Stat of the Jay: With Chase Burns To Make MLB Debut for Reds Tonight, a Look at Top NFL Debuts by Bengals Players

CINCINNATI – It’s the deadest period on the calendar for the Cincinnati Bengals, but the city is buzzing with Chase Burns set to make his MLB debut for the Cincinnati Reds tonight against the New York Yankees.

That got me thinking about Bengals players making their NFL debuts.

Plenty have been met with the sort of excitement and high expectations surrounding Burns, but surprisingly few have produced even marginal results.

Ja’Marr Chase’s 101-yard debut, which included a 50-yard touchdown in a 2021 victory against the Minnesota Vikings, is the benchmark.

Prior to that, Jordan Shipley held the record with an 82-yard performance.

Jermaine Gresham holds the team record for receptions with six.

The rest of the debut stats form a big pile of meh.

The Cincinnati franchise record for most passing yards in a debut is 246 by Carson Palmer in 2004.

No other Bengals quarterback has thrown for more than 200 yards in his NFL debut.

Palmer also is the only quarterback in team history to throw for more than one touchdown in his NFL debut, tossing two in a 31-24 loss to the New York Jets.

The record for rushing yards in an NFL debut is where things get really surprising.

Technically it belongs to Marc Logan with 95 yards in Week 4, 1987.

But that was the first game with replacement players. Logan wasn’t a replacement player. He was a fifth-round pick who crossed the picket line and played against replacement players.

In non-strike games, the Bengals record for rushing yards in an NFL debut is just 46 yards.

And you can give someone five, maybe 10 guesses as part of a bar bet, and they probably won’t be able to name the player who owns it.

Because it belongs to quarterback Joe Burrow, who carried eight times in the 2020 season opener, including a 23-yard run for the team’s only touchdown in a16-13 loss to the Chargers.

There are 14 players in franchise history with at least 2,500 career rushing yards, and none of them even cracked the 40-yard mark in their NFL debut.

Here are the franchise’s career rushing leaders (and what they did in their NFL debuts)

Corey Dillon, 8,061 (0 carries, 0 yards; two kick returns, 41 yards)

James Brooks, 6,447 (N/A; debut was with Chargers)

Joe Mixon, 6,412 (8 carries, 9 yards)

Rudi Johnson, 5,742 (0 carries, 0 yards; 1 kick return, 25 yards)

Pete Johnson, 5421 (2 carries, 3 yards)

Cedric Benson, 4,176 (N/A; debut was with Bears)

Harold Green, 3,727 (5 carries, 22 yards)

Giovani Bernard, 3,697 (4 carries, 22 yards)

Essex Johnson, 3,070 (2 carries, 16 yards)

Boobie Clark, 3,697 (11 carries, 34 yards)

Jeremy Hill, 2,873 (4 carries, 19 yards)

Archie Griffin 2,808 (12 carries, 38 yards)

Charles Alexander 2,645 (13 carries, 22 yards)

Larry Kinnebrew 2,582 (0 carries, 0 yards)

The highest rushing totals in a non-strike NFL debut for the Bengals including a lot of quarterbacks:

Joe Burrow, 46 yards (2020)

David Klingler, 44 yards (1992)

Turk Schonert, 41 yards (1981)

Archie Griffin, 38 yards (1976)

Boobie Clark, 34 yards (1973)

Fred Willis, 30 yards (1971)

Michael Basnight, 27 yards (1999)

Charlie Davis, 23 yards (1974)

Charles Alexander, 22 yards (1979)

Giovani Bernard, 22 yards (2013)

Harold Green, 22 yards (1990)

Ryan Finley, 22 yards (2019)

While Burrow’s 46 yards are a franchise record, they rank tied for 160th in NFL history for a player making his NFL debut.

There have been 30 players to reach at least 100 rushing in their first NFL game, including one against the Bengals.

The record belongs to Ottis Anderson, with 193 on 21 carries in a 1979 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

The most rushing yards the Bengals have allowed in a player’s NFL debut is 104, which was set by Cleveland quarterback Kevin Hogan on just seven carries in the Browns’ 31-17 victory in 2016.