CINCINNATI — The biggest question to be answered in the final five games of the lost 2024 Bengals season is which players are the ones the organization can build around for 2025 and beyond.
Joe Burrow expanded upon his Sunday postgame comments on Thursday, when he said he’ll be looking closely for those who can be counted on and those who can’t. Burrow understands his team desperately needs a foundation it can trust and rely on as it navigates the extreme disappointment and adversity the 2024 bunch faced.
The term “cornerstone” gets tossed around a lot in pro sports as teams look for those pieces to build around. Cornerstones create a foundation and a foundation is a culture that successful franchises build and it’s the culture that leads to legacy and tradition. The Bengals have an obvious cornerstone in Burrow.
“I think we’ll find out over the next five weeks,” Burrow reiterated on Thursday. “I don’t think I have an answer for you right now. I think over the next five weeks will say a lot.”
Asked if the uncertainty is a concern, Burrow suggested that leadership is a year-to-year commodity in the NFL.
“The NFL is a what have you done for me lately league and it doesn’t matter what you did last year, it matters what you’re doing now,” Burrow said. “Some guys have played great. Other haven’t. The guys that watch tape every day upstairs know that better than I do. Outside of the offense, which is my realm. I think the next five weeks will say a lot.”
To Burrow’s point, that’s why team captains are elected before each season because the dynamic of the locker room changes.
Assuming they get a long-term extension done for Ja’Marr Chase, that’s two. And given Burrow’s respect and dependence on Chase, it’s inconceivable a deal doesn’t get done.
“If we need to get a route in practice, full speed, he might say give me a play, but he’s going to go full-speed, 100 percent game rep so we can bank that rep for the game,” Burrow told me. “He’s been that way since we were together in college. He wants to get that full-speed game rep. That’s how you have to do it if you want to be great. If you run it like a game in practice, you get to the game you already have a rep in that situation. I know how fast he is going to run and I can put the ball where I need to and judge his speed because I have seen it so many times in practice now once we get to the game his full speed is not different. That’s just him day in and day out.”
They have Orlando Brown Jr. at left tackle. That’s three. Amarius Mims seems like a bonafide hit as a first-round pick from 2024 at right tackle. The steady Ted Karras has a year left on his deal at center. Burrow, Brown and Karras are the offensive captains.
Brown has been a leader inside and outside the Bengals locker room, earning the 2024 designation as the Bengals Walter Payton Man of the Year award on Thursday for his work in promoting the fight against diabetes. Brown played Sunday despite an injury to his fibula that forced him to miss three games.
“He’s got such a positive mindset, even when we have tough stretches like this,” Zac Taylor told me. “When you’re around him, he raises your energy level, he raises your confidence level and the more guys you’ve got on a team like Orlando, the better, because he’s got a winner’s mindset, a champion’s mindset, he works. The details are important to him, making people around him better is important to him, and so I’m thankful he’s on our team.”
Those words perfectly define what it is the Bengals are looking for in their foundational pieces.
Then there’s Burrow’s thoughts on the man responsible for protecting his blind side, who is signed through 2026.
“He’s been as advertised,” Burrow said of Brown. “He was having the best stretch of his career earlier this year, lights out. He’s dealt with some injuries and was fighting through it last week. He doesn’t get enough credit for what he does in the locker room. He’s a great leader. We are lucky to have him. Hopefully I get to play with him for a lot longer.
You know he wants to be out there. He wants to be out there with the guys. Hes going to do everything he can to go out and play. Sometimes as a player you have to take that decision out of their hands. I’ve been through that before. The fact he wanted to be out there and give his all says everything and more about him.
On defense, it’s much different. The Bengals have one big star and a bunch of young, promising players who are serviceable NFL starters but not difference-makers. That’s what this season has really proven.
Trey Hendrickson is the unquestioned star, who may be looking to re-work his contract after this season or could be a trade candidate after the year. But after that, the picture is not as certain. Captain Sam Hubbard’s impact has dropped off substantially as he fights through injuries and age. The team believes Dax Hill and DJ Turner are future starters in the secondary. Cam Taylor-Britt is another if he rebounds from a sub-par season. Logan Wilson is dependable and has had a very productive season. Another captain Vonn Bell has slowed to the point where he was benched for second-year safety Jordan Battle to start Sunday. The third captain, Germaine Pratt, is also having a productive season in terms of tackles.
But if this season has demonstrated anything, it’s that the defense is woefully unprepared to handle injuries and has alarming lack of playmakers capable of putting any pressure whatsoever on the quarterback. A defense without push in the modern NFL is no defense at all. And the only player showing that on a consistent basis is Hendrickson.
While special teams captain Evan McPherson has had a subpar season, he is the kicker of the future. The Bengals have apparently finally found their punter in Ryan Rehkow.
“I want to win, but I want to be fun to watch,” Burrow said in words that are music to the ears of all Bengals fans. “I always want to be fun to watch. I want people to see my command of the offense and accuracy and playmaking ability and everything that I bring to the table. But I want people to tune in to the Bengals and want to watch us. And I think people do. I take pride in the fact that we’re exciting. I’m exciting to watch. That’s something that I take pride in.
“I always wanted to watch Aaron Rodgers. I was always tuning in when he was playing. Tom Brady, obviously. Peyton Manning. I watched Drew Brees. Those caliber of players are usually the types of players that get the most primetime games, so you’re seeing them the most. It’s just always nice to – we’ve had six now, so that usually means that people want to watch you. That’s usually a good thing.”
All of those quarterbacks had great players, great leaders and great coaching around them.
That’s where the Bengals are at with five games remaining. A dismal 4-8 record and 0-7 against winning teams. They’re 1-7 in one-score games. The Bengals have been just bad enough to lose close games. Before the roster-building begins in the offseason, the Bengals need to find the culture creators that can turn this around in 2025. Those players who want to stick around for better times have to prove something to Burrow.
Then the Bengals front office can start proving to Burrow they’re serious about putting a better team around him in free agency and the draft.
