2023 Bengals starting lineup projected by Pro Football Focus

Thoughts?

With OTAs underway, it won’t be long until Cincinnati Bengals football is back in our lives.

In the meantime, the guys at Pro Football Focus did a roster breakdown of all 32 teams, including projections for each team’s starting lineup.

Here is what PFF projected for Cincinnati (they had 12 starters on offense and defense) along with their grades from 2022.

OFFENSE

• QB Joe Burrow (92.0)
• RB Joe Mixon (80.8)
• WR Ja’Marr Chase (83.9)
• WR Tee Higgins (78.4)
• WR Tyler Boyd (70.2)
• TE Irv Smith Jr (56.4)
• TE Drew Sample (52.3)
• LT Orlando Brown Jr (75.4)
• LG Cordell Volson (53.7)
• C Ted Karras (65.1)
• RG Alex Cappa (67.6)
• RT Jonah Williams (61.0)

DEFENSE

• DI D.J. Reader (85.2)
• DI B.J. Hill (68.7)
• Edge Trey Hendrickson (82.9)
• Edge Sam Hubbard (69.9)
• Edge Myles Murphy (79.0*)
• LB Germaine Pratt (78.4)
• LB Logan Wilson (74.6)
• CB Chidobe Awuzie (69.9)
• CB Mike Hilton (67.1)
• CB Cam Taylor-Britt (64.5)
• S Daxton Hill (56.0)
• S Nick Scott (54.2)

No real surprises here. Jonah Williams is widely expected to win the right tackle spot as long as he remains on the roster following his trade request earlier this offseason.

2022 first-round pick Dax Hill and newly-signed veteran Nick Scott are set to be the starting safeties, though we shouldn’t sleep on third-round pick Jordan Battle potentially getting into the mix there.

As long as Joe Mixon is on the roster, he’ll be the starter, though fifth-round rookie Chase Brown could take more and more snaps away from the vet as the season wears on.

Irv Smith Jr. and Drew Sample take the top two tight end spots pretty much by default with Devin Asiasi being the only other realistic contender.

Finally, they have Myles Murphy as the No. 3 edge rusher, which is practically a starter in today’s NFL, given how much teams throw the ball these days.

Be sure to check out the full article at Pro Football Focus for more insight into the 2023 Bengals.