Last year, the Cincinnati Bengals had the top passing offense in the NFL thanks to an MVP-worthy season from Joe Burrow and a Triple Crown from Ja’Marr Chase. Of course, how much of that is due to the fact that the defense was in the bottom third in everything, and Burrow had no choice but to put the team on his back? While it could be argued (and argued well) that the Bengals did not massively upgrade the guard deficiencies, the offense is mostly the same heading into 2025.
On one hand, returning all of the major players on the league’s top offense is great. Burrow, Chase, Tee Higgins, Chase Brown, Mike Gesicki, and the three good offensive linemen from last year return. On the other hand, the league’s defenses spent all offseason preparing to thwart their efforts. Sure, locking down the top one-two punch in the NFL is easier said than done, but it would be ignorant to think the Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, and the rest of the elite teams on the schedule haven’t taken strides to slow them down.
They are set to improve the guard situation, at least marginally (if Cody Ford is the starting right guard, we reserve the right to rescind such a statement), and raised the floor in the running back room with Samaje Perine and Tahj Brooks. The question remains, will Gesicki be the de facto WR3, or will one of the Bengals’ two uber-athletic youngsters finally step up?
Who Steps Up, Iosivas or Burton?
Outplaying Draft Capital
To this point, the fact that Andrei Iosivas is still a relevant member of the team is impressive. Getting to year three as a sixth-round pick from Princeton is objectively incredible. The best part is that he’s not a pity selection or a back-of-the-roster guy with a cult following like Auden Tate was or Matt Lee currently is. Iosivas is a borderline stash on deep dynasty rosters, if fantasy football is your thing.
To this point, “Yoshi” has been a surprisingly reliable option for Burrow. As a rookie in 2023, Iosivas garnered 25 targets and turned 15 receptions for 116 yards and four touchdowns. He closed out the year with a two-touchdown effort in a Week 18 win.
Joe Burrow with his best throw of the day and maybe the offseason… he finds Andrei Iosivas in the middle of the field with three defenders around him. Elite placement. pic.twitter.com/J1t1I8QQeI
— James Rapien (@JamesRapien) June 11, 2025
Then, he took a massive step forward last year. Iosivas appeared in all 17 games and even started eight times. Even more impressively, he did so with Chase playing all 17 and Higgins suiting up for 12. Iosivas finished with the fifth most targets behind Chase, Higgins, Gesicki, and Brown. He turned 61 targets into 36 receptions for 479 yards and six touchdowns.
Already, Iosivas has the second-most touchdowns of any Bengal selected in the sixth round or later (he has a way to go before catching T.J. Houshmandzadeh). He’s fifth in that crowd in yards.
He hasn’t clocked a 100-yard game yet, but he has the respect of his teammates. Higgins expects a big year from the third-year, saying, “Y’all see him. He got bigger. He got stronger. And he got faster. He’s twitchier, and he knows everything right now. It’s great to see.”
On Thin Ice
The Bengals took a risk in the 2024 NFL Draft. In the third round, they took a ridiculously talented receiver with quite a bit of off-the-field baggage. There were reports that Jermaine Burton was completely off some teams’ boards, but the Bengals, as usual, looked past the red flags. In the preseason, Burton looked to be the real deal. Then, the drama began.
On the field, Burton appeared in 14 games and logged just 131 snaps. With those snaps, Burrow looked his way 14 times, where Burton amassed 107 yards off just four receptions.
Off the field, it wasn’t great. There were reports that Burton was struggling to grasp the playbook and, on Thursday Night Football, Al Michaels remarked that he may have been falling asleep in meetings. Additionally, he managed to get evicted from his apartments twice in two months.
Jermaine Burton has spent all of spring and summer stacking days at this point. The arrow is pointing upward. This is a lovely development.
— Willie Lutz (@willie_lutz) July 25, 2025
However, he has cleaned up his act for 2025 after being called out by the front office. Burrow was asked about Burton, and he said on May 20, “[He] has taken it very seriously. He’s matured, it seems like. That’s exciting to see. Based on the conversations that we have had, he’s in a good spot mentally and physically. And he’s been working hard, which is exciting to see.”
This training camp, he has shown that the work has paid off. He’s working as a kick returner and has been providing Bengals Twitter with plenty of highlights to generate hype.
Who Steps Up?
In terms of explosivity, Burton clears Iosivas. They can both shake defenders and find the soft spots in the zone, but Burton has another gear that Iosivas has yet to show.
However, Iosivas has earned the respect of Burrow with his head-down, nose-to-the-grindstone mentality. Raw talent is not the end-all, be-all in the NFL, obviously; look at the RAS catalogue and how many 10.00s flamed out.
As of now, it looks like Iosivas is the favorite to be WR3. Burton should not be counted out. He has a massively uphill climb, as Sports Illustrated‘s Taylor Cornell outlined.
Someone has to step up. If the Bengals can get a fourth pass catcher over the 500-yard mark, it could further elevate what should be the NFL’s top passing offense yet again.
Main Image: Kareem Elgazzar-Imagn Images
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