It may never be like this again for the Cincinnati Bengals, who stockpiled No. 1 receivers and started a trend that has spread across the NFL.
Three of the biggest steps in turning the Bengals into contenders over the last five years were giving a contract extension to a 1,000-yard receiver in Tyler Boyd, drafting Tee Higgins in 2020 and watching him turn into a star and drafting Ja’Marr Chase in 2021 and developing him into one of the best players in the NFL.
That plan, a collaboration between a front office and a coaching staff that’s on the same page about positional value, is approaching a reset.