Bengals Beat: ‘They’re the sounding board’ Ja’Marr Chase, B.J. Hill, Trey Hendrickson, Logan Wilson Join A Familiar Trio As 2025 Bengals Game Captains

CINCINNATI — Three of the stars that were re-signed to new deals this offseason by the Bengals have been given the additional honor of serving as team captains for the 2025 season.

Ja’Marr Chase, B.J. Hill and Trey Hendrickson will join Joe Burrow, Orlando Brown Jr., Ted Karras and Logan Wilson as captains for the upcoming season.

What will the group of seven be responsible for? Well to start with, talking with other players and passing onto head coach Zac Taylor the collective feelings of the locker room on a number of issues and logistical matters.

“They’re the group that I’m going to call in my office, get their opinion on schedule, my thoughts for the week going into an opponent, issues we may have around the building, in the locker room,” Taylor said.

“They’re the sounding board that I have to be able to trust, and they’ve got to be able to trust me. And they are the first ones I turn to. There’s plenty of people that aren’t elected captains that, over the course of the season, I’ve looked for input from, but this is certainly a group that I start with, and I think it’s a good group of seven guys that I trust, and I think the players made the right call.”

Chase has always been a “lead by example” presence in the locker room, ever since his rookie year of 2021. He was signed to a four-year, $161 million extension in March.

“They’ve been here every single day in the spring. No vet days. Really doing all the right things,” Ted Karras told Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com.

Chase is not just a star receiver that everyone looks up to, he’s a close ally of fellow extended receiver Tee Higgins and a resource for Andrei Iosivas, Charlie Jones, Jermaine Burton and Mitch Tinsley in the receivers room. Chase has often said he will gladly offer assistance and guidance to those players who come to him seeking it.

“I think Ja’Marr has been a great leader for us. He’s been a guy that’s always given me honest feedback whenever I ask for it,” Taylor added. “The players elected him as captain, and I think he’s earned it through the way that he works. Leads by example, brings a lot of energy to practice and games, and is one of the top performers we have. I think it’s fitting for him to be elected captain.”

Wilson, a three-time captain at Wyoming, will be in his first year in the formal role with the Bengals.

“I always looked at myself as a leader by example,” Wilson said. “I’m not the rah-rah type that gets you going energy type of guy. I’m just going to lead by example, play at a high level, do the same things the right way.”

The right way on the field is making sure everyone is in the right place at the right time to make the right play.

“Wearing the green dot, you’re literally looking at me for the call,” Wilson said. “You’re the middle man between the back-end guys and the front guys. It’s important to have people on the same page. I’ve taken a lot of pride in that over the years as I’ve grown into that role.”

Hendrickson and Hill came to the Bengals in 2021 and both made an immediate impact. Hendrickson has emerged as one of the elite edge rushers in the NFL, ranking 14th in the NFL Players Top 100 list as put out by NFL.com and NFL Media. He signed his one-year, $29 million contract last Monday. As for Hill, he signed for three years and $33 million in the offseason to return to Cincinnati. He is regarded in the organization as a critically important stabilizing piece of the interior Bengals defensive line.

“I just want to win a lot of games, make plays, and make this team better,” said Hill, who was last a captain in his senior year at North Carolina State. “That’s my goal at the end of the day. I was awarded captain and that’s a special thing and I take pride in that.”
“I’ve always been that type of guy that carried himself in a way people respected. I’m excited for the opportunity.”