Key starter's injury a harsh reminder of Bengals' refusal to add crucial roster depth

Talk is cheap in training camp. There's a degree of rose-colored glasses — beer goggles if you're nasty — optimism coming from all 32 teams. Every Cincinnati Bengals fan wants to believe that there's no way Joe Burrow will allow the team to miss the playoffs yet again.

Problem is, much of the Bengals' fate in 2025 is out of Burrow's very capable hands, right arm, legs, and football quantum computer brain. We saw last year that even an MVP-level season from Burrow can, in rare instances, not be enough to guarantee a postseason berth.

As long as Burrow is healthy, Cincinnati's playoff hopes are very much alive. What I can't wrap my head around is why the Bengals feel like they're one injury away from abject disaster at almost every position group.

Safety Geno Stone suffers week-to-week injury

Head coach Zac Taylor revealed on Saturday that starting safety Geno Stone will miss some critical time leading up to the regular season with a soft tissue injury.

Ask anyone who cheers for any other team who's behind Stone on the Bengals' safety depth chart. I bet you a not-insignifcant majority would have no earthly idea who it is. The answer? Special teams ace Tycen Anderson. Or at least he was listed behind Stone at one of the safety spots.

I get the vibe that the safeties in new defensive coordinator Al Golden's scheme will be interchangeable to a large degree, given that they lacked a "FS" or "SS" designation here:

So it looks like one of the last lines of defense, rather than Stone for the time being, will be second-year, seventh-round pick Daijahn Anthony. You know, the dude who committed that defensive pass interference penalty in Kansas City last season to cost the Bengals the game and, ultimately, a playoff berth?

Taylor's words to the media on Saturday didn't exactly gong with conviction that a viable solution to Stone going down is currently in the building. Shout out The Athletic's boots on the ground Paul Dehner Jr. for the transcription:

"That's a group that we're looking to make sure we're deep enough there ... So I think it's a good chance to really see where they're at in their development. They've got to contribute on special teams. They've got to prove that they can walk in there and help us on defense as well. Those are guys that these next six practices will be really good for."

I know you can't have exceptional depth everywhere on the roster. That's not realistic to expect. What is frustrating is when you intentionally lean on low-drafted players at key spots when bargain-worthy veterans are still sitting out there in free agency.

Stone's injury has the silver lining that he should be back for Week 1's matchup with the Browns in Cleveland. Maybe the added reps for Anthony and Anderson could prove to be a blessing in disguise. Still doesn't take away from the main point I want to drive home, as these are two very unheralded players.

The Bengals' relative neglect of the right guard position reared its ugly head in the preseason opener already. Their version of a solution to that problem spot was signing journeyman Lucas Patrick to a 1-year deal and letting him duke it out with Cody Ford.

If you ask me...?

Speaking of risky, the gamble to render Trey Hendrickson disgruntled for a second straight offseason is backfiring in the form of a quaky-looking defensive unit. Hendrickson is the Bengals' pass rush. Shemar Stewart's encouraging play aside, there's not much depth on the d-line to speak of.

But at least the Bengals tried to address that area by signing TJ Slaton in free agency. I just don't get how you can look at Geno Stone's numbers from the 2024 campaign and think, "Yeah! Let's roll into '25 with that!"

Is it still so bold to say Geno might be a Ravens double-agent? The man had seven interceptions in 2023. He was dreadful most of last year. Now he's hurt. What happened??

There are other Bengals personalities out there who are banging the drum about the team's blindingly obvious issues that would cost a fraction of a prospective Trey Hendrickson extension to address.

Yet the front office, the Blackburns, Duke Tobin, and Mike Brown categorically refuse to do what is necessary. What I mean by that is, give Joe Burrow more than enough to contend for a Super Bowl. Maybe just one of these years!

Sad that this months-old tweet still applies today:

I swear it feels like there's this deliberate reality-defying, "MEH...good enough!" mentality around Bengals headquarters. As long as the powers that be internally feel like they did "good enough" to build the roster to a passable grade, they know Burrow can overcome any medley of issues that would torpedo most other teams' seasons.

Well how about going all-in? How about being as attack-minded about lifting a Lombardi Trophy as the face of your franchise is? Why all the reactivity? How about some proactivity? Like, you know, not waiting literal years to extend all your deserving, major players not named Joe Burrow!?

Anyway, bottom line is Geno Stone's injury is a grim reminder of the Cincinnati defense's fragile state and the fragility of this Bengals roster in general. My immense frustration from said roster-wide fragility stems from how entirely avoidable it is.

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