2015 Review
The Bengals managed to have one of the highest-scoring offenses in the NFL last season, despite numerous injuries. Andy Dalton was in the midst of a career best season before a fractured thumb ended his season and it slowed down the Bengals' offense in December. The Bengals also dealt with some letdowns as Jeremy Hill looked like an inferior running back to what the team saw from him as a rookie, fortunately Giovani Bernard picked up some of the slack.
But Cincinnati had to be pleased with its weapons in the passing game as Tyler Eifert delivered the breakthrough year with 13 receiving touchdowns, while A.J. Green turned in another strong fantasy season as a top-10 fantasy wide receiver. In the end, Cincinnati finished seventh in the NFL for average points per game (26.2) and if not for Dalton's injury, could have cracked the top five.
Quarterback: Andy Dalton
Dalton has always been a bit of the red-headed stepchild among fantasy quarterbacks, pun intended. Some of it had been deserved, but the weapons around him always existed to be a fantasy difference maker. In 2016, fantasy owners saw all of it come together as he entered the second week of December as one of the best fantasy quarterbacks with 25 passing touchdowns, over 3,200 passing yards and three rushing touchdowns. He was also very consistent, the sixth-most consistent fantasy quarterback last year, before his season-ending injury.
Looking toward the 2016 season, Dalton's supporting cast will be quite different. While his top two targets in Green and Eifert are back for the 2016 season, Cincinnati's depth at wide receiver has taken a dramatic hit. Marvin Jones, who had 816 receiving yards and four touchdowns last season, and Mohamed Sanu, 394 receiving yards, both left in free agency. In addition, Eifert could miss several games to start the season as he recovers from ankle surgery.
The passing game will run through Green this season and some through Eifert when he returns, which delivers some of a blow to Dalton's value as he has fewer chances to spread the ball around. He still offers top-15 quarterback value with the opportunity to put up some top-five weeks when great matchups present themselves, but we likely won't see the rare stroke of fantasy greatness he delivered last season.
Running Back: Giovani Bernard, Jeremy Hill
Depending on the fantasy league you are in, whether it's standard-scoring or points per reception (PPR), Bernard is either a favorite or someone often looked away from. On its own, 730 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns do little for fantasy owners, but Bernard backed it up with 472 rushing yards to at least surpass 1,100 total yards last season. Bernard certainly wasn't a difference maker in standard-scoring, but his 49 receptions in addition to his total yardage made him a quality RB2 in deep PPR leagues.
Looking toward the 2016 season, Bernard should see an increase in targets with the change in Cincinnati's weaponry. He could likely become Dalton's second target when Green is covered, especially early in the season. His ability to rack up receptions, in addition to his big play ability and chance to rack up some yards, offers up the chance for him to be a top-25 PPR running back this season.
Hill's fantastic rookie season built up a lot of hype as he entered the 2016 season, but that hype hit a brick wall. Hill's average yards per carry dropped from 5.1 as a rookie to 3.6 yards per carry in his second season. He only managed to rush for 794 yards on 223 carries, but there was one saving grace. Hill scored 11 touchdowns last season as he worked as the Bengals' goal-line back, but the touchdowns were sporadic. In 16 games, he found the end zone in just six games but in those six games he had two-plus touchdowns in four of them.
Looking ahead to the 2016 season, Hill is a wild card for multiple reasons. Not only because of the inconsistency with his trips to the end zone, but because we still don't know whether we'll see the stellar rookie running back or the more of a plodding back we saw last season. Hill has top-15 RB upside, but he could also wind up outside the top-25.
Wide Receiver: A.J. Green, Brandon LaFell
While Green has been a fantasy stud since he came to the league, he could reach new heights in 2016. Last year, Green was a highly productive top-10 fantasy receiver who had to share some targets on a talented offense. Now he is one of the few go-to guys for Dalton and instead of seeing around 132 targets like he did in 2015, Green could see 180-plus targets this season.
Think about that for a moment, a player who posted 86 receptions, 1,297 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns last season could see 40-50 more targets this season. If he even caught 40 percent of those targets, he could surpass 100 receptions, 1,400 yards and 12 touchdowns this season. Green is poised for his best season yet and could finish amongst the three best fantasy receivers this season.
With the departure of Jones and Sanu, the Bengals brought in LaFell in hopes of getting better results than the New England Patriots did in 2015. Reports from training camp have already indicated LaFell has worked as the Bengals No.2 receiver opposite of Green. While he has issues with drops, LaFell has shown in the past he is very capable of putting up fantasy production, best demonstrated by 2014 when he had 953 receiving yards and seven touchdowns.
LaFell offers the upside to be a strong WR3 this year as long as he remains healthy and drops don't become too much of a problem. Opposing teams will put double coverage on Green from the first snap of Week 1 to the end of the season, which will open the door for LaFell to make things happen and see more than enough targets to be a fantasy contributor this season, but there will be ups and downs.
Tight End: Tyler Eifert
The breakout season everyone waited for came in 2015, Eifert turned in a 13-touchdown season. He was the go-to in the red zone for the Bengals and he did it all in just 13 games, establishing himself as a top-four tight end in fantasy. The breakthrough season punched his ticket to the Pro Bowl, where Eifert suffered an ankle injury that seemed minor at the time. But as the weeks and months went on, the pain didn't go away and Eifert received surgery on his ankle.
Now reports indicate Eifert will miss the first several weeks of the season, as Bengals.com reporter Geoff Hobson reported that Eifert won't be back until "early in the regular season". If Eifert misses four games, that means fantasy owners won't see how he plays on his ankle until live game actions that count, which raises some risk in fantasy. It's also worth noting that while Eifert had 13 touchdowns last season, he only had 615 yards. He should see more targets in 2016, but if he's limited to 12 games, he may only be more of a top-six tight end this season.