Over the past few years, the Cincinnati Bengals have made a ton of money in the NFL Draft. While selecting players like Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase certainly helps, other players who have performed well outside of the first round include Tee Higgins, Jessie Bates, Germaine Pratt, and Logan Wilson. In the NFL Draft of 2024, they will also have the opportunity to discover some similar jewels.
The Bengals should find some immediate impact players later in the draft who can help them make another Super Bowl run if this draft turns out to be deep. Oregon’s Bucky Irving and Ohio State’s Cade Stover both appear like players who could help the Bengals right away and could be selected on the second or third round of the draft.
For a few reasons, Bucky Irving appears to be a perfect fit with the Bengals. Irving is first and foremost a superb and adaptable player. Despite his small stature of 5 feet 10 inches and 195 pounds, tackling him is a nightmare. In 2023, he forced 51 missed tackles, ranking among the highest in the nation.
Irving is an excellent deep threat as a receiver as well. In his two seasons at Eugene, he hauled in 712 yards from 87 receptions, five of which were for touchdowns. Irving wasn’t used extensively down the field, but his sure hands and dynamism after the catch made him a real threat in the passing attack.
A player like this would be very helpful to the Bengals in relieving some of Joe Burrow’s workload. Although Joe Mixon has been a good running back throughout his career—his 1.4 yards per route run last season placed him 16th among running backs—he is beginning to lose his explosiveness as a runner. Mixon’s true yards per carry averaged just 3.9 (carries longer than 10 yards are not included in this metric). He also produced 3.2 yards per touch and had a 3.1% breakaway run rate. In every one of these statistics that attempt to remove context and focus primarily on a running back’s actual performance, Mixon came in 35th place or lower among running backs.
Chase Brown was selected by the Bengals in the previous draft, and he had his moments. However, he was far from the receiver that Irving was in college, averaging just 3.8 true yards per carry. The Bengals have a lot of room to grow at running back in 2024. They seem to be the ideal match for Bucky Irving and their offensive style.
