Bengals Release First Official Depth Chart of 2018

The Bengals have made public their first official depth chart ahead of their first preseason game against the Chicago Bears on Thursday.

The Bengals finally released their first official depth chart, and there weren’t too many surprises. Aside from the obvious positions, the team listed mostly veterans atop the depth chart to start the year. This is fairly typical, as teams don’t want to give their young players a sense of complacency heading into the season. For the Bengals, they tend to lean on veterans to start the year anyways, so this really should not come as a surprise to fans.

One thing to keep in mind as you look at this initial depth chart – this is not a guarantee at all. Most of the positions with contested camp battles have a placeholder starter right now (for instance, Trey Hopkins is starting at right guard). Though that player could certainly win the job, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re in the lead at the moment. Regardless, let’s take a look at what the Bengals released.

Offense

QB: Andy Dalton, Matt Barkley, Jeff Driskel, Logan Woodside
RB: Joe Mixon, Giovani Bernard, Mark Walton, Tra Carson, Brian Hill, Jarveon Williams, Quinton Flowers, Ray Lawry
LWR: AJ Green, Josh Malone, Cody Core, Auden Tate, Devonte Boyd, Kayaune Ross
RWR: Tyler Boyd, John Ross, Alex Erickson, Kermit Whitfield, Ka’Raun White, Jared Murphy
H-B: Ryan Hewitt, Cethan Carter, Jordan Franks
TE: Tyler Eifert, Tyler Kroft, C.J. Uzomah, Mason Schreck, Moritz Bohringer
LT: Cordy Glenn, Jake Fisher, Justin Murray, Austin Fleer
LG: Clint Boling, Christian Westerman, Cory Helms
C: Billy Price, T.J. Johnson, Brad Lundblade
RG: Trey Hopkins, Alex Redmond
RT: Bobby Hart, Cedric Ogbuehi, Kent Perkins

Defense

LDE: Carlos Dunlap, Sam Hubbard
NT: Andrew Billings, Chris Baker, Josh Tupou, Chris Okoye
DT: Geno Atkins, Ryan Glasgow, Andrew Brown, Eddy Wilson
RDE: Michael Johnson, Jordan Willis, Carl Lawson
SAM: Nick Vigil, Vinny Rey, Brandon Bell
MIKE: Preston Brown, Hardy Nickerson, Junior Joseph
WIL: Vontaze Burfict, Jordan Evans, Malik Jefferson, Chris Worley
LCB: Dre Kirkpatrick, Darqueze Dennard, Davontae Harris, Sojourn Shelton, C.J. Goodwin
RCB: William Jackson, KeiVarae Russell, Tony McRae, Darius Phillips
SS: Shawn Williams, Clayton Fejedelem, Brandon Wilson, Trayvon Henderson
FS: George Iloka, Jessie Bates, Josh Shaw, Tyrice Beverette

Special Teams

K: Randy Bullock, Jonathan Brown
P: Kevin Huber
LS: Clark Harris
H: Kevin Huber
KR: Alex Erickson, Darius Phillips, Brandon Wilson
PR: Alex Erickson, Tyler Boyd, Jessie Bates

On offense, nothing here is too surprising. The obvious talking point is the listing of Trey Hopkins and Bobby Hart as the starting RG and RT. Both could be the starters, but they are likely just placeholders for now. Other intriguing listings are Barkley ahead of Driskel at QB and Boyd ahead of Ross at RWR. Also, the Bengals buried Quinton Flowers on the depth chart at RB.

On defense, it’s much of the same. The most noteworthy listing is Carl Lawson as the third RDE, which is an absolute joke. Lawson won’t play as the third defensive end in the regular season – this is just a formality. Other than Lawson, Billings starting at nose tackle for the Bengals over Chris Baker is a really positive sign. Besides those two, there is nothing else of note on this defensive depth chart.

The special teams has nothing out of place either. Bullock is unsurprisingly the starter over Jon Brown, and Huber and Harris are locked into their roles. Alex Erickson has both return jobs right now, which follows from the last two seasons. If he performs well in camp, he will likely keep those jobs. Overall, there is nothing really crazy going on in this first Bengals depth chart.