Bengals: 4 snap count observations in Week 1 overtime win
By Riley Thomas
3. The Bengal wide receiver rotation was slightly surprising
Tyler Boyd has a lot of experience as one of the NFL’s most productive slot receivers. Tee Higgins had a good rookie season, he will look to break out this season.
With Ja’Marr Chase’s preseason struggles, Chase falling behind both Boyd and Higgins in snaps during the season-opener wouldn’t have been surprising. Instead, Chase was the receiver who played the most with 62 snaps.
In the offense’s 69 snaps, Chase had the most snaps outside of the offensive line and Joe Burrow. Chase proved he deserved the most snaps with his electric 101-yard performance.
Boyd and Higgins both had 51 snaps. Chase getting 11 more snaps than both experienced receivers was still unexpected. This shows how much Cincinnati believes in Chase’s ability. The rookie looks to be a major factor for the Bengals offense if he continues to lead receivers in snaps.
The fourth-leading receiver in snaps was Mike Thomas with 16 snaps. Auden Tate was only on the field for eight snaps. Thomas looks to be the first receiver to back up the trio of Chase, Higgins, and Boyd. This was also slightly surprising considering Tate’s past contributions in Cincinnati’s offense.