Cincinnati Bengals WR depth chart ahead of 2022 NFL Draft

WR Starters: Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd

This is the easiest section to fill out for this article. We know that, unless injuries or something unexpected comes up between now and the start of the 2022 season, this will be the starting trio at wide receiver for the reigning AFC champions.

As mentioned on the intro slide, Chase was drafted fifth overall in last year’s draft despite the team desperately needing help at wide receiver. Many felt it was simply because of Chase’s previous chemistry with Joe Burrow and we saw that this was indeed the correct decision.

Chase ended his rookie season with over 1,400 yards and 13 touchdowns, which earned him the Offensive Rookie of the Year title. He was fortunate that he didn’t have any rookie quarterbacks to compete with for the award but even if one had played a little better, Chase still would have had a strong chance to win the title.

Higgins was a second-round pick in 2020 out of Clemson and had an impressive rookie season. Had Burrow not gone down with an injury, it’s likely that Higgins would have finished his rookie campaign with over 1,000 yards receiving. He got over the 1,000-yard receiving mark in year two and probably would have been a strong candidate to win the Super Bowl MVP award had the Bengals been on the right side of the scoreboard.

As for Boyd, he was once one of the few bright spots on the team but took more of a backseat this year. He did end up tallying 828 yards and five touchdowns but there were several games where he was nowhere to be found.

These three will be the starting wide receivers for the Bengals this year unless something shocking happens between now and the start of the season.