Bengals 2018 season awards: Cincinnati’s Most Valuable Player

While the 2018 season was a disappointment for the Cincinnati Bengals, much of the blame could be laid at the feet of injuries. Players were dropping like flies last year, with the offensive stars being hit particularly hard.

Even so, there were some great performances by some of the team’s most consistent players. Cast your vote and sound off on your winner for the Bengals’ 2018 team MVP!

Andy Dalton: The Bengals’ quarterback missed essentially six and a half games, but had an outstanding start to the season. Dalton engineered four game-winning drives, comprising most of the team’s overall wins on the year, while also throwing for 21 touchdowns on the season. Aside from his own season-ending injury, it didn’t help that he lost Tyler Eifert. A.J. Green, Joe Mixon, Tyler Kroft, Billy Price and a myriad of others for varying degrees of time.

Joe Mixon: In his first year as the team’s bell-cow back, Mixon led the AFC in rushing yards with 1,168. He scored nine total touchdowns to lead the team in the category, while also proving his worth as an option out of the backfield in the passing game with 296 receiving yards.

Tyler Boyd: Much like it was for Mixon, it was a breakout year for Boyd. He also notched his first career 1,000-yard season and added seven touchdown receptions on 76 catches. Boyd was lethal out of the slot, but did move around a bit to throw defense’s off-guard.

Clint Boling: Cincinnati’s offensive line wasn’t something to write home about, per se, but Frank Pollack improved the unit sizably from 2017. Boling, the vested veteran of the group in both years in the league and with the Bengals, quietly played steady football the entire season. He was a big reason for Mixon’s three 100-yard games in the final four games of the year.

Geno Atkins: It wasn’t a career-high year for Atkins, as there were some more dry spells than in other campaigns, but big No. 97 still deservedly earned another Pro Bowl nod. He finished with 10 sacks and 19 quarterback hits, solidifying his stance as one of the top interior defenders in the NFL.

Carlos Dunlap: It was a standard Dunlap year, where the big defensive end batted down passes, got to the quarterback and made the occasional game-changing play. He finished with eight sacks, eight passes defended, two forced fumbles and a recovery. And, if that wasn’t enough, Dunlap was the team’s nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.

Shawn Williams: Because the Bengals’ defense was atrocious as a whole in 2018, Williams isn’t getting the national credit he deserves. The veteran safety led the team in interceptions with five and was second on the team in tackles with 110 and in passes defended with nine. His 131 return yards on interceptions were a league-high.