The Bengals went hunting for another explosive pass-catching threat, and Colbie Young is the kind of swing that could actually make their offense even harder to live with.
Young isn’t a spotless prospect. He had legal trouble in 2024, though his character doesn’t appear to be a concern.
He also fractured his fibula in 2025, then battled back and returned by the end of the season. So no, this isn’t a clean profile.
But it also isn’t the Jermaine Burton situation all over again.
What Cincinnati sees is a receiver who can stretch the field and win in more ways than one. The clips tell the story.
Young can run away from defenders and create separation, but he’s not just a straight-line threat. He’s got route-running ability, too, and one-on-one reps show how quickly he can leave a cornerback behind.
He also knows how to work the details of a route. On one touchdown, he drives the corner toward the back pylon before snapping the play into place near the front pylon, then turns, extends, and finishes the catch. On another, the ball is thrown behind him and Young still makes it look routine, whipping around and hauling in the score.
There’s more than just highlight speed here. Young can make a tough sideline catch in traffic, which adds another layer to what he could give Cincinnati.
That’s where the fit gets especially interesting. Young could give the Bengals a way to move Ja’Marr Chase into the slot while still keeping two real deep threats on the outside. That’s a nasty setup for defenses trying to pick their poison.
If opponents play one-high, that lone safety can’t cover both Tee Higgins and Young. If they go two-high, they’re giving up an underneath defender to deal with Chase, Mike Gesicki, and Chase Brown underneath.
In Other News...
Bengals Have A Familiar Swing Tackle Question That Is Not Going Away
Andrew Coker has spent the last year-and-a-half hanging around the Bengals offensive line picture, and that alone makes him worth watching as the team sorts out its depth behind Orlando Brown Jr. and Amarius Mims. After going undrafted in 2024 and first landing with the Raiders, Coker joined Cincinnatis practice squad in late October 2024, then stayed in the organization through the 2025 season as a developmental tackle with a chance to grow into a real roster conversation.
Cokers next step came in January, when he signed a reserve/futures deal that keeps him in the mix for 2026 and gives him a path toward a backup tackle job. The question now is whether he can turn that long evaluation into a spot on the active roster, where hell be competing for one of those swing-tackle and back-end depth roles that tend to come down to the smallest details in camp. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals Secondary Just Got The Kind Of Review Fans Feared
The conversation around Cincinnatis defense has a familiar edge to it this time of year, and the secondary is once again at the center of it. CBS Sports analysts JP Acosta and Bryant McFadden slotted the Bengals' back end into the "Need More Talent" tier ahead of the 2026 season, a blunt assessment that tracks with how uneven the unit looked last year and why the front office and coaching staff know the work there is far from finished.
Al Golden is the one tasked with tightening it up, with an emphasis on making the pass defense sturdier when the rush does not get home. The Bengals were hit hard in yards allowed per play last season and also struggled when opposing quarterbacks had time to operate, which is exactly the kind of vulnerability Cincinnati has to clean up if it wants the defense to take a real step forward. Zac Taylor has voiced confidence in the staff's direction, but the secondary remains the part of the roster that has to prove the optimism is earned. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals Fans Wont Like Where Chase Brown Is Being Valued
Chase Brown finally looked like the kind of every-down back the Bengals have been waiting for in 2025, turning his first full season as a starter into a breakthrough year. He piled up 1,456 yards from scrimmage and 11 touchdowns, topped 1,000 rushing yards for the first time and showed the kind of efficiency that suggested Cincinnati had found a real answer in the backfield, especially with the offensive line and coaching staff both set to return.
So it is not hard to see why the early 2026 valuation feels a little off to Bengals fans. Browns play picked up noticeably after Week 6 last season, when the offense changed around him, and he enters a contract year with momentum and a strong supporting cast behind him. Even so, the broader league view is still catching up to what he did, and the gap between his production and where he is being slotted heading into next season is the part that should have Cincinnati paying attention. [Read more 🡒]