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Deepest Position Groups on the 2017 Cincinnati Bengals’ Roster

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There are certain Cincinnati Bengals position groups that we hate to see get hit by the injury bug (quarterback, linebacker, offensive line). While you never want anyone to get hurt, it is comforting as a fan to know that an injury to a position group won’t have you popping a Zantac.

So we took a look at the Bengals’ roster and found two places where the team has some serious depth. These are the groups that can survive a few dings in 2017.

Deepest Cincinnati Bengals Offensive Position Group – Wide Receiver

What a difference a year makes. At one point in 2016, the Cincinnati Bengals were just one A.J. injury away from having a Cleveland Browns-caliber passing attack.

Fast forward to this year. Green is healthy and ready to go. Tyler Boyd had a fine rookie campaign (54 catches, 603 yards) and has a high ceiling. He’s ready to take the next step in his career. Brandon LaFell averaged 13.5 yards per reception. Draft picks John Ross and Josh Malone and second-year man Cody Core are impressing so far.

Them, plus several youngsters and pass-catching tight end Tyler Eifert, means one thing. This group is deep enough that you can put diving boards over it.

Deepest Cincinnati Bengals Defensive Position Group – Defensive Tackle

A lot of good DTs on your roster means you can rotate guys frequently. Keep them fresh. Withstand the rigors of a 16-game season. Oh, and stay in the face of the other team’s offense.

The good news for Cincy is they have the personnel to improve on their 21st-ranked rushing defense from last fall. Geno Atkins and Pat Sims are the veterans who bring seven and nine years of experience, respectively. Atkins consistently attracts double teams, notched nine sacks last year and is a disrupter.

The team has high hopes this season for Andrew Billings who was projected as a 1st or 2nd round draft pick in the 2016 draft but fell into the Bengals lap in the 4th round before missing his entire rookie season due to injury. DeShawn Williams is only in his second year out of Clemson, but is a 6’1” 295-lb Geno Atkins-like bowling ball who is tough to push around. Brandon Thompson is back after missing all of 2016 with an ACL tear, further adding to the depth. Marcus Hardison has looked impressive the past 2 preseasons but hasn’t been able to stay healthy to impact the regular season, throw in 2017 fourth round draft pick Ryan Glasgow out of Michigan and you can see the wealth of young talent this team will have competing to make the roster in training camp and the preseason.

Things are looking good for these two position groups. And if they are able to do their jobs well, things will look a lot better for the rest of the team.

Who Stays and Who Goes for Who Dey? – Part I

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To keep or not to keep? That’s the question for the Cincinnati Bengals’ brass as they begin making off-season decisions about which players they keep on the team and which ones will be suiting up for other squads come next fall. It’s a time that’s both exciting and agonizing. You know the questions: Who do we lose? Can we get that All-Pro receiver to go alongside AJ Green? I hope we get rid of so-and-so. And on, and on, and on.

We have a list of the Cincinnati Bengals’ so-and-sos who are unrestricted free agents in 2017. This is the first in a series of posts about them, and whether we think they’ll have tiger stripes on their helmets on opening weekend. Let’s get to it.

    1. Andrew Whitworth (left tackle) – Whitworth is perhaps the top priority for the Cincinnati Bengals to keep, as they saw improvement in their offensive line’s performance once they made some changes near the end of the season. Whitworth wasn’t one of those changes. He’s a proven football player who provides consistency for a group that desperately needs it. Yes, he’s 35 years old, but he won’t be pushed out of Cincinnati. In fact, at 6-7, 325 pounds, no one’s likely to push him anywhere. Re-sign (yep or nope): Yep 

    2. Domata Peko (defensive tackle) – This is a tough one. Not because of Peko’s stats, but the fact that he’s played his entire 11-year career in Cincinnati and has meant a lot to the team. He only had 37 tackles in 2016 as Cincinnati ranked 21st in the NFL in rushing defense. His most recent contract was 2 years, $9 million, and sadly, those aren’t numbers that are worth $4.5 million, or another contract. Re-sign (yep or nope): Nope

    3. Brandon LaFell (wide receiver) – We had high hopes for LaFell this year as a compliment to AJ Green. He was reasonably productive (64 catches for 862 yards), but inconsistent (5 games with 80+ yards receiving, 7 games with 3 catches or less). We think he still has some gas left in the tank at age 30, at least for another year in Cincinnati. But after that, who knows? Re-sign (yep or nope): Yep

My Preseason Game 1, Vikings vs Bengals Experience

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I made the 4 hour drive north from Nashville to Cincinnati this past Friday to see the Bengals host the Minnesota Vikings as they played preseason game number one. I arrived downtown about an hour before kickoff, found parking rather quickly downtown, scampered a few blocks over to the nearest Chipotle and scarfed down some tacos. I then walked a few blocks to Paul Brown Stadium to wait for my dad and two nephews to arrive as I was holding their tickets. I sat outside near the Pro Shop where I found some much needed shade. I could hear the “Star Spangled Banner” being sung in the background while I sat sweating bullets…in the shade.

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I missed kickoff and the first offensive and defensive series by the Bengals which basically meant I missed watching all of the starters play in this game. I was able to hear A.J. Green make 3 receptions over the loud speaker and Mike Nugent miss a 48 yard field goal.

A few minutes later my guys arrived and we made our way to the third deck about halfway into the first quarter. We witnessed a nice long methodical drive by the Bengals offense lead by A.J. McCarron which ended with zero points after moving the football 89 yards on 22 plays. The Vikings took over at their own 4 yard line which lead to the Bengals backups missing a golden opportunity to get a Safety and take a 2 point lead, instead the Vikings drove down the field and Teddy Bridgewater threw a 49 yard touchdown to WR Charles Johnson who smoked Bengals CB Chykie Brown on the play.

#WhoDey #MINvsCIN

A photo posted by Bengals Talk (@bengalstalk) on

We witnessed a lot of sub par football but there were some bright spots such as the play of rookie LB Nick Vigil who seemed to be all over the place and made some nice plays, also the young WR group did fairly well as Cody Core had 3 receptions, Tyler Boyd had a stellar 40 yard diving reception just before Alex Erickson scored the 1st TD of the preseason with a 3 yard grab from McCarron. The best and most electric play of the night for the Bengals came late in the 4th quarter when Alex Erickson returned a punt over 80 yards for a touchdown to cut the Vikings lead to one point with less than 3 minutes left in the game. Coach Lewis elected to go for the 2 point conversion which failed and the Bengals came up a hair short on the scoreboard losing by a final score of 17-16. The good thing is the team finished the game without any major injuries occurring as a result of the game and we are now less than 1 month away from regular season football!