Cincinnati Bengals: Players to watch vs. Bears in Week 14

2. Josh Malone

Cincinnati’s rookie receiving class has been disappointing, but the blame for that falls squarely on first-rounder John Ross. While he struggled through injuries and poor effort this year before now apparently going on IR, it should be remembered that he was not the only Bengals rookie wideout. Malone is also in tow, and unlike his first-round teammate he’s actually not only stayed healthy but worked his way into a growing role with the offense.

This is a somewhat surprising outcome for numerous reasons, by the way. Cincinnati is notoriously conservative with their rookies; sometimes, it can take until a player’s third or fourth season to gain a consistent role. On top of that, only their cornerbacks may be brought along more slowly by them than their wide receivers. You would think that with their history at the position, combined with how little Ross would end up contributing even when healthy, that Malone would basically be redshirting as a rookie.

Turns out that assumption was wrong. Though it wasn’t instantaneous, Malone worked his way into a quality role already this year. After receiving zero snaps before Cincinnati’s bye week, he’s seen double-digit snaps in every contest since; in fact, he’s garnered the third-most snaps of any receiver on the roster (only A.J. Green and Brandon LaFell have more.

What Malone’s role has been lacking to this point, however, is actual production. In his 171 snaps, he’s only been targeted 12 times. Of those, he’s caught just six. Part of this is just due to how many wideouts the team has: Cincinnati has seven receivers on the roster, and besides Green and LaFell they get rotated in and out often. Timing, playcalls, and random chance play their roles as well.

This would be a good week for Malone to show up. Chicago has a surprisingly decent defense (No. 14 in Defensive DVOA), but one of the areas they are susceptible is against non-starter receivers. They are No. 22 in DVOA against “Other” receivers, and their focus will surely be sent towards stopping Green. The help sent his way should open things up for Malone and others elsewhere with single coverage.

With his role, things have so far broken in favor of his teammates picking up all the statistics despite his snap count advantage.In a matchup where the “other” receivers will play a big role, the wideout with the most consistent role among them feels due for a box score performance which actually shows off his involvement for once.