This year it is hard to determine who is going to make the team. It was always fun to speculate after every nugget would come out of camp from the media. There was more video, more stories on position competition and a day-by-day analysis of who farted the most in the huddle. Now we don’t even know if Drew Sample got better or Carl Lawson is ready to take his old form.
Without further adieu here is the BengalsGM 53-man roster picks:
Quarterbacks (3)
Joe Burrow (duh!)
Ryan Finley
Brandon Allen
I kept Finley even thought I do not think he has what it takes. Keeping Allen around is that insurance policy in case Finley has to come in for an injured Burrow and fails like last season. I would rather see Dolegala here but for some reason he is not being given the chance. I am still hanging on to that awesome 2019 preseason showing he had.
Running Backs (3)
Joe Mixon
Giovani Bernard
Trayveon Williams
I went Williams over Perine here because I think they should stick with the high return pick. Perine is a solid backup and hopefully we find a way to keep him but with our current 1-2 depth at RB neither of those guys are really going to see any snaps. It may come down to Special Teams for those guys.
Wide Receivers (7)
AJ Green
Tee Higgins
Tyler Boyd
John Ross
Auden Tate
Michael Thomas
Alex Erickson
Erickson was a bubble guy for me this year because of his depreciating value as a return man. He makes catches but is it enough to stay on this deep wide receiver roster? He is certainly on that borderline cut list so I would not be surprised if we do not see him in stripes. Michael Thomas, by all accounts, has had a great camp so I expect him to be kept around.
Fullback (0)
I had to throw this one in there because the Bengals had one for so long. Drew Sample perhaps is our fullback if we used one. I would really like to see DJ Reader put a Domato Peko on the goaline and blow people up.
Tight Ends (3)
CJ Uzomah
Drew Sample
Cethan Carter
I am also not sold that Carter makes this team. I would like to see the Bengals explore the FA wire after cuts to see if we can get another pass catcher here. If Sample has not developed his all-around game a little more this could be an area of need since Burrow seems to like quick passes and TE’s can create space on linebackers. Watch this one closely on how it unfolds.
Offensive Line (8)
Jonah Williams
Michael Jordan
Trey Hopkins
Xavier Su’a-Filo
Bobby Hart (blah!)
Fred Johnson
Billy Price
Hakeem Adeniji
Alex Redmond seems to be the popular pick to survive after finally being healthy and he very well could. I see the Bengals keeping 8 and adding a 9th in FA or later in the season. This position group stinks so they need to find some depth elsewhere and I would like to see them find a quality right-side backup among the cap casualties and veteran cuts this weekend.
Defensive Linemen (9)
Carlos Dunlap
Geno Atkins
DJ Reader
Sam Hubbard
Carl Lawson
Mike Daniels
Andrew Brown
Khalid Kareem
Freedom Akinmoladun
Nine or ten is always the question here and I think they go nine. After the starters there are a lot of unknowns and camp news has not helped us flesh this one out. Ideally guys stay healthy and we do not worry about depth past the starters and rotational guys but injuries do happen. This is another area that I think we could find a defensive end or even a DT veteran to add to the mix. With guys like Wren (IR) and Tupou opting out it made this position group weird to figure out.
Linebackers (5)
Josh Bynes
Logan Wilson
Germaine Pratt
Akeem Davis-Gaither
Markus Bailey
The above list is frightening. There is a lot of raw talent with little experience and we are hoping that one of the rookie linebackers is a hit. Pratt is probably our best starter and Bynes got a lot of hype for being average in Baltimore and a situational player. Going into the offseason the worry was OL and LB and those are still our worries. I’d like to see a veteran added here for depth.
Cornerbacks (7)
William Jackson III
Trae Waynes
Mackensie Alexander
Darrius Phillips
LeShaun Sims
Tony Brown
Winston Rose
For being a “bubble guy” I really want to see Winston Rose make this team. He was a baller in the CFL and at a depth position is worth taking the flyer on. Let the guy develop in our system and see what we have. Stash a few guys on the PS and call them up if the injury bug hits. Waynes is the big unknown and I would like to have seen us make a play for Darqueze Dennard in the offseason to shore this up a bit.
Safeties (4)
Vonn Bell
Williams Bates III
Shawn Williams
Brandon Wilson
Slam dunk secondary picks. Look no further.
Special Teams (3)
Kevin Huber
Randy Bullock
Clark Harris
Same as the safeties this is who we are rolling with. A consistent group who produces year after year.