Bengals Depth Chart Preview: Joe Burrow leads all quarterbacks in Cincinnati and most everywhere else
Every NFL team's chances at winning a Super Bowl starts with the quarterback position, which explains why every depth chart starts there as well. It's one of the few things the Cincinnati Bengals do better than most other teams around the league.Not much has changed for Cincinnati at QB this year, and that came as […]
Every NFL team's chances at winning a Super Bowl starts with the quarterback position, which explains why every depth chart starts there as well. It's one of the few things the Cincinnati Bengals do better than most other teams around the league.
Not much has changed for Cincinnati at QB this year, and that came as no surprise. It's the one position where the Bengals have virtually zero questions or concerns. If the rest of the team had that level of comfort and security, you'd be hard pressed to find a better roster.
The first installment of our Bengals depth chart preview series takes us under center, where a strong tandem is met with a mix of familiar and new depth.
Bengals Quarterback Depth Chart
- Joe Burrow
- Jake Browning
- Logan Woodside
- Payton Thorne
The starter: Joe Burrow. He is Cincinnati football. He might be the entirety of Cincinnati sports if it wasn't for Elly De La Cruz of the Cincinnati Reds. What else is there to say? He's a top five quarterback in the NFL by the vast majority of objective measures. The team should go wherever he leads them unless his defense is of a similar level of putrid like it was in 2024.
First off the bench: Jake Browning. Burrow's 2023 wrist injury paved the way for Browning to prove his worth as a backup. Once the offense was tweaked for his strengths, Browning became capable sustaining drives and putting points on the board with explosive plays. He's one of the best QBs on the bench around the league.
The rest: Woodside has been here before as a former pre-Zac Taylor Bengals draft pick who found himself on the offseason roster and practice squad last year. Thorne is the rookie of the bunch hoping to replicate that path for himself.
Who will make the 53-man roster: Burrow and Browning. Simple and plain. The path for another to join this duet is for injury concern to exist for either the starter or backup entering Week 1, and even that isn't a guarantee as evidenced by 2023 when Burrow dealt with a calf strain.
Practice squad prediction: Thorne. Kind of an upset here but I could see the Bengals wanting to prioritize keeping a young QB in the building over a veteran who could find work elsewhere.
‘Those are my guys’: Arch Manning’s exclusive list includes Bengals QB Joe Burrow
Much respect from a future NFL hopeful.
