Trio of Bengals included in Top 100 NFL Players Rankings

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase fights for the goal line early in the fourth quarter of a Monday Night Football matchup in Jacksonville in 2023. The Bengals won the game 34-31 behind Chase’s 11 catches for 149 yards and a touchdown.

While we wait for the NFL Top 100 Players of 2024 to be revealed on NFL Network and NFL+ — the series is scheduled to start on July 22nd — another Top 100 Player Ranking is out and ripe for interpretation.

CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco recently unveiled his Top 100 Players of 2024 rankings, and three Cincinnati Bengals made the list. And the three Bengals included in the rankings didn’t just make the list. They are all ranked in the top 35 of Prisco’s rankings.

Prisco’s highest-ranked Bengal on the list is Ja’Marr Chase, who checks in at No. 13. Chase is the third-highest receiver in Prisco’s rankings, behind only Justin Jefferson and Tyreek Hill, and is up three spots from his spot on Prisco’s list in 2023.

The Bengals' third-year wide receiver had a career-high 100 catches in 2023, and that’s with Joe Burrow missing the last seven games of the season. Chase compiled 1,216 receiving yards to go along with seven touchdowns. He is in line for a contract extension, but it’s not yet clear whether he and the Bengals will reach that extension before or after the 2024 Season.

Joe Burrow checks in at No. 15 on the list, the third-highest quarterback on the list behind only Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes. Burrow being ranked at No. 15, despite missing the last seven games of the season, shows the respect Prisco has for him and the level Burrow plays at when he is on the field. Burrow threw for 15 touchdowns in nine+ games in 2023 while completing 66.8 percent of his passes for 2,309 yards.

The other Bengal on the list is Trey Hendrickson, who checks in at No. 33 on the list. Only Chris Jones, Maxx Crosby, Nick Bosa, and Myles Garrett rank ahead of Hendrickson in the defensive ends on Prisco’s list.

In his third season with the Bengals, Hendrickson had a career year. The three-time Pro Bowler had 17.5 sacks, 25 quarterback hits, and 16 tackles for loss. Hendrickson also forced three fumbles for the third consecutive season. Prisco has Hendrickson ranked 58 spots higher than he had him in 2023, jumping from No. 91 to No. 33.

Tee Higgins was included in the Honorable Mention category after the Top 100 Players, the only Bengal to be included in that category.