This move comes as Bengals head coach Zac Taylor announced that running back Zack Moss will be out indefinitely due to a neck injury. Moss missed last week’s win over the Las Vegas Raiders, and this addition of Herbert not only provides insurance for Cincinnati but possibly signals a long absence for the veteran running back.
In Herbert, the Bengals get a capable running back who has over 2,000 career yards from scrimmage. This season, he has fallen out of favor in the Bears backfield with the arrival of D’Andre Swift along with Roschon Johnson as a rushing factor, proving to be more useful as a trade asset for Chicago than as an on-field contributor. Through Week 9, Herbert has carried the ball just eight times for 16 yards and a touchdown while playing 7% of the offensive snaps.
However, prior to this season, Herbert had put up impressive totals. The 2021 sixth-round pick out of Virginia Tech has totaled consecutive seasons of at least 700 yards from scrimmage, averaging 5.1 yards per carry during that stretch from 2022-2023.
He will now work behind Chase Brown in the Bengals backfield. Last week, Brown rushed for 120 yards on 27 carries.
