The Cincinnati Bengals waited until the fifth round to address the running back position and did so with Chase Brown out of Illinois.
Brown projects as an ideal complement to Joe Mixon in the backfield. At 5’11” and 205 pounds, he put up 1,643 yards and 10 touchdowns on a 5.0 average last season and caught 27 passes.
The winner of the Jon Cornish Trophy in 2022 (top Canadian player in college football), Brown hit the draft and ran a 4.43 40-yard dash and overall tested very well.
NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein wrote the following:
Volume ball-carrier with a compact frame and high-end stamina to wear defenses down. Brown is less slasher than he is a between-the-tackles grinder. He needs to prove he can be an effective outside runner to help widen the field. He’s natural and agile as a one-cut runner and has the receiving talent to make plays out of the backfield. He’s a bit of a one-note runner but could compete for a three-down backup role with a limited ceiling.
It’s really hard not to point this out too:
Cincinnati selects Illinois RB Chase Brown 163rd overall
🟠 83 missed tackles forced last season (only Bijan Robinson had more) pic.twitter.com/LL0qm0NMmV
— PFF College (@PFF_College) April 29, 2023
Brown isn’t really a power back and some of the wear and tear on his body after 600-plus college carries raises a small red flag.
But it’s a small one — Brown is a solid pass-catcher and can do well in pass protection, which is what the Bengals want after unexpectedly losing Samaje Perine in free agency.
It would be unreasonable to expect Brown to come in and replace Mixon, or to even do so in one year’s time. But he’s going to push Trayveon Williams for that No. 2 spot on the depth chart right away.
We can’t know right now what the Bengals end up doing with Mixon, as it was recently suggested they will ask him to take a pay cut or get released. With the way the draft developed, it’s hard to imagine that is still on the table, though. Brown is a good pick at a nice value and like the other guys they’ve drafted, at the very least offers an immediate impact.
