This offseason may end up being one of the most important of the Joe Burrow era. Coming off an objectively disappointing season based on what fans have come to expect after the past couple of years in which the team made back-to-back conference championships and even reached the Super Bowl. This past season they missed the playoffs entirely, and the team's struggles went beyond just their star quarterback getting injured.
While, yes, Burrow's injury of course played a major role in the season's letdown, heading into the offseason, there were a lot of questions that needed answers and a lot of holes in the roster to fill. With young studs approaching the end of their contracts and veterans beginning to show their age, the Bengals' prime opportunity to strike and finally bring Cincinnati a long-awaited Lombardi is now.
While they did address a lot of needs in free agency with signings like Trent Brown, Geno Stone, and Mike Gesicki, the draft has left a lot of fans unsure and has been labeled by some as very 'boom or bust', especially in regards to their first-round selection Amarius Mims. While you certainly have to give rookies time to develop into solid players or, if you're lucky, bonafide stars, you would hope that at least a few members from the rookie class make somewhat of an impact in their first year.
Notable impactful rookies for the Bengals in recent memory include Ja'Marr Chase, Evan McPherson, Cam Taylor-Britt, Cordell Volson, and many members from the 2023 draft class. Myles Murphy, D.J. Turner, Jordan Battle, Chase Brown, and Andrei Iosivas all had at least one performance worth noting during their rookie campaigns, and you could certainly make arguments for a few of the others like Charlie Jones and Brad Robbins.
The point is, while rookies should be given time to grow and adjust, you'd want them to show something during their first season in the league, anything to build off of or hope for, especially for teams contending for titles.
Here are four rookies for the Bengals who will make an impact in their first year with the league.
With D.J. Reader's departure and struggles with the interior defensive line creating pressure, the team needed to buff up the defensive tackle position. They addressed the ladder with the signing of former Texan Sheldon Rankins-- who sacked Burrow three times in their matchup-- and decided to use the draft to try to replace Reader, selecting Kris Jenkins and then Texas A&M alum McKinnley Jackson the next round.
While Jackson is closer to Reader's size, Jenkins is nothing to scoff at either (6'3, 305lbs), and will likely see more snaps than Jackson in 2024. Nicknamed the "Mutant" for his otherwordly athleticism, Jenkins serves as an interesting piece on the defensive line for Lou Anarumo to use and experiment with. After all, fans know by now how volatile the esteemed defensive coordinator can be with the defensive line, often having multiple sets of different personnel making up the front four/five.
Although Jenkins will likely not start, as B.J. Hill and Sheldon Rankins seem to have the nod as things stand at the moment, that doesn't mean he won't see the field. He will likely still see a significant portion of snaps since Anarumo is big on rotating players on the defensive line, especially in cases of injury.
Jermaine Burton - Wide Receiver, Alabama
Well, the Bengals 'Big Three' at the wide receiver position has finally broken up. Tyler Boyd, after 8 years in the Queen City, was not re-signed by the Bengals and instead went on to sign a one-year deal with the Titans. For the first time since Chase was drafted, this leaves a question mark at wideout.
While Ja'Marr will likely be here as long as Burrow is and, based on recent history, the front office would sooner let Tee Higgins walk next offseason before they would trade him even at his request, there is no definitive WR3 as we approach training camp. Irwin has solidly been WR4 the past couple of seasons, coming in whenever one of the main three were injured or when they wanted a new look at wide receiver, and Iosivas showed a lot of flash in few opportunities last year.
And, to complicate things further, the front office decided to address the wide receiver position early on in the draft, with their first of two third-round selections, taking Jermaine Burton out of Alabama. After starting his collegiate career with the Georgia Bulldogs, Burton transferred to rival Crimson Tide to finish out his playing time in college there, putting together two solid-- albeit not outstanding-- seasons.
In his senior year, Burton caught 39 passes for 798 yards and 8 touchdowns. Although he may not start the year in the WR3 position and will more likely than not split reps with the two wideouts mentioned above, Burton will get his opportunities on the field, especially considering he was a third-round pick. He's quick, has good hands, and fits nicely in the slot, making him the ideal replacement for Boyd.
While he almost certainly won't have a rookie season on par with Chase's or even Higgins', he will make his mark during his first year in the league.
Josh Newton - Cornerback, TCU
Another position that is at least somewhat open is the CB2 slot. Cam Taylor-Britt is the clear lockdown CB1 for the Bengals, and Mike Hilton will likely line up in the nickel as he usually does this year. However, with Chidobe Awuzie also heading off to Nashville, it isn't completely clear who will line up on the other side of Taylor-Britt.
D.J. Turner is probably the most likely choice to do so. The Bengals spent a 2nd-round pick on him in the 2023 draft, and he showed some promise during his rookie campaign, recording 7 passes defended, a fumble recovery, and a sack. However, that's not to say he didn't struggle. According to Pro Football Reference, Turner allowed 693 yards, 4 touchdowns, and a 111.6 passer rating when targeted. Those are pretty subpar numbers.
So, with that being said, there is some wiggle room for Texas Christian alum and 5th-round pick Josh Newton to come in and earn a starting job in Cincinnati. During his two years with TCU (he had spent his first three with the University of Lousiana-Monroe), Newton recorded four interceptions and 21 passes defended, as well as earning an 87.7 grade from PFF for those two seasons. Those are good numbers, and if he translates well to the NFL, fans could look back on Newton as a Day 3 gem the Bengals stumbled upon.
Of course, that's a big 'if' to begin with, however, Newton will likely get a fair shot to prove whether or not he should have gone higher. Even if D.J. Turner shows out in training camp, the secondary does get rotated very frequently, albeit not as much as the D-Line does. After D.J. Turner, Newton is only competing with D.J. Ivey and Dax Hill to be the first guy off the bench, and even then the ladder will most likely see the field at the nickel behind Mike Hilton.
Austin McNamara - Punter, Texas Tech
Once again, the Bengals came into the offseason needing to fix the situation at punter. Two years ago, it was Kevin Huber aging and being replaced by former Buckeye Drue Chrisman. Then, when Chrisman struggled to keep the ball in the air long enough to allow the special teams to get downfield and prevent the returner from making a play, they selected Michigan punter Brad Robbins with the 217th overall pick.
Robbins, unfortunately, didn't prove to be much of a step up from Chrisman. So, once again, the front office entered the offseason with fans clamoring for them to address the punter position, whether that be through the draft or free agency. Tory Taylor was a prospect that intrigued a lot of people, however, the Bears beat all interested parties to the punch by drafting the Iowa product in the 4th round.
So, instead, the Bengals opted to sign one of the many undrafted players at the position, settling on Austin McNamara from Texas Tech. While he is obviously no Tory Taylor, McNamara did have a solid collegiate career and finished his senior year averaging 46.3 yards per punt, good for 11th in the FBS, and 24 punts landing inside the opponents' 20, which is four more than Brad Robbins on 21 more attempts.
Even if he doesn't end up being an improvement from Robbins and fails to take the punting job over the course of the summer, McNamara, at the very least, will provide some competition at the position and hopefully cause Robbins to step his own game up to secure his position.
