Two obvious candidates stand out among Bengals' 2024 Ring of Honor candidates

The Cincinnati Bengals have announced they will induct the 2024 Ring of Honor class during their Week 3 Monday Night Football game against the Washington Commanders this upcoming season.

Bengals season-ticket members and suite holders have done well voting for the franchise's best players as a way of garnering the Pro Football Hall of Fame's attention to also immortalize them. Seven former Bengals players and team founder Paul Brown have already been enshrined since the inaugural class of 2021, including Hall of Famers Anthony Munoz and Ken Riley. A few more worthy-of-Canton names such as Ken Anderson and Willie Anderson have had their moments under the lights as well.

It's time to make sure Corey Dillon and Lemar Parrish join them.

The case for Corey Dillon

Dillon is, simply put, the best running back in Bengals history. His dominance in just seven years speaks for itself, but the first six years were the real highlights. He averaged just over 1,253 yards and seven touchdowns a season at 4.4 yards per carry from 1997-2002. 

That may not pop off your screen off first glance, but the Bengals were a combined 26-70 during those six seasons. Cincinnati was dreadful, and Dillon still produced like a Pro Bowl player. He made three Pro Bowls during his time in stripes to be exact. 

Dillon had nearly 10 different quarterbacks hand the ball off to him during his six peak years with the Bengals, and he ran hard as hell for every one of them. He gave fans something to feel excited about in an otherwise desolate period to wear orange and black on Sundays.  

After leaving the club in a rather unfortunate manner, Dillon continued his career with the New England Patriots at the height of their original dynasty. He rushed for a career 1,635 yards, finally in a well-built offense, and helped the Pats win their third Super Bowl in the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick era. 

A career that ended after 10 years, 11,241 yards, 82 touchdowns, four Pro Bowls, and a Super Bowl ring has yet to receive attention from both the Hall and the Ring of Honor of his first team. Dillon is on record for taking offense to both omissions, and it's tough to argue his authenticity.  

This truly feels like Dillon's time with offensive stars Chad Johnson, Boomer Esiaison, Isaac Curtis, and both Andersons already enshrined. Riley remains the only defensive player to have his last name and number hanging inside the stadium, and the case for his former running mate at cornerback is as clear as it was last year. 

The case for Lemar Parrish

I made the argument for Parrish to be inducted exactly one year ago, and it hasn't changed. You can read the full piece here, but allow me to list some highlights I relayed 365 days ago:

• The 1970 NFL Draft has two Hall of Famers in Terry Bradshaw and Mel Blount, both drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers. They're also both No. 1 and 2 in that class in terms of Pro-Football-Reference.com's Weighted Career Approximate Value. Parrish is No. 3 right behind them. 

• In eight total years in Cincinnati, Parrish made six Pro Bowls and intercepted 25 passes. The number of games he missed in that timeframe matches that number of Pro Bowls made. 

• Parrish amassed 354 interception return yards and four return touchdowns with the Bengals. 

Outside of Geno Atkins, Parrish's career is the most Hall of Fame-worthy out of any Bengals defensive player who's not already been inducted. 

Dave Lapham, who was Parrish's teammate from 1974-77, perfectly encapsulated what the former seventh-round pick brought to the table.

"From the ability to excite teammates, fans, and discourage opponents with a big-play ability, he might be as good as I've ever seen," Lapham told Bengals.com. "That dude, man, he was electric. Electric with capital letters. Freaky athlete. He had some long arms. His change of direction, his burst was just unbelievable as a return guy."

Only Bob Trumpy is older than the 76-year old Parrish among this year's list of candidates. A player this worthy at this stage of his life deserves nothing more than to join such an exclusive club.

Now's the time to get it done.