ESPN’s Bill Barnwell: Bengals Offensive Weapons ‘Comfortably’ Best in NFL

CINCINNATI — ESPN’s Bill Barnwell unveiled his annual NFL offensive weapon rankings, and Cincinnati “comfortably” came in first place. Cincinnati ranked 23rd on this list in 2020—and 13th last year—now there is no doubt which offense has the horses to overpower every team in the league.

Ja’Marr Chase is one of the obvious reasons why the Bengals have an elite group of weapons.

“‘I’m always a little skeptical about the impact of rookies when I make these rankings,’ I said to start last year’s Bengals blurb, ‘but it’s not hard to be more optimistic about Ja’Marr Chase than the vast majority of other first-year wideouts.’ Well, I undersold things,” Barnwell admitted. “Chase was sensational during an instant classic of a rookie campaign, as a fling with the drops in training camp gave way to a 1,455-yard catch, 13-touchdown season. He averaged 11.5 yards per target, second in the league behind Samuel. Yes, he dropped eight passes. When you do what he does with his other 119 targets, you can drop a pass every other week.”