Closing thoughts on every Bengals rookie from 2023
Eight players, 3,135 snaps, and several career milestones later, the Cincinnati Bengals' 2023 NFL Draft class is on to 2024.The Bengals wanted more high-end talent on defense, and supplemented those picks with explosive offensive playmakers later on. Once they began relying on the rookies more often, the results started to show up. The future looks bright […]
Eight players, 3,135 snaps, and several career milestones later, the Cincinnati Bengals' 2023 NFL Draft class is on to 2024.
The Bengals wanted more high-end talent on defense, and supplemented those picks with explosive offensive playmakers later on. Once they began relying on the rookies more often, the results started to show up.
The future looks bright for the youngest players in Cincinnati. Here's a rundown on how all eight draft picks performed this season.
Myles Murphy, first round pick
2023 role: Reserve edge defender
Total snaps: 393 (305 on defense)
If you split the 2023 season into thirds, which is how we segmented these rookie reports, you'd have a clear picture of Murphy's progression. The 28th overall pick started slow in the first six weeks, then gathered some momentum in the middle of the year before closing things out as a competent rotational pass rusher. Only Will Anderson had a higher pass rush grade among rookie edge defenders, and only Anderson and BJ Ojulari had higher pass rush win rates.
15 pressures and three sacks don't look like much, but that production was only possible due to the strides Murphy made with increased playing time. He ended up fourth in snaps among edges for Cincinnati, and you could make the argument he finished the year as the third guy behind Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard.
Murphy just turned 22 and showed to be more than just a project as a rookie. The floor of his career has indeed been raised closer to where his ceiling always was.
DJ Turner II, second round pick
2023 role: Starting cornerback
Total snaps: 913 (829 on defense)
I can't help but remember Bengals fans having discussions about the team drafting a cornerback early. Legitimate concerns were had regarding if the hypothetical corner would even play that much as a rookie. How does the fifth-most snaps on defense sound? No first-year player came close to Turner in terms of playing time as he never truly relinquished his job to veteran Chidobe Awuzie. That doesn't mean it was all smooth sailing, though.
The final six weeks of the season were not the best Turner had to offer. Quarterbacks began targeting him more in coverage and combined for a passer rating of 135.9. Turner wasn't always caught out of position, but his lack of length got the best of him too many times. There were some more egregious reps too—blame that on inexperience.
The rookie wall hit Turner hard, but let's not forget the hype he generated early on in the season. Cincinnati will be expecting that version throughout 2024 before the longevity of Turner comes into question.
Jordan Battle, third round pick
2023 role: Starting safety
Total snaps: 715 (525 on defense)
Currently, the Bengals have problems at the safety position. Instead of solving it with external options, they'll look for Dax Hill and Battle to grow together in 2024. Battle ultimately became the best of the two this season despite not earning a starting role until over halfway into the year.
Battle's impact was felt in the tackling department once he stayed on the field for good. He missed just two in the first 15 weeks before missing four in the final three. PFF still graded him out as the best rookie safety in that category as well as defending the run, which factored into his overall grade of 82.5. Only Ronnie Hickman Jr. graded higher for rookie safeties.
A full season of Battle playing with Hill should lead to better play in the Bengals' secondary. It unfortunately took a rocky 2023 to reach this point of clarity.
Charlie Jones, fourth round pick
2023 role: Punt returner, reserve slot receiver
Total snaps: 96 (44 on offense)
The earliest pick the Bengals spent on offense showed the least amount of promise in 2023. Jones dealt with a shoulder injury all season and missed over a month with a thumb injury. He never really found a stable role in the receiving corps due to his lack of practicing and such. We're talking about someone who had 15 receiving yards entering the last week of the season here.
Jones ended up with 64 yards thanks to a season-high three receptions for 49 yards in the season finale against the Cleveland Browns' second-string defense. It was a better-late-than-never reminder that the 25-year old does have some receiving skills when given chances, but his work returning punts for 10.8 yards a pop is how his rookie season will be remembered the most.
No one really believes Jones did enough to fully take over Tyler Boyd's spot in the slot next season, and that shouldn't be the case anyways. Jones was more of a boundary receiver in college, and the Bengals offense is better off not pigeonholing its receivers into specific roles. Jones needs to do much more next year, otherwise he'll enter his late 20s without proving much of anything.
Chase Brown, fifth round pick
2023 role: Reserve running back
Total snaps: 253 (93 on offense)
The future of the Bengals' run game may not start with Brown, but he's absolutely part of the equation. We didn't even need to see 100 snaps to realize it. Brown finally got his chance to display his talents in the final third of the season starting with breakout games against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Indianapolis Colts, each one showcasing his breakaway ability with the ball in his hands.
Let's run through the checklist. Yards after contact? 3.27 per attempt. Missed tackles forced? Eight on just 44 carries. Explosive plays? Six on 58 touches. Brown flashed every trait the Bengals have desperately needed at the running back position. Aside from the other Chase in the offense, Ja'Marr Chase, he looked like the most athletic player on the field in stripes.
Brown didn't get more than 10 carries in a game until the last week of the season when he was called on 11 times. He may not become the lead back next year, but with Joe Mixon's future up in the air once again, the fair assumption is Brown only becomes more involved. The offense will become better for it.
Andrei Iosivas, sixth round pick
2023 role: Reserve wide receiver
Total snaps: 483 (266 on offense)
Similar to Brown, the sample size wasn't huge for the Ivy League track star, but it didn't need to be. Iosivas kept on delivering when the ball came his way, specifically in the end zone. Four touchdowns on just 152 routes ran is pretty damn efficient, especially for a rookie drafted late. Puka Nacua, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Tyreek Hill, and Stefon Diggs were all Day 3 draft picks who scored at least four touchdowns as rookies.
The red zone was adventurous for Iosivas, whose four touchdowns came in just two separate games. He also showed proficiency in handling the sideline and in-breaking routes between the 20s. Becoming a factor on all areas of the field is integral in taking on a larger role, which is entirely possible with Boyd, Tee Higgins, and Trenton Irwin all entering free agency.
Iosivas may not become a starter next year or the year after that; sixth round picks almost never get that chance anyways. He doesn't need to run 600+ routes a year to provide value. If he can build off what he did as a rookie and become a better version of Irwin, that's a win for the Bengals.
Brad Robbins, sixth round pick
2023 role: Punter, holder
Total snaps: 148
It took a while, but we may've arrived at the true whiff of the draft. Robbins was arguably the NFL's worst punter in 2023, producing the lowest EPA value out of any in the league. His net average of 40.8 yards was the eighth-worst in the league, and his average hang time of 4.24 seconds was the sixth-worst.
The only upside to Robbins' consistently short punts were consistently short returns or no returns at all, be it from fair catches or boots that went out of bounds too early. He simply wasn't the same punter he showed to be in college.
As a late sixth-round pick, Robbins doesn't get to make it through this offseason without competition. He'll need to show massive improvement to stick around.
DJ Ivey, seventh round pick
2023 role: Reserve cornerback
Total snaps: 134 (21 on defense)
The only time Ivey played more than three snaps in a game at cornerback, he looked pretty damn good. He put together an impressive 10 snaps in coverage against the Colts, the last time he took the field on defense. He suffered a season-ending ACL tear injury a week later against the Minnesota Vikings.
Every knee injury is different, but it would be surprising to see Ivey participating in training camp and preseason action. He'll likely start off on the NFI list and may return to the active roster sometime during the regular season.
Should the Bengals make coaching changes?
A few changes may be beneficial.
