As the regular season comes to a close, once again with no late-January football for the Cincinnati Bengals, the team heads into yet another offseason that will likely be touted as "the most important offseason of the Joe Burrow era." For the third straight year.
To be fair, that sentiment has merit. This team is far away from the 2021 and 2022 squads that were contenders, and they'll need to make a lot of fixes to get back to that elite echelon of teams. And when you have players like Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins in the prime of their careers, you can't afford to have this be a multi-year rebuild.
There are a lot of holes on the team (mostly on the defense) that will warrant addressing in the offseason.
However, even if the Bengals are eliminated from postseason contention, that doesn't mean these last few games are "meaningless" like some may claim them to be. Fans can look forward to seeing young players taken in recent drafts showcase their potential or veterans finally getting their opportunity to cement their worth as a valuable piece on this team.
So with that in mind, here are three Bengals who have likely played themselves into a future with Cincinnati and made the offseason just a little bit easier.
All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference.
CB Jalen Davis
Some casual fans may not have known the cornerback donning the #35 jersey up until his interception on rookie Quinn Ewers on Sunday vs. the Dolphins, but Utah State alum Jalen Davis has been on the Bengals since 2020, which is as long as the franchise quarterback and longer than said quarterback's all-pro number one option at receiver. The reason some of you may not have known about him until now is that he has seen very limited opportunities up until this season.
Jalen Davis has been a long-time practice squad veteran and depth piece for Cincinnati, struggling to find snaps in Cincy's cornerback rooms full of trusted talent and young players. However, after Cam Taylor-Britt went down with a Lisfranc injury that required surgery amidst a blowout loss in their second matchup against Pittsburgh, Jalen Davis heard his name called up. Not just to the active roster, but to play a major role in a woeful defense, playing a career high 62% of snaps on defense since being promoted to the active roster.
Operating mainly as a slot corner, Davis has been so good it makes you wonder: how was he not starting earlier in the season?! In five games, Davis has recorded a sack, forced fumble, and his first career interception mentioned above. Pro Football Focus has given him a 79.0 grade and records a 56.3 passer rating allowed. Davis has gotten his first real shot with the Bengals, and he has not looked back.
This could be the potential answer to an underrated hole in the roster at slot corner. Before, it was a question whether or not they'd move Dax Hill back into the nickel next season-- given that they've essentially played hot potato with what position they've assigned to him for the first four years of his career-- but now, they could roll with Jalen Davis in the slot and keep Hill at the boundary, where he looks most comfortable.
Even if they don't trust him to start from this small sample size, Davis, at the very least, has earned a spot as a rotational player for the upcoming season.
G Dalton Risner
As much as we fans (rightfully) rip on the front office for their ineptitude to keep a Super Bowl window open, they actually made a move that fans were clamoring for all offseason, although it almost took until the regular season actually started for it to happen. Just a little under two weeks before their Week 1 matchup in Cleveland, the Bengals signed veteran guard Dalton Risner.
Risner had a rough opening to the season, what with being called up from the couch at a moment's notice and not even expected to start until after starter and fellow free agent signing Lucas Patrick suffered a calf injury.. After that shaky start, the 7th-year offensive lineman has improved with each passing week and has arguably been the best guard of the Joe Burrow era. He was an improvement in what was the weakest position on offense the season prior, the interior O-Line.
If you exclude his start in Week 2 coming right off the street, Dalton Risner has been a top 15 guard in the NFL as a full-time starter (Weeks 6-7, 12-16), per PFF.
— Gridiron Grading (@GridironGrading) December 22, 2025
If we say it once, we’ll say it 100 times…
Risner has earned a 2-3 year extension as a locked in starter. https://t.co/rzVMtrTAke
Risner will be 31 next year, but the Bengals shouldn't even blink at the thought of extending him. He's been great, he'll be cheap, and age is less of a factor for offensive line than it is for most other positions. It'd be a major mistake by the front office to let him walk after the season he's had protecting Burrow/Browning/Flacco.
EDGE Myles Murphy
To preface, unlike Davis and Risner, Murphy still has another year (and potentially two, depending on whether they pick up his fifth-year option or not) on his contract and would almost certainly be in Cincinnati next season regardless of how he played. However, with how the conversation around him has shifted the last few weeks, he deserves a spot in this article.
Out of everyone on the team, 2023 first-round pick Myles Murphy had the most to prove. After his first two seasons saw minimal production and limited snaps, Murphy was expected to take on a bigger role following the change in defensive coordinators. Lou Anarumo leaned far more on having veterans on the field, while Al Golden was expected to give younger players a look and give them a chance to develop with on-field reps.
While Golden's first (and, from the sounds of it, not last) season as defensive coordinator for the Bengals has been an unmitigated disaster for the most part, one positive is that Murphy has gotten to see the field-- and he's finally started to give fans hope for his future with the team.
Read More: Wish list for Bengals stars on different teams could foreshadow future
The conversation during the offseason and even earlier on this season was not if Myles Murphy was a bust; the conversation was that he is a bust. To be fair, it's definitely troubling to see your first-round pass rusher muster just three sacks in the first two years of his career. Fortunately, the Clemson product has come alive in his third season, especially down the stretch.
Since the bye week, Murphy has three sacks, seven QB hits, and has become a much better run defender. On the season, he has amassed 36 pressures according to PFF, a new career-high. While the Bengals should still look to add to the defensive end room with the looming departure of Trey Hendrickson and potentially Joseph Ossai as well, Murphy has shown enough to at least inspire hope that he can be an impactful pass rusher for Cincinnati.
Hopefully, with how these three Bengals have performed, they've made the headache of an offseason on the horizon at least somewhat less complicated.