3 Bengals not named Joe Burrow who are prime bounce-back candidates for the 2024 NFL season

The first major honor of Joe Burrow's NFL career was the AP Comeback Player of the Year award in 2021. Burrow led the Cincinnati Bengals to an AFC North crown a year after he suffered a devastating knee injury that ended his rookie season.

We've seen Burrow come back stronger before, and he's expected to do it again this season after a wrist injury ended his 2023 campaign prematurely. But he's not the only player in Cincinnati who needs to play better and more often in 2024.

Outside of Burrow, who are the Bengals players that need to bounce back the most this upcoming season? Let's go over the three very obvious candidates.

Tee Higgins

Outside of Burrow, no one on the Bengals roster is a greater candidate to bounce back than Higgins. 2023 was a borderline nightmare for the talented wide receiver as it became the worst season of his young career. He finished with just 42 receptions for 656 yards and five touchdowns in 12 games played as multiple injuries hindered him throughout the season.

Durability concerns were just a part of Higgins' struggles. Outside of an impressive Week 2 outing, his inconsistency was maddening as he appeared out of sync with Burrow. As soon as their connection seemed back to normal, Burrow went down. And all of this was happening during a contract year and all the distractions that come attached.

Last season was not a true representation of who Higgins is as a player. His signing of the franchise tag last month indicates his head is more clear than it was 12 months ago. Ideally, that will bear far better results.

Sam Hubbard

Injuries also impacted Hubbard's 2023 campaign. He played through an ankle injury that required tightrope surgery right after the end of the season . The injury forced Hubbard to miss a couple weeks in the middle of the season, but the Cincinnati native wanted to be out there for the remainder of the year.

"After sitting out two weeks and Joe [Burrow] going down, I kind of wanted to just be out there," Hubbard said. "And I was doing the best I could."

The best he could do was far less than what the Bengals are accustomed to seeing from him. His pass-rushing production was down, and the run defense struggled as an entire unit without him playing up to par.

A more balanced rotation at edge defender with Myles Murphy hoping to take a jump should allow Hubbard to remain healthier throughout this season.

Germaine Pratt

The Bengals rewarded Pratt with a three-year contract last offseason, and they paid for more than what they got in 2023. Pratt's missed tackle rate nearly doubled to 10.7% from its 2022 clip of 5.9%, and he allowed a career-worst 458 yards in coverage according to Pro Football Focus .

His issues may've been the result of a far greater problem than simple player regression. Cincinnati's entire defense had to make up for lackluster safety play in the backend, which put more stress on Pratt and fellow linebacker Logan Wilson.

Neither Pratt nor Wilson had their best season last year, but Pratt seemed to suffer more often. With Vonn Bell and Geno Stone taking over at safety, Pratt should be more comfortable in playing his own game and avoid making mistakes as often as he did last year.

Related: 3 Bengals not named Joe Burrow who can single-handedly make the team better in 2024