers in Cincinnati's nickel defense. Cincinnati drafted three linebackers that I liked which I mentioned when I broke down their 2020 NFL Draft. They can use those linebackers as depth players or they can start one of those rookies when they call plays through a 4-3 base defense.
Al Golden was the linebackers coach with the Detroit Lions the last two seasons. He will now be the linebackers coach with Cincinnati. Golden has too many good linebackers to work with unlike his situation in Detroit, so if he cannot develop this group of linebackers, then I'm not blaming Cincinnati if they move on from Golden.
Cincinnati Bengals Defensive Backs Summary: William Jackson III and Mackensie Alexander will be the starters. Trae Waynes was going to start at nickel, but he got injured and may miss all of 2020 meaning Darius Phillips would start at the nickel. Waynes would have started next to Jackson, but his injury bumps their nickel corner up to a number two cornerback role where these AFC North #2 targets complimenting flanker receivers will torch Alexander Same could be said for the slot receivers against Darius Phillips.
Shawn Williams returns as the starting strong safety while Jessie Bates III will start at free safety. Cincinnati added Von Bell. Lou Anarumo is Cincinnati's new defensive coordinator and he specializes with defensive backs. Daronte Jones was the defensive backs coach in 2019, but he got replaced with a cornerbacks coach and a safeties coach.
Last year, I said the Bengals will have a really suspect defense. I feel like their defensive line is lethal when healthy and love the depth they added at linebacker along with getting a third safety with Von Bell. This team is still just as suspect as they were at cornerback, perhaps even weaker at cornerback compared to 2019 and that's one reason why Cincinnati will be a bottom feeder once again.
Cincinnati Bengals Special Teams Summary: Darrin Simmons has been the Bengals special teams coordinator for seventeen years now. Randy Bullock returns as the starting kicker. Kevin Huber is still there at punter. A return specialist is needed though since Alex Erickson is not my ideal return specialist for both kick returner and punt returner. I said this about Erickson in 2019 and he kept his job as return specialist heading into 2020. You'd think if A.J. Green, Tyler Boyd, and Tee Higgins were all starting at receiver, then maybe perhaps it's time to try John Ross out as a return specialist.
Cincinnati Bengals Worst Case Scenario: In 2019, my worst case scenario for the Bengals was to go 2-14 and finish as the leagues worst NFL team. That's exactly what happened. My worst case scenario for 2020 is 3-13.
Cincinnati Bengals Best Case Scenario: Cincinnati goes 7-9 and posts a respectable season despite finishing last in the AFC North Division.
Cincinnati Bengals 2020 NFL Schedule
Week |
Date |
Opponent |
Time |
Cable Network |
Result |
Week 1 |
September 13 |
VS  |
4:05 PM EST |
CBS |
W |
Week 2 |
September 17 |
AT  |
8:20 PM EST |
NFL Network |
L |
Week 3 |
September 27 |
AT  |
1 PM EST |
CBS |
L |
Week 4 |
October 4 |
VS  |
1 PM EST |
CBS |
W |
Week 5 |
October 11 |
AT  |
1 PM EST |
CBS |
L |
Week 6 |
October 18 |
AT  |
1 PM EST |
CBS |
L |
Week 7 |
October 25 |
VS |
1 PM EST |
CBS |
W |
Week 8 |
November 1 |
VS  |
1 PM EST |
CBS |
L |
Week 9 |
|
Bye Week |
|
|
|
Week 10 |
November 15 |
AT  |
1 PM EST |
CBS |
L |
Week 11 |
November 22 |
AT  |
1 PM EST |
CBS |
L |
Week 12 |
November 29 |
VS  |
1 PM EST |
FOX |
L |
Week 13 |
December 6 |
AT  |
1 PM EST |
CBS |
L |
Week 14 |
December 13 |
VS  |
1 PM EST |
FOX |
L |
Week 15 |
December 21 |
VS |
8:15 EST |
ESPN |
L |
Week 16 |
December 27 |
AT  |
1 PM EST |
CBS |
L |
Week 17 |
January 3 |
VS |
1 PM EST |
CBS |
L |
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