Bengals need last year's training camp hero to have a bigger encore performance

When Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Mitchell Tinsley exploded onto the scene last year in training camp and the preseason, there was real excitement that the team was legitimately four-deep at the position.

Between the elite duo of Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, Andrei Iosivas being poised for another step up, and Tinsley's mini-breakout, Cincinnati was tracking to have as good of an overall receiving corps as any. However, Iosivas took a step back, and Tinsley didn't do nearly enough to seize the WR3 job.

Could Tinsley recapture Who Dey Nation's imagination with an even stronger camp and exhibition phase this time around?

WR Mitchell Tinsley is an important depth piece the Bengals must be able to count on

Mitchell Tinsley really was something to behold last preseason. He had five catches for 73 yards and two TDs against the Washington Commanders, including this high-point beauty in the back of the end zone:

Tinsley did make a sweet touchdown catch in Week 2's win over Jacksonville, but that also coincided with Joe Burrow's latest injury.

When Burrow was back in, he and Tinsley could not get on the same page. In fact, Tinsley struggled often when targeted in 2025.

Although he had two TD catches and had eight receptions for 116 yards overall, it took Tinsley 24 targets to reach those marks.

If Iosivas can't rebound this year, and Tinsley doesn't progress much, the Bengals will once again be at the mercy of Chase and Higgins staying healthy. The latter has missed 12 games in the last five seasons.

Cincinnati's awesome 32-14 Thanksgiving victory at Baltimore saw Tinsley haul in just two of nine targets from Burrow. He changed his gait on a deep throw down the sideline that would've hit him perfectly in stride if he'd just kept running.

Those little details and the glaring per-target inefficiency show that Tinsley wasn't ready to meet the moment last year. Iosivas gave him an unambiguous opening; he failed to capitalize.

Unless CFL star Dohnte Meyers mounts a surprising charge, the only real contenders for the WR3 gig are Iosivas, Tinsley, and rookie fourth-round pick Colbie Young.

The Bengals haven't gotten much out of rookies during the Burrow era. Wouldn't hold my breath on Young making some surprise impact; he managed only 37 catches for 507 yards in his last two college seasons at Georgia.

Tinsley has a year-long head start on Young as far as grasping the playbook. That Tinsley was able to make such an impression during his first season in Cincinnati speaks to the fact that he has room to improve. Couldn't have been easy adjusting to three different quarterbacks in Burrow, Joe Flacco, and Jake Browning, either.

So while the prior flashes of brilliance and another year in the system suggest Tinsley could be dependable going forward, it's more of a "seeing is believing" situation at this point.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow