Bengals: 3 position battles to watch in Week 1 of preseason
By Alex Austin
Cincinnati Bengals Position Battles to Watch – No. 3: Secondary
On defense, most of the starting spots are filled. The defensive line does not seem like there will be much movement with the starters, but more so with backups and depth players.
Germaine Pratt and Logan Wilson seem promising to fill two spots and linebacker while Trae Waynes and Chidobe Awuize look like they will handle the outside corner responsibilities. The battle will hot for the last linebacker spot, cornerback backups, and which position the Bengals choose to keep more of. The linebacker battle is coming down to Akeem Davis-Gaither and Markus Bailey with both players needing a strong showing to put space between themselves.
Cornerback is up in the air for backups with Eli Apple, Darius Phillips, and Tony Brown on the inside track to make the team. The players outside of this group will have to really impress to show that they belong on the 53-man roster.
There is usually some wiggle room in the number of players from each position that makes the team, and cornerback and linebacker are both positions the Bengals need help with. If anyone has a great preseason out of this group it could force out one of the favorites.
This will be an area where watching the second quarter and beyond will start to give an idea of the formation Cincinnati will use as their base more often and which players will be involved moving forward.