With two preseason games complete and two more to go, below is my mid-preseason 53 man roster prediction for the Bengals based on what I’ve seen thus far. The most heated roster battle appears to be at wide receiver, especially when it comes to who the 4th and 5th receivers will be. The Bengals usually keep 6 receivers on the 53 man roster and there seems to be much debate as to whether Brandon Tate will make the team this year as the teams primary return man or if he will be cut as college free agent WR Alex Erickson has shined when he has had opportunity both returning punts and catching the football. Injuries have sidelined receivers such as Mario Alford and Jake Kumerow so we shall see if they are able to contribute over the final two preseason games.
Below is how I see the roster shaping up at this point, the number I think the team keeps at each position is in parenthesis.
Quarterbacks (2): Andy Dalton, A.J. McCarron
Running Backs (4): Jeremy Hill, Giovani Bernard, Cedric Peerman, Rex Burkhead
Wide Receivers (6): A.J. Green, Brandon LaFell, Tyler Boyd, Brandon Tate, James Wright, Cody Core
Tight Ends (4): Tyler Eifert, Tyler Kroft, C.J. Uzomah, Ryan Hewitt
Offensive Lineman (9): Andrew Whitworth, Kevin Zeitler, Russell Bodine, Clint Boling, Cedric Ogbuehi, Jake Fisher, Eric Winston, Christian Westerman, T.J. Johnson
Defensive Lineman (9): Carlos Dunlap, Geno Atkins, Domata Peko, Michael Johnson, Will Clarke, Pat Sims, Marcus Hardison, Margus Hunt, DeShawn Williams
PUP: Brandon Thompson
IR: Andrew Billings
Linebackers (6): Rey Maualuga, Karlos Dansby, Vincent Rey, Nick Vigil, P.J. Dawson, Marquis Flowers
Suspended: Vontaze Burfict
Defensive Backs (10): Adam Jones, Dre Kirkpatrick, Darqueze Dennard, Josh Shaw, Chris Lewis-Harris, George Iloka, Shawn Williams, Derron Smith, Jimmy Wilson, Clayton Fejedelem
IR: William Jackson III
Special Teams (3): Mike Nugent, Kevin Huber, Clark Harris