Bengals: 53-Man Roster Prediction following Jets Game

The Bengals will have to consider special teams contributions more heavily when making the final roster decisions. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

The Bengals potential regular season roster is further taking shape following Saturday night’s game versus the Jets.  The starter’s have looked fantastic, but the reserves have looked very shaky in all three phases of the game.  Reserves are the primary special teams players and the Bengals have struggled incredibly on special teams thus far during this preseason.  The positive of this preseason was pointed out by Marvin Lewis,  following the Jets game, when he spoke about having the opportunity to get a lot of these reserves onto the field and getting “good evaluations” on them.  Hopefully this will enable the Bengals to address their depth concerns as special teams play, turnovers, and penalties have plagued this unit, problems that are reminiscent of years past.  With that said here’s a look at the current projection of the Bengals final 53-man roster.

Special Teams (3)

Oct 27, 2013; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals kicker Mike Nugent (2) kicks a field goal against the New York Jets during the first half at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports

(P) Ken Huber, (K) Mike Nugent, (LS) Clark Harris

The Bengals special teamers will continue to be the same this year.  Earlier this off-season Darrin Simmons mentioned a possible battle for the kicker job, but this battle has slowly settled to the point that Mike Nugent is taking all the kicks as Quinn Sharp seems to be falling completely out of consideration.  These three have been some of the few bright spots for the Bengals special teams.  Ken Huber has fully recovered from last year’s broken jaw and has continued to punt like a Pro-Bowler.  Versus the Jets, Huber had five punts that averaged 47 yards while two punts were downed within the Jet’s 20.  Nugent made his lone field goal attempt in the  game, a 42 yard attempt, and is now a perfect two for two this preseason.  The kicker job looks to be Nugent’s and will remain so unless he loses it for himself.