Bengals RB Chris Evans is inactive for tonight's game vs. the Rams. He wasn't this week's injury report, so this looks like a healthy scratch. RBs Joe Mixon, Trayveon Williams, and Chase Brown are active for Cincinnati.
Bengals RB Chris Evans (hamstring) is inactive for today’s game vs. the Ravens. RB Chase Brown is active after being a healthy scratch in the opener. The rookie figures to be the No. 3 RB behind Joe Mixon and Trayveon Williams.
Bengals RB Chris Evans (hamstring) is questionable for Sunday’s game vs. the Ravens. He totaled just two carries and one target on seven snaps in Week 1, so there’s little fantasy impact here.
Bengals RB Chase Brown is a healthy scratch for today's opener vs. the Browns. Cincinnati is rolling with RBs Chris Evans and Trayveon Williams behind lead back Joe Mixon. Brown is only worth stashing in deep fantasy leagues.
Bengals RB Trayveon Williams (ankle) returned to limited practices this week and expects to be ready for the season opener. He appeared to be No. 2 on the depth chart before spraining his ankle at the beginning of August and missing the entire preseason. HC Zac Taylor said the battle for snaps between Williams, Chris Evans, and Chase Brown behind starter Joe Mixon remains fluid. "He still gets an opportunity to do that," Taylor said of Williams' opportunity to win the No. 2 RB job. "I'm not going to say it's nailed down and this is the way it is going to be all season once we make the Game 1 decision. I think it needs to be a fluid situation for us where these guys know there is potential to continue to improve, to get more opportunity."
On Tuesday, the Athletic's Paul Dehner Jr. wrote that he projects Bengals RB Chris Evans as the team's starting passing-downs back. Fellow Bengals RBs Chase Brown and Trayveon Williams appear on this list as backups. Dehner Jr. adds that Evans has "shown well in pass protection and improved running the ball downhill" compared to last preseason. Evans seizing this role would make him the replacement for Samaje Perine, now with the Broncos, and bring his fantasy appeal up to the level of a late-round PPR target in deeper leagues. We'll be sure to keep track of this RB2 battle as the preseason comes to an end. See where these Bengals' backs sit in our current RB rankings.
The Athletic’s Paul Dehner projects Bengals RB Chris Evans as the “passing-down starter.” He’s taken advantage of missed time from RB Trayveon Williams (ankle). Per Dehner: “The story of the third-down job has been dominated by the rise of Evans. He’s shown well in pass protection and improved running the ball downhill over last year’s disappointing preseason to become the frontrunner with Williams sidelined.” Current Bronco Samaje Perine ran 239 routes for the Bengals last year and turned them into 38 receptions. We’re not forecasting that type of role for Evans right now. But the third-year back -- with high-end athleticism — is a name to monitor in deep PPR setups.
A day after finishing the NFL Draft with only fifth-round pick Chase Brown added to the backfield, Bengals HC Zac Taylor gave RB Joe Mixon a vote of confidence. "His future is here with the team," Taylor said, according to WKRC in Cincinnati. "I like Joe Mixon as our starting running back." Mixon remains just RB26 in Underdog ADP, making him a strong best ball value. He sits much higher in our fantasy football RB rankings. Brown, meanwhile, figures to compete with Trayveon Williams and Chris Evans for the No. 2 job.
The Bengals grabbed RB Chase Brown in the 5th round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Brown spent one year at Western Michigan before transferring to Illinois for the past four. He served as the Fighting Illini's lead back each of the last three seasons, culminating with a big 328-carry, 1,643-yard 2022 campaign. Brown added another 240 yards and three scores on 27 catches. The 5'10, 209-pounder blew up the Combine with a 4.43-second 40 time and 40-inch vertical to earn a 98th percentile Relative Athletic Score. Brown joins a Bengals backfield currently led by RB Joe Mixon. Mixon has been a rumored cut candidate, although Cincinnati's moves at RB so far this offseason make that seem unlikely. We'll keep an eye on the Mixon situation, but Brown at least has a chance to emerge as the Bengals' #2 RB this year. His competition for that spot: Chris Evans and Trayveon Williams.
The Athletic's Jay Morrison writes that the Bengals cutting RB Joe Mixon "feels closer to a certainty than a mere possibility." The move would save Cincinnati $7.3 million against the 2023 salary cap. "The Bengals envisioned this scenario coming into play when they signed Mixon to a four-year, $48 million contract in 2020, and structured the deal so that they could get out of it two years early without much of a hit," Morrison adds. Mixon averaged just 58 rushing yards per game on 3.9 yards per carry last year. He ranked 47th among 51 qualifying RBs in Pro Football Focus' Elusive Rating and 27th in NFL Next Gen Stats' Rush Yards Over Expected Per Attempt. Mixon was also accused of pointing a gun at a woman in downtown Cincinnati in January. We'll see if the Bengals send him packing before the start of free agency in mid-March. RB Samaje Perine is set to hit the open market then, leaving Chris Evans as Cincinnati's only other RB signed for 2023. Expect the Bengals to make a significant addition to the backfield -- via free agency or the draft -- if they do cut Mixon.
Bengals RB Samaje Perine garnered 24 opportunities in the team's win at Tennessee Sunday. He predictably had trouble with rushing efficiency against the league's top run defense, gaining 58 yards on 17 carries (3.4 per rush) with a long run of 9. But Perine found the end from 7 yards out to make his fantasy day. He added 4 catches for 35 yards on 7 targets for a nice PPR line. Trayveon Williams worked as the #2 RB -- with Joe Mixon out -- carrying twice for 18 yards and catching 1 of 2 targets for 24 yards. RB Chris Evans played just 4 snaps. We'll see about the status of Mixon (concussion) for Week 13.
Bengals RB Joe Mixon (concussion) is out for Sunday's game vs. the Titans. We'll see if he can make it back for Week 13. His absence leaves Samaje Perine as Cincinnati's lead back, although the matchup against Tennessee's 5th-ranked RB defense makes him as more of a low-end RB2 in fantasy lineups. Chris Evans is set to return from his knee injury and should operate as the #2 RB on Sunday.
Bengals HC Zac Taylor said Monday that RB Samaje Perine has a “leg up” in the competition to be the 3rd-down back. Taylor also called Perine a "security blanket" while acknowledging that 2nd-year RB Chris Evans could still earn the role. The main takeaway here is that the team doesn't want to put too much on Joe Mixon's plate, despite his 3-down skill set. A Mixon injury would almost certainly lead to a timeshare.
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