It’s been a feel-good offseason for the Cincinnati Bengals.
But they’ll have to prove on the field that they’ve fixed their o-line and defense before they earn the respect of league executives.
The Athletic ran a poll of six execs, and they ranked all 16 AFC teams.
The Bengals finished seventh, with some having them as high as second in the division and another placing them 10th.
As the author, Mike Sando, wrote, the question we need to ask is: “Can vibes block T.J. Watt?”
Here’s what the executive who
had the Bengals eighth had to say:
For me, it was the O-line that held me back… You love the skill-position talent, and the defense should take a leap, but I’m not sure they have the scheme to be elite defensively. Offensively, can they run it with Chase Brown? Do they even want to run it? Can they protect? This ain’t fantasy football.
Meanwhile, the exec who has Cincinnati as the tenth best team in the AFC said, “Even with Burrow back, they have to make a huge jump defensively.”
Considering Cincinnati’s recent history, those are fair concerns.
We explained why we feel confident both will be solid this year in our 2026-27 season preview.
And in case you were curious, the top teams in the AFC, according to these execs, were the Buffalo Bills (first), the Denver Broncos (second), the Houston Texans (third), the New England Patriots (fourth), the Baltimore Ravens (fifth), and the Kansas City Chiefs (sixth).
