The Bengals may have turned a few heads with their 53-man depth chart, especially along the right side of the offensive line.
The Bengals released an official depth chart yesterday, mimicking closely our projected depth chart following the roster cuts. The team obviously did not include Burfict on their depth chart since he will be suspended for the first four weeks of the season. Remember that he’ll be slotted in at WLB once he comes back.
Overall, there isn’t much to digest here. The depth chart hasn’t varied too much from their initial depth chart, so the shock factor is pretty minimal. The Bengals are still leaning on their veterans as much as possible, listing them ahead of rookies in many cases (for instance, Tony McRae ahead of Darius Phillips).
There are a couple notable listings that should catch your eye, though. The primary surprise comes at right guard, where it seems Alex Redmond has won the starting job. Christian Westerman had been the star of training camp, playing better than literally every other linemen on the team. Westerman, though, is stuck backing up Clint Boling for now. Hopkins, who had a solid preseason as well, was seemingly in the lead for the job. However, it looks like Redmond usurped him at the last minute.
Late on this, but first regular season depth chart for the Bengals has Alex Redmond as starting RG. pic.twitter.com/1SuItMMjuU
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) September 4, 2018
Another surprising starter was Bobby Hart, who did not play particularly well in the preseason. Hart has been a mini-disaster since last season, so him getting the job over Jake Fisher is shocking. Fisher is currently backing up Cordy Glenn at left tackle, although he may get his chance at right tackle yet. If Hart flops to start the year, Fisher (or, yuck, even Cedric Ogbuehi) should get his crack at the job.
The last oddity from the depth chart was Carl Lawson’ placement. Lawson was listed as the last defensive end on the chart, behind Michael Johnson, Carlos Dunlap, Jordan Willis, and Sam Hubbard. That simply will not hold up on the field, as Lawson will play on at least 45% of snaps this season. He will also have a bigger impact than just about anyone on the line, other than Dunlap. It is a sham to place Lawson this low.