Bengals cornerback position continues to be listed as weak link

After shocking the world and making the Super Bowl in the 2021 season, the Cincinnati Bengals have managed to keep a strong roster together. One position has to be the weak link, however, and to most people, when it comes to the Bengals, cornerback is the weakest. 

This time last year, the weakest link on the Cincinnati Bengals‘ roster was easy to figure out. The offensive line proved they were holding the team back throughout the season but the front office went to work in making sure that wouldn’t be the case again in 2022.

With the revamped o-line, another position now has to hold the sad honor of being perceived as the weakest and for the Bengals, its cornerback.

Now, the cornerback position isn’t bad by any means. Chidobe Awuzie is coming back for year two and he put together a solid inaugural season in 2021. Eli Apple started out rough but came around in the second half of the year. The Bengals probably don’t make the Super Bowl without him.

Apple re-signed with the team this offseason on an affordable contract and he’ll be battling it out with Cam Taylor-Britt and Daxton Hill for the starting job this year.

Speaking of those guys, they were the Bengals’ first two picks in this year’s draft. Hill was their first-round pick and Taylor-Britt went in the second round. Both guys will get a lot of work in the secondary but expecting two rookies to come in and light it up is a tall task.

Cornerback still perceived as weakness for Bengals

Josh Edwards of CBS Sports discussed every AFC team’s biggest weakness as of now and cornerback was what he said for the Bengals.

"The Bengals were able to squeeze the most out of Eli Apple and Chidobe Awuzie last season. They have since added Cam Taylor-Britt. It would be unrealistic to expect a similar level of production out of that group this season. They lack a true lockdown boundary player that opens up so many scheming possibilities for the defense as a whole."

It’s not hard to see why cornerback would be the pick here. Awuzie was good in the regular season but he fell off big time in the playoffs. Apple was fine but he isn’t the long-term answer moving forward.

If the rookies can step up and play well, cornerback won’t be looked at as a weakness this time next year.