Cincy Jungle
Help may be on the horizon.
The Cincinnati Bengals entered the 2024 season with high aspirations. Anything short of the Super Bowl would be a disappointment.
Well, here we are, disappointed. To say the least.
And the biggest reason for that disappointment was an underachieving defense that couldn’t stop anyone when it mattered most. The Bengals finished ranked 21st in pass defense, 19th in rush defense, and 23rd in third-down defense. They were 25th in scoring defense and 30th in red-zone defense.
While Cincinnati struggled on the back end, its biggest area of need comes along the defensive line. The Bengals ranked 25th in total sacks with 36. Trey Hendrickson accounted for 17.5 of those on his own.
During the first eight games of the season, Cincinnati allowed an average of 140 yards per game on the ground, including 170 yards in the season-opening loss to a New England Patriots team drafting in the top five of this year’s NFL Draft. Over the last nine games, that number fell to 111 yards per game, with a high of 156 in the week 13 win over the Cowboys.
Fortunately for the Bengals, there is plenty of talent available through free agency along the defensive line. Of course, don’t expect Cincinnati to make a run at any of the top available talent. But that doesn’t mean it cannot find some good ones in the middle and lower tiers.
Former Detroit Lions defensive lineman Levi Onwuzurike, at 6-3 and 304 pounds, can not only help plug the middle for the Bengals but has shown himself to be the interior pass rusher that every team covets. His 12.5% pass-rush win rate ranked among the top 15 at his position in the league.
Early projections have Onwuzurike signing a contract that pays him in the range of $8-10 million annually.
There are a couple of pretty good bargains out there, as well. Edge Derek Barnett’s best days may be behind him, but he still has a knack for making game-changing plays.
Barnett finished with five sacks and two fumbles returned for touchdowns on just 226 pass-rushing snaps for the Texans last year and can probably be had for a manageable deal that pays him around $5-8 million annually.
However, the Bengals got burned this past season in signing Sheldon Rankins from the Texans, who have a loaded defense that helped Rankins look better than his two-year, $24.5 million deal was worth, even when he was healthy. Will that make the Bengals weary of signing other Houston defenders?
Defensive lineman D.J. Jones is still one of the more disruptive run defenders in the NFL, and his 11.3% run-stop rate ranked third among interior defenders. He also finished with a career-high 70.6 pass-rushing grade via PFF.
His current value is around $7-9 million per year. At age 30, Jones is a bit long in the tooth, but he’d likely provide Cincinnati with a nice boost to the interior...
