Joe Burrow has a new weapon: How Noah Fant can help an already loaded Bengals offense

CINCINNATI -- When Noah Fant made the decision to sign with the Cincinnati Bengals two weeks ago, it almost seemed like destiny. 

Three years ago, Fant was watching the AFC Championship game between the Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs, and after Joe Burrow led Cincinnati to an upset win on the road, Fant jumped on social media to let the world know how impressed he was with the Bengals quarterback. 

At the time, Fant was coming off a 2021 season with the Denver Broncos where he caught passes from Teddy Bridgewater and Drew Lock. Since entering the NFL with Denver as the 20th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, Fant has caught passes from seven different starting quarterbacks, but none of them are quite on Burrow's level. 

Burrow-to-Fant connection is already coming along nicely 

Now that Fant is in Cincinnati, the 27-year-old seems pretty excited about the idea of catching passes from Burrow, who led the NFL in passing yards (4,918), passing touchdowns (43) and completions (460) in 2024. 

"I've kind of admired his game from afar," Fant said of Burrow following Tuesday's practice. "Being able to get on the field with him, catch some passes, it's really cool to see how sharp he is, how smart he is, how decisive. He's a great quarterback. It's been really cool being a part of that. Hopefully, I can keep contributing whichever way I'm asked to keep earning his trust."

Fant, who signed with the Bengals on July 31, has only been practicing with the team for about a week, but he's already come up with some big plays. He caught a long touchdown during the team's practice on Saturday and he also had a nice grab over the middle during Tuesday's practice, which was one of several catches that he made on the day. 

Fant has been working in with the first team, which is a good sign that he'll probably make his preseason debut on Monday against Washington after being held out of the Bengals' preseason opener in Philadelphia on Aug. 7. 

Burrow definitely loves throwing to his tight ends: In 2024, Burrow completed a total of 460 passes on the year and 28% of those (129) went to a tight end, which is good news for Fant. 

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Coaching staff's early plan for Fant

The Bengals added Fant even though they already have a pretty full tight end room. There are currently five healthy tight ends on the roster in Mike Gesicki, Drew Sample, Tanner Hudson, Cam Grandy and Tanner McLachlan, so in that aspect, some might have been surprised that the Bengals added Fant. 

The addition actually makes a lot of sense, though, and that's mostly because he gives the Bengals a versatile chess piece they don't necessarily have right now. Gesicki caught 65 passes last season, which led all tight ends on the team, but most of those catches came out of the slot (he was more or less the team's third receiver in 2024). And then you have players like Sample, who generally lines up as a tight end on the line of scrimmage in the more traditional sense. 

Fant has the ability to do both and that's what the Bengals liked about him when they made the decision to sign him on July 31, according to coach Zac Taylor.

"He gives you even more flexibility. You've got a player that's really a plus player in both the run and the pass," Taylor said. "At the point of attack, blocking out of the backfield for protection he can help you, but also really explosive as a receiver."

If the Bengals want Fant in the slot, they can throw him in the slot, but if they want him out there when they're in 12 personnel with two tight ends, he can do that, too, according to offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher. 

"He's explosive, he's fast, he's powerful, he has big powerful strides," Pitcher said of Fant on Sunday. "He can function as a blocker in 12 personnel in a number of different roles."

The only thing slowing Fant down right now is the fact that he has had less than two weeks to learn the entire offensive playbook. 

"He's kind of drinking from a fire hose right now a little bit, as you could imagine," Pitcher said. "We're on the 600 level course of the Cincinnati Bengals Joe Burrow offense. He's trying to take it all in, and he's doing a good job of that. He's putting in the work. We obviously have a vision for how we're going to use him and how we're going to use his skill set and you guys will see that soon enough." 

Drinking from the fire hose is definitely a solid analogy: Fant pointed out that there's a lot to learn, like all the checks that he needs to know. 

"I think the cool thing is how detailed the offense is," Fant said. "When they get into games -- as I'm seeing, as I'm learning the playbook and going through all this stuff -- they have so many different checks or whatever they may need to scratch any itch they need in the game, at the snap of a finger. Having that in an offense, it's a lot of work on the front end to get that down, but on the back end, it's kind of opened things up, so you have a very open offense where you can do whatever you want at any time."

Fant has finished with at least 500 yards receiving in four of his six career seasons and he did that while catching passes from guys like Joe Flacco, Lock, Brandon Allen, Jeff Driskel and Brett Rypien. Now that he's catching passes from Burrow, Fant's full potential might finally be unleashed. 

Once he learns the offense, the Bengals will likely turn Fant into a human Swiss Army knife by having him do everything from catching passes to run blocking. The Bengals already have one of the most loaded offenses in the NFL with players like Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, and it just got more loaded with the addition of Fant.