There are plenty of key position battles brewing for the Cincinnati Bengals as the team prepares for the 2020 season.
Anytime a team ends the season with the number one pick, a roster overhaul usually follows shortly after. The Bengals are no exception, with several key spots that look to be upgraded after this offseason.
Training camp is the perfect time to find out who tops the depth chart at various positions. There are several areas where a previous starter is going to be challenged by a new player on the roster brought in either through free agency or the draft.
Watching these training camp battles unfold helps the coaching staff understand where the strengths and weaknesses of the new team are going to be. Under Marvin Lewis, preference was often given to the more experienced player, regardless of skill level. However, Zac Taylor has shown a tendency to put the best players out on the field. This is good news for some of the recent draft picks who want to take on significant roles in their first year.
Cincinnati clearly needs a lot of help and significant upgrades across the board in order to have any level of success, but there are five key position battles that will have the biggest impact on the upcoming season.
Bengals position battle: Drew Sample or C.J. Uzomah
Joe Burrow was able to thrive at LSU for a lot of reasons, but one of the biggest factors in his success is the fact that he had plenty of players that created matchup problems for opposing defenses. He had players across the board who were almost impossible for opposing players to guard one on one. Moving to the NFL, the group of matchup mismatches becomes smaller, but one area that it can shine is with the tight end position.
Across the NFL, tight ends have left their mark on the game by dominating in the red zone and in check down situations. Unfortunately, the Bengals have not had a dominant tight end in a long time.
Tyler Eifert in his prime year (2015) was a monster who posed all kinds of matchup problems, which is why he was able to rack up 615 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns. Since then, injuries have prevented him from maintaining his status as a threat.
With Eifert gone, another player needs to step up and fill that role. Last year, C.J. Uzomah started all 16 games but ended up with just 242 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns. Drew Sample was drafted by Cincinnati in the second round of the 2019 draft but was virtually non-existent as a rookie.
Cincinnati needs one of these two players to separate themselves and become a tight end that must be accounted for by the opposing defense.
Bengals position battle: Filling Out the Wide Receiving Corps
When everybody is healthy, the Bengals have one of the most talented wide receiver groups in the NFL. Anchored by perennial pro-bowler A.J. Green and slot receiver Tyler Boyd, Cincinnati should have plenty of weapons to help Joe Burrow in his transition.
The biggest question from this group revolves around the spot opposite of Green. Last year, John Ross was the primary choice to line up as the second wide receiver, but he had plenty of highs and lows throughout the season and did not solidify his spot in the lineup.
In order to find a solution, the Bengals drafted Tee Higgins in the second round. The wide receiver out of Clemson has high potential and could be looked at as a future star.
One question that will need to be answered here is what Zac Taylor wants out of the position. Ross brings blinding speed and can open up the defense vertically. Higgins is not as fast but he has an impressive frame and showed excellent hands in college. There is also the ability to grow Burrow and Higgins together that might appeal to the coaching staff.
Both Ross and Higgins should see time on the field this year, but it might come down to who Burrow connects with better that gives the edge in this battle.
Bengals position battle: Does Cincinnati have any solution at linebacker?
Linebacker has long been an area that Cincinnati has needed help with. The Bengals have gone a few years plugging in low tier free agents or later round draft picks to try to catch lightning in a bottle at the position. They have missed on almost every player and are still looking for solutions.
The strategy at linebacker did not change much for Cincinnati in 2020. The team brought in Josh Bynes from Baltimore and drafted three linebackers later in the draft. If the Bengals are going to stay competitive in the division, one of the linebackers needs to step up.
There are two incumbents for Cincinnati in Jordan Evans and Germaine Pratt. Evans did not get the opportunity to play much last season and he wasn’t great when he did play. Pratt played much more but scored worse in his overall performance, according to Pro Football Focus. The lack of production between these two led the Bengals to bring in Josh Bynes in free agency.
Bynes played in a limited role during his time with the Ravens last season but ended up grading out better than any player Cincinnati had at linebacker. While he does need to learn the Bengals’ system, he is a strong veteran presence that performed well when given the chance.
If the Bengals don’t go with one of these established players, they have three draft picks to choose from that could push for playing time. Logan Wilson, Akeem Davis-Gaither, and Markus Bailey were drafted by the Bengals in 2020. Out of this group, expect Wilson to be the most likely member to push for playing time. He got time to work with the coaching staff during the Senior Bowl and was high on their draft lift.
Whoever earns the starting status will need to perform much better than the linebacker group has performed in the past. Otherwise, Cincinnati’s defense will have a glaring hole once again.
Bengals position battle: The Offensive Line Needs to Protect Joe Burrow
Cincinnati has had one of the worst offensive lines in the league for a few years now. Many thought they would try to bring in a top-rated free agent or draft an offensive lineman high in the draft. Neither of those things happened. The Bengals brought in Xavier Su’a-Filo as the only upgrade to the unit, relying instead on young players to make leaps of improvement.
Jonah Williams is the only player that definitively has a spot going into 2020. The 2019 first-round pick was injured all of last year but will get the chance to lock down the left tackle spot this season.
The other tackle battle is between Fred Johnson and Bobby Hart. Hart played significantly more snaps last year but had a rocky road and put together a below-average campaign. Johnson had a limited number of snaps but performed better than Hart when given the chance. Whoever starts needs to continue to take a step in the right direction this year.
As for the middle of the line, there is a lot of uncertainty. Trey Hopkins performed best at the center spot last season and should end up starting there again. Xavier Su’a-Filo, Billy Price, and Michael Jordan are all battling for the two guard spots. Throw in the potential for the loser of the Hart-Johnson battle at right tackle and there could be four players fighting for two starting positions.
Su’a-Filo performed much better than Price or Jordan did last year, so there is the expectation that he will lock down one of the guard spots.
The unit needs to improve fast and doesn’t have the luxury of waiting for players to fully develop. With Joe Burrow beginning his tenure in Ohio, the offensive line needs to be more of a solution than a problem.
Bengals position battle: Joe Burrow’s backup
Most of the time when a quarterback battle is mentioned, it’s for the starting job. For the Bengals, there is no doubt who will be the quarterback this year. Joe Burrow was drafted number one and essentially beat out Andy Dalton as the team’s leader. The question for Cincinnati comes down to who ends up as the second-string quarterback.
The competition is between Ryan Finley and Jake Dolegala who are both entering their second year with the team. Finley was drafted in the fourth round of the draft while Dolegala was undrafted but picked up by the Bengals. Neither of these quarterbacks were highly touted out of college and saw little success last year.
Finley got the chance to start when Dalton was benched, but he proved himself more of a game manager and did not really have a positive impact in the contests he participated in. Rather than show the team he could be their guy, he proved the need to draft Burrow.
Dolegala has all of the physical attributes of an NFL quarterback but needs to become more consistent in order to solidify his spot as an NFL caliber player.
While this position battle is the least important to the overall success of the Bengals this year, if Joe Burrow goes down to injury for an extended period of time, the backup will be thrust into the limelight quickly. The coaching staff will need to choose between the game manager (higher-floor, lower-ceiling) or the raw prospect with the physical tools (low-floor, higher-ceiling) to push Burrow this year.