Cincinnati Bengals: 5 bold predictions for the 2021 season
By Aaron Burd
With new faces like Trey Hendrickson, Riley Reiff, Ja’Marr Chase, and more on the Cincinnati Bengals‘ roster, there are a lot of question marks surrounding the upcoming season. Will the Bengals live up to the hype that this offseason has produced? Has the front office built the right roster around Joe Burrow?
In the following slides, I’ll make a few bold predictions for how the upcoming season is going to unfold.
Bold predictions for Cincinnati Bengals 2021 season
Ja’Marr Chase, Tyler Boyd, and Tee Higgins each go for over 1,000+ yards
In the 2021 NFL Draft, the Bengals selected LSU wide receiver, Ja’Marr Chase, with the fifth overall pick. This pick not only reunited Joe Burrow with his top receiver from college, but it also gave the Bengals one of the best wide receiver trios in the NFL, as Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd were already one of the more solid duos in the league.
With the addition of Chase, this dangerous slew of weapons goes from a strength to one of the most lethal wide receiver groups in the league.
Over the years, there have only been five trios of wide receivers to all reach 1,000+ yards in NFL history. While it sounds like a tall task, I would bet on Chase, Higgins, and Boyd joining this elite group.
Before Burrow went down with an injury halfway through his rookie year, his two top receivers — Higgins and Boyd — were both on pace to reach 1,000+ yards. Given that Burrow and Higgins are both poised to improve in their second seasons, Boyd has already proven himself capable of reaching the milestone and Chase will potentially be the best receiver on the team from day one, it’s not as crazy as it might sound.
The Bengals’ new offense is one that has the potential to strike fear into the hearts of opposing defenses. On any given Sunday, defenses will have to pick their poison.
Between the elite group of receivers and a very solid running back in Joe Mixon, there are not many units in the entire league that can defend against all of Burrow’s weapons. Add onto all of this that there will be an extra game of football this year and it’s easy to bet on the Bengals’ top three wide receivers all hitting 1,000+ yards in 2021.