Cincinnati BengalsOur read
Written Sun 12:01 am Central, for week 6
The Bengals are off in week 6 of 2026, so Tahj Brooks takes a seat and scores nothing this week. He's back Sunday at 12:00 pm Central in week 7 at Baltimore, with no designation on Sunday's report but Chase Brown and Samaje Perine ahead of him on the depth chart. Three active games this season have produced 0 PPR points each, and in our rest-of-season order he sits at RB135. Keep him benched for the bye and find a fill-in for the week.
Written Oct 19, from his facts through last season
Zero carries, zero targets, zero points through five weeks of 2026. Brooks has played four games and done nothing in any of them, and the one week he sat, week 4 of 2026, is the only number on his line that moved. He cleared the position's weekly median 0 times in 12 games last season, so this is not a slow start, it is the same player in the same spot.
That spot is third among Cincinnati running backs, behind Chase Brown and Samaje Perine, with Zac Taylor calling the plays himself and giving Brooks a 4.6% snap share a year ago, RB132 among 158 qualifying backs. Even when he got on the field in 2025, the ball never followed: 17 touches all season, 9 receiving yards, and zero touches inside the ten. His average depth of target was minus 2.5 yards, RB114 among 130 qualifying backs, so Cincinnati never even sent him out as a decoy downfield. Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins eat 51% of the targets in this offense, and there is no crumb left for a third back.
The only kind thing our numbers say is that we expected 13 games and 16 points for the full season before it started, a preseason pace of 1.2 points a game, and even that low bar is out of reach so far. His best week of 2025 was 2.9 points in week 17 of 2025, and he sat healthy for 4 weeks that season without playing, so the week 4 benching is not new treatment either. If you are carrying him, that roster spot has cost you four weeks already, and it will keep costing you. He is not worth the spot, and your league's wire will have backs with actual touches this week.