This is one of the handful of stable franchises in the league from a front office, head coach and QB perspective. The Bengals continue to draft well, develop those draft picks, and take on highly talented but questionable characters. Fortunately the likes of Andy Dalton, A.J. Green, Giovani Bernard, Tyler Eifert, and Jeremy Hill don’t have any substantial red flags in terms of character. In fact, with these names you get a spectrum of fantasy value from elite production to high-risk, high-reward upside.
WR A.J. Green
Another 1,000 yd season with double digit TDs; 1,297 yds and 10 TD to be exact . Green is obviously a Top 10 fantasy WR on a high octane offensive football team. However, this year may prove to be a bit different. With the former OC Hue Jackson now with the cross state rivals the Cleveland Browns. Will A. J. Green’s targets suffer? Will the Bengals run the same type of offense? Let me just say A.J. is the model of consistency when it comes to his production, averaging at least 1,000 yds a season and he greeted the endzone 10 or more times in years he played a full complement of games. Also. this isn’t the first time Green has gone through an offensive coordinator change, remember Jay Gruden who left in 2014 for Washington. Just another 1,000 yard season with 6 TDs but only played 13 games.
TE Tyler Eifert
Last year Tyler Eifert scored an impressive 13 TDs in only 13 games. With those 13 for 13 stats he did it with ONLY 52 receptions. That is one TD grab per every four catches. That to me looks to be the definition of production. Eifert last year made the most out of his chances and whether that was by design or Eifert being “that guy” one can only think that he may repeat that this year… Or will he? You see, Eifert has missed 20 games with injury in his 3-year career since coming into the league; 15 of those in 2014 and three last year and as it stands right now he may or may not be ready for the start of this season. Is he someone you’re willing to put your trust in? Clearly the guy is talented and has developed into what the Bengals thought he could be, but the injury concerns are substantial so tread lightly and do not over draft him.
RB Giovani Bernard/Jeremy Hill
Giovani Bernard has always split the carries with whom ever was a part of the backfield since he was drafted. Whether it was the likes of “the law firm” BenJarvus Green-Ellis or now Jeremy Hill. And because of this, he has never had over 800 yards in any one season rushing the ball, but has always had at least 1,000 total yards. His dual-threat skill-set makes him a prime candidate for a PPR league. However, he lacks the touchdown production with only two total last year and 17 during his 3-year career. While his counterpart Jeremy Hill had 11 last year and 21 in his 2-year career with 794 yards in 2015 and 1.124 yards in 2014. It’s obvious that Hill is the goal line and short yardage back, as well as the stater so what he doesn’t provide in the receiving game he makes up for in the TD department. So, I say all of that to say this, what tpe of league are you in? If it’s PPR Gio all day. If you’re in a standard league Hill is your man. IMO the Gio/Jeremy dynamic is the perfect definition of a handcuff, especially in a standard league.
Others of Note:
- QB Andy Dalton
