4 Bengals make the cut but are slighted in ESPN's top 100 NFL players predictions
It's an uphill battle for the Cincinnati Bengals' best players to get the respect they deserve. Part of that is the perception of the organization and the front office's frequent self-inflicted wounds to their reputation. I suppose missing the playoffs the last two seasons doesn't help, either.
But apparently the fact that Joe Burrow made it through his first normal training camp ahead of his sixth NFL season isn't enough to believe he'll be ahead of any of his elite quarterbacking contemporaries in 2025. According to ESPN's forecast of the top 100 players for the upcoming NFL season, at least.
Burrow's ranking isn't the only one with which I have a figurative bone to pick. Three other Bengals made the top 100. I just think they're tremendously underrated. Allow me to explain and see if you concur.
Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase crack top 10 of ESPN's projected top 100 NFL players of 2025
Top 10 ain't bad. Come on, though. All Chase did in 2024 was win the wide receiver Triple Crown and still only checked in at No. 8. That's right. Behind his ex-LSU teammate Justin Jefferson (seventh). Not that JJ isn't elite. The issue is, Chase is better in almost every conceivable way. I'd give Jefferson a slight edge in route-running. Literally anything else? Nah.
Burrow led the NFL in passing yards and passing TDs behind a bad offensive line, with a poor defense "complementing" him, and is as healthy as he's ever been coming out of training camp. Patrick Mahomes was No. 1 on this lacking-imagination list, with Josh Allen right behind him in second, and Lamar Jackson in fourth. Joe Brrr was fifth.
ESPN projects absurd statistical decline for Joe Burrow
Look at the projected stats the four-letter network's digital team somehow galaxy-brained into actual copy: 4,647 yards, 34 TDs, 12 INTs, plus 50 carries for 199 rushing yards. Do they not know Burrow had 4,918 yards through the air, 43 TDs to 9 INTs?
Why such a massive decline, with a full offseason of reps alongside Chase and Tee Higgins (more on him soon)? Zero sense-making is transpiring here.
Burrow being the fourth fiddle out of four unquestionable elite QBs stings for me to see. Nobody has a greater degree of difficulty between that quartet than Burrow does. Maybe this season will finally wake people up to that reality. Until then, guess I'll keep stewing over it.
Trey Hendrickson, Tee Higgins continue to be massively underrated
Speaking of issues that grind my gears, Trey Hendrickson logging 17.5 sacks in consecutive seasons and being ranked 30th on this ESPN list is absurd to me. He's 30 years old, yes, but he wasn't a full-time starter till his fourth year in the NFL. Plenty of tread left on the tires.
I love me some Ben Baby, but his write-up on ESPN about Hendrickson being ranked 30th on the top 100 couldn't have missed the mark harder if he deliberately tried to make it so:
"Hendrickson had 55 impact rushes -- plays that created a sack, incompletion or interception, per ESPN Research. There are concerns that Hendrickson's production could slow down as he turns 31 in December. But his work ethic and limited reps early in his career with the Saints could help maintain his gaudy sack totals for at least another season."
Sad to see one of the foremost national authorities on Bengals coverage succumbing to the tired, misinformed narrative about Hendrickson's alleged rapid aging. At least Baby still predicted 13 sacks for the season.
Assuming that new contract is signed before Week 1 or thereabouts, Hendrickson will have fresh legs to get after the opposing QB at an elite level yet again. Other than the contract dispute, what on Earth justifies the most productive, best pure pass-rusher in the sport not named Myles Garrett being this far down the ESPN list?
Let's cut over to Tee Higgins now. I understand that injuries are part of his story. He's missed 10 games across the last two seasons. That said, during the 2024 campaign, Higgins averaged the sixth-most fantasy points per game amongst wide receivers, per StatMuse.
Burrow basically trusts Higgins with his life. The defense can be playing the "right" coverage or the "right" leverage, and Joe will toss it up to Tee anyway, fully believing he'll come down with it. More often than not, that's what Higgins does. His strong hands, contested catch ability, and underrated all-around arsenal make him a legit WR1-caliber weapon.
Higgins chose to be Chase's running mate when they both signed long-awaited contract extensions several months ago. He could've chased 100-catch seasons elsewhere, yet opted to stick around Cincinnati in pursuit of a Super Bowl. Most stars of Higgins' caliber don't do stuff like that nowadays.
And with all that, ESPN has the audacity to project Higgins as only the 86th-best player in 2025. I'm telling you right now, this man is due for a healthy, full, 17-game season. Provided he reaches that mark, he will blow past the 73 catches and 911 yards he hauled in last year. To be fair, ESPN has him going for 94 receptions, 1,154 yards and 9 TDs, down from 12 in '24.
Sorry but that yardage would've ranked top-10 in the NFL last season. Higgins already ranked 10th in yards per game, too. How is a prospective top-10-producing wideout — and I think those predicted 2025 stats for Higgins are his floor — just sneaking into the 80s on that ESPN list?
Another question that begs an answer that we'll never get. Suppose that's part of the fun of these offseason debates. Thank goodness the real season is here, so that Joe, Ja'Marr, Tee, and Trey can shut everyone up and blow past their prescribed ESPN forecasts.
Let's do ESPN's predictions versus my personal top-100 predictions for the Bengals' biggest stars to close this thang out.
- Joe Burrow — 1st / 5th
- Ja'Marr Chase — 4th / 8th
- Trey Hendrickson — 12th / 30th
- Tee Higgins — 35th / 86th
