The Bengals haven’t released an official depth chart accompanying their moves, but this is what the initial depth chart should look like.
With the releases the Bengals made today, we get our first look at what the final 53-man roster will look like. As has been made very clear today, the team as it stands right now will not be the team in a week. There will be plenty of additions from other teams’ roster casualties, which will squeeze out some of these fringe guys.
Also, it seems pretty clear now that the Bengals plan to add Michael Johnson back into the fold. Johnson had a fairly large salary entering the year, so the plan to release and add him back was a move to reduce his cap hit for 2018. Also, it allows the Bengals to do some cap gymnastics and maneuver their way around the initial cuts.
Regardless, here’s what the Bengals have cut down to for the time being. The Bengals have not put out an official depth chart, so the order of these players are my projection of what the Bengals believe their depth chart looks like. Without further ado, the first look at the 53-man roster.
Offense
WR: AJ Green, Josh Malone, Cody Core
WR: Tyler Boyd, John Ross, Alex Erickson, Auden Tate
LT: Cordy Glenn, Cedric Ogbuehi
LG: Clint Boling, Christian Westerman
C: Billy Price
RG: Trey Hopkins, Alex Redmond
RT: Jake Fisher, Bobby Hart
QB: Andy Dalton, Jeff Driskel
RB: Joe Mixon, Giovani Bernard, Tra Carson, Mark Walton
TE: Tyler Eifert, Tyler Kroft, CJ Uzomah, Mason Schreck
Defense
DE: Carlos Dunlap, Sam Hubbard
DT: Geno Atkins, Ryan Glasgow
DT: Andrew Billings, Josh Tupou
DE: Carl Lawson, Jordan Willis
WLB: Jordan Evans, Malik Jefferson
MLB: Preston Brown, Hardy Nickerson
SLB: Nick Vigil, Vincent Rey
CB: William Jackson III, Darius Phillips, Tony McRae
SS: Shawn Williams, Clayton Fejedelem
FS: Jessie Bates, Brandon Wilson
CB: Dre Kirkpatrick, Darqueze Dennard, Davontae Harris
Special Teams
K: Randy Bullock
P: Kevin Huber
LS: Clark Harris