It Took One Game for Bengals to Bring in New Khalil Herbert Competition

The Chicago Bears parted ways with Khalil Herbert at the trade deadline for a seventh-round pick. The former sixth-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft has been an important part of the Bears offense for the past three seasons but had his role reduced with the arrival of D'Andre Swift this year. Instead of letting him walk in free agency, the Bears traded him to the Bengals.

Unfortunately for Herbert, however, things aren't looking promising in Cincinnati. The 26th-year-old running back made his debut with his new team on Thursday, playing two snaps and not recording any stats.

On Monday, the Bengals made another addition to the already crowded RB room, signing former Giants rusher Gary Brightwell, per NFL insider Jordan Schultz.

NFL News: Bengals Sign RB Gary Brightwell

Brightwell is not going to directly challenge Herbert in the depth chart as he will start on the practice squad. However, the move is an indication that the Bengals aren't happy with the production of their running game.

The Bengals had to place Zack Moss on the IR list last week and he will likely miss the remainder of the season. Chase Brown will be the lead back for the foreseeable future but Cincinnati's RB room has been less than convincing all season. They are averaging 4 yards per carry and put up 897 rushing yards for the season, both bottom-ten marks in the NFL.

Herbert is ahead of Trayveon Williams and Kendall Milton in the pecking order but how big of a role he will have in the offense remains to be seen. The Bengals are 4-6 for the season and they need to go on a run in the second half of the campaign to save their season.

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