The Bengals offense has been one of the best in the NFL over the past five years. When Joe Burrow is healthy, they are a high-yardage, pass-first offense, who make the most of receiving talent with Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
However, the running game has been a recent weakness for Cincinnati. If Burrow is to succeed to his best, the offense needs to prevent opposing defenses from predicting pass plays every down, by increasing their percentage of rushing plays.
The potential is there for Chase Brown to shine in 2026
Most good offenses in the NFL would expect to have a running back who can surpass 1,000 yards in rushing over the course of the season. Last year, Chase Brown only just achieved that feat for the Bengals, totaling 1,019 yards. However, before that, the Bengals' last 1,000-yard rusher was Joe Mixon in 2023.
It's also fair to say that the Bengals weren't great at running the ball last year, Brown just had the majority of the volume; That's not me criticising him, our run game never really got going. But, despite a less-than-average rushing offense, Brown proved last season that he can be a top running back in the NFL.
Joe Burrow predicts more rushing production
It isn't just the fans who want more from the Bengals running game. In a recent press conference, quarterback Burrow said that he wanted to see more explosive plays from the rushing offense, something that the team has been working on, via SleeperBengals on X:
Joe Burrow on making the offense more explosive:
— SleeperBengals (@SleeperBengals) June 17, 2026
"We're trying to find ways to be explosive in the run game, and then try and find some things off of that, that can get us some easy explosives."
"But I'm always ready to drop back 65 times and make it work, too." pic.twitter.com/ynegrXSyMO
So, what could this mean for Brown. He has been an explosive-type back ever since coming into the league, but we've not seen enough lung-busting runs for six from the 26-year-old yet. However, with a solid offensive line in front of him, and teams hopefully expecting a pass-heavy offense, it could be Brown that takes the biggest leap for the Bengals this year.
Considering his 1000+ yard season last year, when the team had a lackluster rushing attack, and for the majority of the season, no Joe Burrow, it was quite an impressive feat
If the team is working hard to create more and more explosive plays in the run game, and Burrow is healthy, Brown could produce legitimate RB1 numbers in the NFL this season, and don't even get me started on his potential touchdown count.
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