Who doesn’t love a good position battle? While some of Cincinnati’s starting spots for next season are set in some, others are up for grabs and will be determined over the offseason. Here’s a look at three intiriguing potential position battles for the Bengals heading into the 2024 NFL season.
Wide receiver No. 3
Barring a Tee Higgins trade, we already know who Cincinnati’s top two receivers will be in 2024 — Ja’Marr Chase and Higgins. There’s no question about that. But, there could be some solid competition for the third starting spot following the departure of Tyler Boyd in free agency.
Trenton Irwin started seven games for the Bengals over the past two seasons, and he’ll be competing for the spot. The team also selected Jermaine Burton in the third round of the draft, and there are high hopes for him. Andrei Iosivas and Charlie Jones will be in the mix as well.
Safety
The competition for the two starting safety spots in Cincinnati should be interesting. The team added two-starting caliber safeties in free agency in Geno Stone and Vonn Bell, who previously played for the Bengals. Stone brings some serious playmaking ability to Cincinnati’s secondary, as he led the AFC with seven interceptions last season.
There’s also second-year safety Jordan Battle, who started seven games for the Bengals last season, and the team is very high on him. He was recently listed as the team’s breakout candidate for the 2024 season. As a rookie last season, Battle played in all 17 games for Cincinnati. He tallied 71 total tackles, five passes defended and one interception. It seems like Battle is the future of the safety position in Cincinnati, but he’ll have to win the job first.
Offensive tackle
The Browns — Trent and Orlando — are the projected starters for the Bengals when it comes to the offensive tackle spots, but the team also just drafted Armarius Mims in the first round of the ’24 draft. Perhaps he could steal a starting spot. The Bengals are obviously very high on him after using their sole first round pick to bring him to Cincinnati.
Trent Brown, specifically, was recently listed by Bleacher Report as a player whose job could be in jeopardy after the 2024 NFL Draft. He’s clearly not a long-term solution for the Bengals since they only signed him to a one-year deal this offseason. Meanwhile, Mims is the future of the position. So, it’s really a matter of when, not if, Mims will secure a starting spot.
