Cincinnati Bengals training camp begins Wednesday morning on the Kettering Health Practice Fields behind Paycor Stadium. Like every NFL team, there are questions surrounding this team going into training camp and the 2025 season. (Yes, even the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles have questions going into training camp.)
Recently, Bengals play-by-play announcer Dan Hoard asked seven beat reporters who cover the Bengals five identical questions about the team ahead of training camp and
the upcoming season.
This was an episode of the Bengals Booth Podcast, where Dan had on Ben Baby (ESPN NFL Nation), Kelsey Conway (Cincinnati Enquirer), Paul Dehner Jr. (The Athletic), Jay Morrison (AllBengals.com and Sports Illustrated), Mike Petraglia (CLNS Media), James Rapien (Locked On Bengals) and Richard Skinner (Local 12) to hear their differing answers on these questions.
Now, I’m going to give you my answers to these questions. Again, there is no right or wrong answer to any of these questions. And all of us at Cincy Jungle want to hear from you and what your answers are, so feel free to comment on this post and spark some conversations.
1. What is your biggest question going into training camp?
My biggest question is how much different training camp and the preseason will actually look. Head coach Zac Taylor said Monday at the Bengals media luncheon that the plan is for the starters to play much more in the preseason, but how much more will they actually play?
There is a fine line between the starters playing more and risking injury in exhibition games. The last thing the Bengals need, on top of everything that they’re dealing with surrounding Trey Hendrickson and Shemar Stewart, is for a premier player to get hurt in an exhibition game.
Still, though, Joe Burrow has talked about how he wants to play in the preseason to get live game reps under his belt before the regular season starts. Considering the Bengals will have two new starters on their offensive line, Burrow needs those in-game reps to get comfortable playing with them.
Burrow and the Bengals need to be ready to fire out of the gates in Week 1, regardless of whether Trey Hendrickson and/or Shemar Stewart are here. One way to ensure that they are is to have the starters, including Joe Burrow, play in the preseason.
In addition, how much different will training camp look? For starters, practices are going to be in the morning this season as opposed to the afternoon in seasons past.
Through previous seasons, there’s been a perception that Zac Taylor had created a country club-like atmosphere at training camp, perhaps to ensure his team wasn’t completely beat up by the time the push for the Playoffs came. But other teams, like the Kansas City Chiefs, run extremely physical and demanding training camps and are healthy by the time December rolls around.
Again, the Bengals need to do enough these next six weeks to ensure they are ready to rock come Week 1. Another slow start, and heads will roll in this city amongst Bengals fans. I hope we don’t get to that point.
2. Who is the Bengals' breakout player in 2025?
Mike Gesicki. Even though he had a really good season in 2024, I think he can be even better in 2025. By the end of this season, I think he can be a top 10 tight end in the NFL.
The Bengals offense will be driven through Joe Burrow and the wide receiving tandem of Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. However, there is great value in having a tight end that can catch quick passes and rack up yardage down the middle of the field to make the defense have to cover all areas of the field.
Gesicki is coming off a season where he had 65 receptions for 665 yards and two touchdowns. Now that he has had a season in Dan Pitcher’s offense, he could have an even bigger 2025 season on a Bengals offense that should be among the NFL’s best once again.
3. The Bengals defense will be better if...
Because they can’t be any worse than last season, right? I mean, they have to be better this season. I say this because the liabilities on the defense last year, particularly up front, aren’t on the team this season.
For me, though, this defense will be better if Geno Stone and Jordan Battle can become a good, solid safety tandem. We saw flashes of them being good towards the end of the regular season, but can they do it for 17 games?
If they can, the Bengals' secondary can get back to at least closer to the level they were at in 2021 than they were in the last two seasons. Having a strong secondary that limits explosive plays can help the Bengals' young defensive line and revamped linebacking corps get to the quarterback.
This is what I believe will make the Bengals defense better in 2025, even though it just has to be better than it was last season because it can’t get any worse. If you need any proof, watch the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 13.
4. What is a hot take about training camp and/or the upcoming season?
Ja’Marr Chase will become the NFL’s first 2,000-yard wide receiver this season. Look at what he did last season, amid all the drama with his ongoing contract extension negotiations, and think about what he can do this season now with that contract extension and a looser, freer approach.
Furthermore, Chase’s Triple Crown season in 2024 didn’t even really take off until the season’s final eight games. From Week 10 on, Chase hauled in 72 receptions for 991 yards and 10 touchdowns. If you average those numbers out over a 17-game season, that means Chase was on pace for 153 receptions for 2,106 yards and 21 touchdowns. Those are ridiculous numbers, and that’s how good Chase was in 2024.
With Chase’s running mate, Tee Higgins, also earning a contract extension this offseason, Chase has him and Joe Burrow to help him get to a place no wide receiver has gone before. It still feels like Chase has another level he can reach, and that should be a scary realization for opposing defenses.
5. What will the Bengals' record be, and where will they finish in the AFC North?
13-4 and winning the AFC North, then making it to the AFC Championship. I firmly believe the Bengals will get back to the top of the AFC North this season because they were so close last season. If they had won the two games against Baltimore last season, they would have won the division. That’s how close they are.
The Bengals are due. The law of averages has to go in their favor this season. I actually think the Bengals were better in 2024 than they were in 2023. Although it may not have been immediately apparent at the time, the 2023 season marked a significant transition period for the Bengals.
In that season, the Bengals lost four games by double-digit points and three games by 20+ points. They went 1-5 in the AFC North. This past season, the Bengals lost just one game by double digits. They were closer to winning the division and going to the Playoffs in 2024 than they were in 2023, and they also went 3-3 in the AFC North.
In addition, no team since the AFC North’s inception in 2002 has won the division three seasons in a row. The Ravens have won the AFC North in each of the last two seasons, but going for a three-peat is hard in this division. Baltimore will be playing a first-place schedule for a second-straight season, on top of playing six AFC North games. That can catch up to them, and their opponents have had a full offseason to study Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry following their first season together.
I think the Ravens may have reached their peak last year. The Bengals? Their offense has another level it can reach, and their defense has to be better.
If Joe Burrow and the Bengals win the AFC North, they are a team that can go far in the Playoffs. They have done it before, and they can do it again this season.
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