A renewed focus on the past that laid the groundwork for these current Joe Burrow-led Cincinnati Bengals has been a welcome change for the franchise.
After all, some of the best players in pro football history have donned a Bengals jersey.
While an all-timer like Anthony Munoz isn’t the best ever to wear No. 78, he’s certainly the best to wear the number for Cincinnati.
Here’s a look at the best player to wear every single jersey number for the Bengals, with an assist from Pro Football Reference’s AV metric. And yes, some numbers were much, much more difficult than others, like that pesky No. 14.
No. 1: WR Ja'Marr Chase
No. 2: K Evan McPherson
No. 3: K Jim Breech
No. 4: K Randy Bullock
No. 5: QB A.J. McCarron
No. 6: QB Jeff Driskel
No. 7: QB Boomer Esiason
No. 8: QB Jeff Blake
No. 9: QB Joe Burrow
No. 10: P Kevin Huber
No. 11: P Lee Johnson
No. 12: WR Mohamed Sanu
No. 13: DB Ken Riley
No. 14: QB Ken Anderson (AV 160, Andy Dalton AV 100)
No. 15: WR Chris Henry
No. 16: K Horst Mühlmann
No. 17: K Shayne Graham
No. 18: WR A.J. Green
No. 19: RB Essex Johnson
No. 20: DB Lemar Parrish
No. 21: RB James Brooks
No. 22: DB Eric Thomas
No. 23: DB Bernard Jackson
No. 24: DB Adam Jones
No. 25: RB Giovani Bernard
No. 26: DB Bobby Kemp
No. 27: DB Artrell Hawkins
No. 28: RB Corey Dillon
No. 29: CB Leon Hall
No. 30: S Jessie Bates
No. 31: DB Darryl Williams
No. 32: RB Rudi Johnson
No. 33: DB David Fulcher
No. 34: DB Louis Breeden
No. 35: RB Boobie Clark
No. 36: S Shawn Williams
No. 37: DB Tommy Casanova
No. 38: CB LeShaun Sims
No. 39: DB Sheldon White
No. 40: RB Charles Alexander
No. 41: DB Nedu Ndukwe
No. 42: RB Boobie Clark
No. 43: S George Iloka
No. 44: DB Ray Griffin
No. 45: RB Archie Griffin
No. 46: RB Pete Johnson
No. 47: DB Greg Bright
No. 48: TE Brad St. Louis
No. 49: LB Guy Frazier
No. 50: LB James Francis
No. 51: LB Takeo Spikes
No. 52: LB Tom Dinkel
No. 53: LB Bo Harris
No. 54: C Bob Johnson
No. 55: LB Jim LeClair
No. 56: LB Brian Simmons
No. 57: LB Reggie Williams
No. 58: LB Rey Maualuga
No. 59: Landon Johnson
No. 60: LB Ron Pritchard
No. 61: OL Russell Bodine
No. 62: OL Dave Lapham
No. 63: OL Joe Walter
No. 64: OL Bruce Kozerski
No. 65: OL Max Montoya
No. 66: LB Bill Bergey
No. 67: DL Gary Burley
No. 68: OL Kevin Zeitler
No. 69: DL Tim Krumrie
No. 70: DL Ron Carpenter
No. 71: OL Willie Anderson
No. 72: OL Howard Fest
No. 73: DL Eddie Edwards
No. 74: OL Rich Braham
No. 75: OL Bruce Reimers
No. 76: OL Vern Holland
No. 77: OL Andrew Whitworth
No. 78: OL Anthony Munoz
No. 79: DE Ross Browner
No. 80: WR Cris Collinsworth
No. 81: WR Carl Pickens
No. 82: TE Rodney Holman
No. 83: WR Tyler Boyd
No. 84: WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh
No. 85: WR Chad Johnson
No. 86: WR Darnay Scott
No. 87: WR Pat McInally
No. 88: TE Bruce Coslet
No. 89: TE Dan Ross
No. 90: DL Justin Smith
No. 91: DL Robert Geathers
No. 92: DL John Copeland
No. 93: DL Michael Johnson
No. 94: DL Domata Peko
No. 95: LB Steve Foley
No. 96: DL Carlos Dunlap
No. 97: DL Geno Atkins
No. 98: DL DJ Reader
No. 99: DL Dan Wilkinson
