Bengals OC Dan Pitcher was talking to reporters recently, saying the team may look for a bigger back to pair with Chase Brown. This is a concern, but not a killer for Brown's value.
Last year, Brown was a workhorse down the stretch, with Zack Moss getting hurt midseason. Moss is under contract for 2025, but it sounds like his return from a neck injury isn't a given. Either way, Cincinnati will be looking to utilize another back to take some of the rushing load in the offense.
"Chase isn't the biggest guy, so maybe if you have an opportunity to add a bigger back with a little more power repertoire to his game, that size helps you in protection," Pitcher said. "But I say that with the caveat Chase really stepped up in his protection as well last year."
Sounds like Brown's role in the passing game will be safe either way, and that was the primary component of his value last year. Over the last eight games, Brown averaged nearly a point more from his receiving production (in PPR leagues) than his rushing.
Table shows Brown's numbers over the final eight games last year, divvied into the weekly points as a runner and as a receiver. Five times in those eight games he earned double-digit points strictly from his work in the passing game, before rushing was even factored in.
| CHASE BROWN, LAST EIGHT GAMES | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opp | Run | RuTD | Pts(Run) | No | Rec | ReTD | Pts(Rec) |
| L.V. | 120 | 0 | 12.0 | 5 | 37 | 1 | 14.7 |
| at Bal. | 42 | 1 | 10.2 | 9 | 52 | 0 | 14.2 |
| at LAC | 86 | 0 | 8.6 | 5 | 57 | 0 | 10.7 |
| Pit. | 70 | 1 | 13.0 | 3 | 30 | 0 | 6.0 |
| at Dal. | 58 | 0 | 5.8 | 6 | 65 | 1 | 18.5 |
| at Ten. | 97 | 1 | 15.7 | 3 | 16 | 1 | 10.6 |
| Cle. | 91 | 0 | 9.1 | 3 | 18 | 0 | 4.8 |
| Den. | 67 | 0 | 6.7 | 4 | 24 | 0 | 6.4 |
Obviously, Brown as a full-time back again would be nice. That probably won't happen, but let's see who the Bengals add. Seems unlikely they'd bring in a big free agent, so maybe we'll see a mid-round rookie (the draft is deep at running back) taking some of the load.
But Brown should continue as the main back in passing situations, and probably get a share of the running work, too. Productive enough just as a receiver that I'll be interested in having him on my teams next year (even more so if the Bengals don't add a notable back to work with him).
--Andy Richardson