Will William Jackson III’s Injury Hurt the Bengals?
The Cincinnati Bengals first round draft pick is the first major casualty of the 2016 season, but will it really hurt this Bengals secondary?
Bengals first rounder William Jackson suffered a torn pec, source said. Big blow.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) August 2, 2016
The Cincinnati Bengals are known for giving rookies an adjustment period, and aren’t typically afraid of injured rookies. Last season, first round pick, Cedric Ogbuehi sat for a large part of his rookie year, Darqueze Dennard has had injury concerns in both his rookie year and sophomore year. Injuries are nothing new to the Bengals young players.
William Jackson III was the Cincinnati Bengals first round draft pick and 24th overall pick of the 2016 draft. However the glory of his rookie season came to a screeching halt with news of Jackson III’s injury, a torn pectoral muscle. He was expected to see some field time in 2016. However, nothing pointed to the Bengals making a huge change in their starting corners and make Jackson III replace either corner.
The injury does hurt the Bengals in one way, it hurts their depth at corner. Depth and Injuries were something the Bengals secondary struggled with late last season. Dennard was placed on IR late in the 2015 season. Dre Kirkpatrick was injured for most of the season, even though he played through his shoulder injury.
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The Bengals aren’t to concerned yet with depth. On top of having Dre Kirkpatrick, Adam Jones, and Darqueze Dennard, they also have Chris Lewis-Harris and Josh Shaw to round out their corner depth. The only player they haven’t brought back for the 2016 season, is free agent Leon Hall, which could be a move the Bengals make depending on the severity of Jackson III’s pectoral tear.
The Bengals have nothing to worry about with their current depth, but if the injury bug bites again at corner, they may have to make an unwanted move to counter. Let’s just hope the rest can remain healthy.