Final Bengals 53-Man Roster Projections: Offense
By Jack Lane
You’ve seen all our positional projections – now we are tying it all together. Today, we project the Bengals final offensive roster.
We’ve done roster projections for every position on the Bengals, but now we will bring it all together. If you want to go back to the individual articles, use the links on each position. When we did each position, there were a few guys on the fringe. In compiling these final 53-man projections, I had to make some tough decisions.
For the first part of the roster projections, we’re looking at only the offense. The starters shouldn’t change too much from last year, save from the offensive line. Overall, the offense will look fairly similar to last year.
Quarterback: Andy Dalton
Running Back: Joe Mixon
Wide Receiver: AJ Green, John Ross, Tyler Boyd
Tight End: Tyler Eifert
Offensive Line: Cordy Glenn, Clint Boling, Billy Price, Trey Hopkins, Jake Fisher
Of the 11 projected starters listed above, eight of these players are returning starters from last year. Only Ross, Glenn, and Price weren’t starters for the Bengals last season. Most of these guys shouldn’t have any trouble getting into the starting lineup, but there will be a few competitions on the offense.
At wide receiver, AJ Green will of course start, but opposite him is up in the air. A healthy John Ross should get the nod as the WR2, but it is not a guarantee. Also, Tyler Boyd could definitely be the starting slot receiver, but Brandon LaFell will push him for that role. On the right side of the line, Hopkins and Fisher will have to battle with Christian Westerman and Bobby Hart, respectively.
The entire offense also won’t have too many surprises on it. The most notable positional battles will be at quarterback and running back, but even those results shouldn’t shock many Bengals fans. Here is the offensive roster Stripe Hype predicts for the Bengals.
Quarterback: Dalton, Matt Barkley
Running Back: Mixon, Giovani Bernard, Mark Walton
Wide Receiver: Green, Ross, Boyd, Brandon LaFell, Josh Malone, Cody Core, Auden Tate
Tight End: Eifert, Tyler Kroft, CJ Uzomah
Offensive Line: Glenn, Boling, Price, Hopkins, Fisher, Christian Westerman, Bobby Hart, Alex Redmond
The two biggest cuts I had to make were at the quarterback and running back positions. In our individual articles, we mentioned both Logan Woodside and Quinton Flowers as possibilities to make the team. However, when paring to 53 guys, it was impossible to keep either of those players. Last season, the Bengals rolled with two quarterbacks and three running backs, so these cuts maintains that trend as well.
Overall, this offense looks pretty solid. Even though the players themselves are largely the same, there should be internal improvement. Dalton should rebound from a poor 2017. Green should once again pace the league in receiving yards. Second year players Mixon and Ross should have massive improvements. If everyone hits their peak, the Bengals offense should explode in 2018.