On the night of the 2021 NFL Draft, the Cincinnati Bengals had the opportunity to select wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase or offensive tackle Penei Sewell.
This was the debate that defined draft season. Scouts and player personnel staff across the NFL were split on the decision. But to Bengals head coach Zac Taylor and the front office, the clear choice was drafting Chase and adding a potential star wide receiver.
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On Nov. 12, wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. hit the free agent market after a rocky finish to his tenure with the Cleveland Browns. When Beckham Jr. was a free agent, there were NFL teams who weren’t interested because of the way his time with the Browns ended.
But the Los Angeles Rams front office believed otherwise. Right before Beckham signed with the Rams, head coach Sean McVay couldn’t keep a poker face during his press conference and grinned the entire way.
The Bengals and the Rams both built a Super Bowl roster by making an aggressive move to add a No. 1 caliber wide receiver. It’s one of the greatest similarities between the two teams.
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“Everyone has different philosophies on how to build a team and run an offense,” Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan said. “We don’t have a fullback. We use our tight ends in a little bit of a hybrid role, but for the most part we’re a three wide receiver offense. If you have three wide receivers that people have to cover, it’s going to be hard for them.”
Heading into the 2021 NFL Draft, Callahan often brought up his experience coaching the Denver Broncos in the 2010s when Peyton Manning was the quarterback. That team had one of the best wide receiver trios of the decade between Demaryius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders and Wes Welker.
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Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has often been compared to Manning, and Callahan and Taylor agreed about taking the same approach with the Bengals offense.
"In key moments in playoff games, they’d get man coverage and Peyton would pick the one who’s got the best matchup and trust that he was going to win," Taylor said. "We think when we’ve got the weapons that we now have, it puts a lot of pressure on the defense. It takes the pressure off of Joe Burrow.'
Statistically, there aren’t many NFL teams that have invested more in wide receivers than the Bengals and the Rams have.
Last season, the Rams signed wide receivers Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods to contract extensions worth more than $16 million per year. Entering the season, the Rams had two No. 1 caliber wide receivers on top-flight contracts. When Woods suffered a season-ending knee injury, the Rams added another star in Beckham Jr. to fill Woods’ role in the offense.
On top of those three players, the Rams have also used second round picks on wide receivers in each of the last two NFL drafts. While Tutu Atwell suffered a season-ending shoulder injury, Van Jefferson ranks second on the Rams with 802 receiving yards.
The Bengals used a No. 5 draft pick on Chase, used a No. 33 draft pick on wide receiver Tee Higgins and paid wide receiver Tyler Boyd top-25 money at his position. Both teams are walking proof that a great wide receiver group plus a good quarterback is a repeatable path to a successful offense.
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“Our biggest philosophy is (that) you want guys that can score touchdowns because you have to score points to win in today’s NFL,” Callahan said. “Quarterbacks have to have targets to throw to, guys that can win and separate on all levels on the defense. We’ve got three guys that can do that; so obviously do the Rams.”
The Bengals are one of five NFL teams with two young receivers who were picked in the top two rounds plus a receiver making top-25 money at his position. In that group, the Bengals are joined by the Jets, Panthers, Rams and Cardinals.
This season, the Jets and the Panthers offenses were held back by inconsistent young quarterbacks. But the Bengals, Rams and Cardinals had three of the most explosive offenses in the NFL.
Most of the other best offenses in the NFL built their wide receiver groups through contract extensions and free agency.
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According to Over the Cap, the following teams spent at least $20 million on wide receivers this season: the Dolphins, Chargers, Cowboys, Jets, Buccaneers, Packers, Bears, Cardinals, Bills, Bengals and Rams. In that group of 11 teams, the teams with the above-average quarterbacks represent most of the NFL’s premier offenses.
Once Kupp and Woods’ extensions fully kick in for the 2022 season, then the Rams will be paying the second-most money in the NFL to wide receivers. Chase and Higgins are on track to make top-of-the-league money when they’re able to hit the open market.
It’ll be worth the price for both teams.
Without these receivers, the Bengals and Rams both wouldn’t have made it this far in the playoffs. Some of the most important plays of their postseason wins wouldn’t have happened.
In the second round of the playoffs, the Tennessee Titans double teamed Chase for nearly the entire second half. The Bengals set up their lone touchdown drive of the game with first down throws from Burrow to Higgins and tight end C.J. Uzomah, who were both left open.
When the Bengals needed a first down in the final minute to set up a game-winning field goal, Chase beat a Titans double team for the first down catch, and Boyd and Higgins were also both wide open on the play.
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When the Kansas City Chiefs played Chase the same way, Higgins led the Bengals with 103 receiving yards. In the fourth quarter and in overtime, Higgins made the catch that put the Bengals in field goal range with a crossing route over the middle where he took advantage of single coverage.
"We're all unselfish players, and we know what ability we all have," Boyd said. "There's no way teams can double all of us. If they take away one guy, the rest of us will make plays."
It’s been the same story for the Rams offense in the playoffs.
In the NFC Championship Game, Kupp and Beckham Jr. both had 100 receiving yards. Kupp beat single coverage twice for two toe-tap touchdown catches. Beckham Jr. feasted on crossing routes over the middle and comeback routes down the sideline when the San Francisco 49ers defense shaded toward Kupp’s side of the field.
With the Bengals and Rams both winning last week, they created a Super Bowl matchup between arguably the two best wide receiver groups in the NFL.
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“You have to be good in the passing game to score points,” Callahan said. “But really when it comes down to having to throw the ball on third down in the red zone, you have to go win (one-on-one matchups). The more (wide receivers) you have that can go score touchdowns, the better off you’re going to be.”
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