During the 2024 NFL season, the Cincinnati Bengals were one of the few teams in the NFL that were fully committed to being a pass-first offense. Statistically, the Bengals threw the ball 67% of the time in 2024, which is one of the reasons the Bengals have had a very streaky offense. Teams that rely heavily on the pass in the NFL and run the ball effectively put themselves in a tough decision against modern defensive schemes built around getting athletes on the field to stop pass-heavy offenses. The Bengals have a problem because they have not had a proper “feature back” in their offensive backfield since they sent Joe Mixon to the Houston Texans. Without a “feature back,” the Bengals are left to play running back by committee, and this year, the committee of running backs needs to step up and help bring balance to the Bengals’ offense.
RB 1: Chase Brown
Chase Brown is the top running back on the Bengals’ depth chart heading into OTAs after leading the Bengals in rushing yards in 2024. Brown has been a productive back for the Bengals during the 2023 and 2024 seasons. As a result, Brown projects to be Cincinnati’s top running back in 2025. In 2024, Brown ran the ball 229 times for 990 yards, resulting in seven rushing touchdowns. In addition to being the Bengals’ leading rusher in 2024, Brown caught 54 passes for 360 yards and scored four receiving touchdowns.
RB 2: Zack Moss
When the Bengals signed Zack Moss last spring, Cincinnati had high hopes that Moss might be the best player to replace the production of Mixon. Those expectations resulted from Moss’s 2023 season with the Indianapolis Colts. During the 2023 season, Moss ran the ball 183 times for 794 yards and scored five touchdowns. But after playing in eight games for the Bengals, Moss suffered a neck injury that ended his season. Consequently, Moss only ran the ball 74 times for 242 yards and scored two touchdowns. Just before the 2025 NFL Draft, the Bengals restructured Moss’s contract, reducing his pay in 2025 to $1.7M compared to his original salary of $3.4 M.
RB 3: Samaje Perine
During free agency in 2025, the Bengals returned a familiar name to their offensive backfield. In 2022, Samaje Perine ran the ball 95 times for 394 yards and two touchdowns. Perine also caught the ball 38 times for 322 yards and scored four receiving touchdowns. After the 2022 season, the Denver Broncos signed Perine, and he eventually found himself with the Kansas City Chiefs. Despite Perine’s success with Cincinnati, Perine has been unable to re-create his success from the 2022 season. In 2025, the Bengals hope that Perine can return to his old self and reclaim his position as a productive back for the Bengals offense.
RB 4: Tahj Brooks
During the 6th round of the 2025 NFL Draft, the Bengals made a move to add strength to their offensive backfield by drafting Texas Tech running back Tahj Brooks. Brooks established himself as a consistent running back while playing at Texas Tech during the 2022, 2023, and 2024 college football seasons. During his college football career, Brooks averaged 5.3 yards/carry and improved his number of touchdowns per season three seasons in a row. Brooks gives the Bengals a dominant back capable of picking up hard yards in short-yardage situations. In addition, Brooks can catch the ball well in space and has shown the ability to be a successful pass protector in the backfield.
RB 5: Gary Brightwell
Gary Brightwell enters the 2025 NFL season looking for an opportunity to get his NFL career back on track. In 2022, Brightwell played in 17 games for the New York Giants, and he ran the ball 31 times for 141 yards, averaging 4.5 yards/carry. After the 2022 season, Brightwell could not build on his success. In 2024, he moved on to the Cleveland Browns before being released and signed by the Bengals. Brightwell must be very impressive to earn a spot on the Bengals’ regular-season roster for 2025.
RB 6: Kendall Milton
During the 2024 NFL season, Kendall Milton spent time with the Philadelphia Eagles before the eventual 2024 Super Bowl Champions released him. The Bengals signed Milton and he appeared in two games for Cincinnati despite not getting any carries at running back. Before coming to the NFL, Milton played in 41 games for the Georgia Bulldogs, running for 1,839 yards and scoring 23 touchdowns.
RB 7: UDFA Quali Conley
After the NFL draft, the Bengals signed Quali Conley as an undrafted free agent. During the 2024 college football season, Conley played in 12 games for the Arizona Wildcats, running the ball 150 times for 789 rushing yards and scoring eight rushing touchdowns. Conley is a long shot to make the Bengals’ 2025 roster, and his best opportunity could be showing that he can contribute to special teams.
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