3 offseason steps to cement Bengals offense as NFL's best in 2026

The Cincinnati Bengals have only finished inside the NFL's top 10 in total offense twice in Joe Burrow's injury-plagued six-year career.

Regardless of Burrow's availability, that's simply not good enough for how phenomenal of a quarterback Joe Brrr is. While the defense definitely needs upgrades entering Burrow's age-30 season, the offense as a whole has room for improvement.

Here are a few tenets for Cincinnati to live by this offseason to vault Burrow's Bengals to the league's No. 1 offensive unit.

Keep Dalton Risner as the starting right guard

Any offensive lineman will tell you how critical continuity is in the trenches. It's taken Burrow's entire career to find a fitting combination, but the Bengals found it during the 2025 season thanks in large part to Dalton Risner.

After being thrust into duty in Week 1, and bouncing between both guard spots, Risner settled in at right guard and was the best player at that spot Cincinnati has had in many years.

Feels like the no-brainer of all no-brainers to re-sign Risner. It will never make sense to me why he hasn't signed. It's already been too long. Letting Risner walk in free agency would be the stupidest thing the Bengals have done in quite some time. And that's saying something.

Risner staying in place alongside left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., rising second-year guard Dylan Fairchild, center Ted Karras, and behemoth right tackle Amarius Mims would give Burrow the best protection of his career. Plus, that quintet helped open up a lot of holes in the running game for Chase Brown.

A good rushing attack has been hard to come by during the Burrow era to say the least.

Draft a new No. 3 wide receiver within the first three rounds

This feels even more realistic now that the Bengals re-signed Jalen Davis. Trading down from the 10th overall pick to draft a safety/nickel type, or sticking and picking versatile Ohio State safety Caleb Downs suddenly has not quite as much appeal.

As for the passing attack, headlined by the likes of Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins as perimeter weapons, tight end Mike Gesicki is something of a de facto third wide receiver. However, that doesn't mean Cincinnati should skimp on the WR3 spot in 2026.

This is an all-hands-on-deck year. Maximizing the offense's ceiling is critical, especially if Duke Tobin can't improve the defense enough via free agency with veteran talent that can execute Al Golden's scheme. Unlike some of the Bengals' more youthful incumbents.

I'm all for a wide receiver in the first two days of this year's draft. Many of the best defensive prospects may be off the board by the 10th overall pick. Wouldn't be opposed to trading back, getting value on a player like Toledo safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, and scoring a pass-catching playmaker in the process.

Honestly, if the Bengals double-dipped on defense and drafted, say, USC slot dynamo Makai Lemon 10th overall, I'd be pretty ecstatic. Other targets I'm high on for this role include Indiana's Omar Cooper Jr. and UConn's Skyler Bell.

Spice up the backfield with splashy acquisition

Chase Brown is my guy. That said, he is entering a contract year, and furthermore, just look at the two best teams in the NFL from this past season. Also known as the teams from the NFC Championship Game.

The Los Angeles Rams had the league MVP in Matthew Stafford at quarterback. Still, they complemented him with an exceptional backfield duo in Kyren Williams and Blake Corum.

Did you see who the Super Bowl MVP just was? Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III. Unfortunately, his running mate Zach Charbonnet tore his ACL in the Divisional Round, but Walker had such fresh legs on Super Bowl Sunday because he was spelled all season by Charbonnet.

Ja feel? How about Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery? Shall I keep going?

I don't know why Zac Taylor and hte Bengals' personnel department are so adamant about running one workhose back into the freaking ground year after year. They seem to be trying to address that by bringing back Samaje Perine and drafting Tahj Brooks in the sixth round last year.

Both of those moves feel like half-measures. If Jeremiyah Love is on the board in the first round, I would not hesitate. This dude is drawing Jahmyr Gibbs comparisons. Is Gibbs any good?

Love's teammate, Jadarian Price, would be a fine pickup as well. So would Arkansas' Mike Washington Jr., Nebraska's Emmett Johnson, and even UTSA's Robert Henry Jr. to name some.

I doubt the Bengals spend draft picks on running backs in consecutive years. I'd love to see a legit RB2 — all due respect to Samaje, love you — like Tyler Allgeier or Kenneth Gainwell enter the fray. Why those guys? Allow me to explain.

On Allgeier's account, he was a 1,000-yard rusher as a rookie before Bijan Robinson came to town. He has 61 receptions for a healthy 8.5 yards per catch. Oh, and he ranked second in PFF's pass blocking grades last season among tailbacks. A much better chip/checkdown release option than, you know Drew Sample.

PS, quick aside, do you ever hear anyone complaining about the Falcons drafting Bijan right on the heels of Allgeier's stellar rookie campaign? No? Didn't think so. Jeremiyah Love is that caliber of prospect. A fully defensible pick despite Chase Brown's status as the Bengals' clear RB1. But I digress. We're on to Kenny G.

Nabbing Gainwell from the Steelers would be so much fun. He averaged a career-best 4.7 yards per carry last season, had 73 receptions, eight total TDs, and was fourth in PFF's pass blocking grades.

You might've guessed this already, but Brown and Perine are dreadful in pass protection. So if I can't have Jeremiyah Love, give me Tyler Allgeier or Kenneth Gainwell! Lift this backfield to the next level, baby!