After adding so much talent to the roster this offseason, the Cincinnati Bengals are bracing for one of the most hotly competitive training camps in franchise history.
Players once drafted high will be scrapping for reps. Incumbents are keen to keep their spots. The electrifying, new veterans to the locker room are out to set a new tone in Cincinnati — one that finally returns this Joe Burrow-led team to the playoffs.
Fired up yet? Let's look closer at the most pivotal position battles that will unfold in the heat of summer.
Bengals' sudden depth at defensive tackle will trigger some tough decisions
When a big name like Jonathan Allen is the third-most noteworthy offseason addition to your defensive line, you might be doing something right. This is indeed a new era of Bengals football, baby.
Allen will split snaps with tenured Bengal B.J. Hill while predominantly aligning next to mammoth nose tackle Dexter Lawrence. The two-time All-Pro figures to elevate the quality of the entire defense with his dominance in the trenches.
After that exceptional core d-tackle trio, it's anyone's guess how the rest of the roster will look at defensive tackle. Past Day 2 draft picks Kris Jenkins Jr. and McKinnley Jackson are on the roster bubble. Rookie Landon Robinson will be in the mix. Shoot, even Jordan Jefferson has tantalizing physical tools to work with.
Last but not least is T.J. Slaton, the "splashiest" outside free-agent acquisition of last offseason. Slaton was supposed to be some dope run stopper. The Bengals finished 32nd in run defense.
That's how you get Dexter Lawrence mogging you for your job. Slaton and Jackson are the team's true nose tackles behind Sexy Dexy. Could Cincinnati opt to keep Jackson, andsave $6.66 million by cutting Slaton loose to make room for another big move? It wouldn't shock me.
We're living in a world where all there of the Bengals' 2024 Day 2 picks in Jenkins, Jackson, and the already-departed Jermaine Burton could be off the 2026 53-man roster. Wowza.
Who’s who in the zoo at nickelback?
Can we just say Dax Hill is starting as a boundary cornerback? The last time we heard from Hill publicly, that hadn't been made clear to him yet. In other words, he could still play in the slot, where he started last season before circling back to his best position.
Jalen Davis did a fantastic job down the stretch of last season at nickelback. Nevertheless, there's any number of ways Cincinnati could attack that position and deploy its safety group.
First of all, Ja'Sir Taylor and Bralyn Lux aren't out of the race to start. Secondly, Kyle Dugger and Bryan Cook have the flexibility to play box safety or in the slot and have plenty of experience doing so.
I mean, the Bengals made three external moves to address safety/nickel in Cook, Dugger, and Taylor. What are we doing with this whole Dax Hill situation? If he's not announced as an unquestioned starter on Day 1 of camp, we're gonna have some problems.
Tight end is one of the low-key most fascinating positions on Bengals' roster
Mike "Tino" Gesicki (Tight end in name only) aligns far more often as a slot receiver than an inline tight end. He is, for all intents and purposes, Cincinnati's WR3. Not Andrei Iosivas.
Thus, that makes the Bengals' tight end puzzle a lot more interesting. The organization can't seem to quit Drew Sample because of his blocking ability, which appears to be declining of late. Erick All Jr. missed a good chunk of his rookie year and all of last season due to a complicated knee problem that required multiple surgeries.
Seventh-round pick Jack Endries went on a baffling skid down draft boards and could've easily been selected a few rounds before Cincnnati got him. All Endries did in college was catch passes from Fernando Mendoza at Cal and Arch Manning at Texas. Heard of 'em?
Endries will need to eclipse a solid pass-catcher in Tanner Hudson if he wants to sneak into any 12 or 13 personnel packages the Bengals might deploy. However, Burrow and head coach Zac Taylor like to stick to 11 personnel for the most part, which is one back, one tight end, and three wide receivers.
Some of that personnel/formation usage is muddied by the fact that Gesicki is, again, a tight end in name only. In any case, I'm keeping my eye on Endries to see if he can steal snaps from Sample. And we'll see just how healthy All is, because if he's good to go, he could for sure be Cincinnati's best overall tight end.
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