3 criticisms about the Bengals initial 53-man roster in 2023

The Cincinnati Bengals cropped their roster to 53 players this week ahead of their Week 1 regular-season matchup against the Cleveland Browns. Some of the decisions made sense while others were a little more puzzling.

Even Super Bowl caliber teams can make strange decisions and the Bengals certainly had some head-scratching ones when compiling their final roster.

Let's look at three criticisms about the Bengals' 53-man roster.

Before we dive in, I didn't include cutting Raymond Johnson here because the Bengals more than likely tried to keep him on their practice squad but he left for an opportunity where he's probably going to see more playing time. The Bengals were deep enough on the defensive line that we all saw the Johnson cut coming.

Why is Trey Hill on the roster?

I saw a tweet (or post -- Is that what we're calling them now?) shortly after the roster cut deadline that was spot on. It was about Trey Hill and how the Bengals clearly see something in him that no one else seems to see.

Hill was a sixth-round pick by the Bengals in the 2021 draft and has offered very little to the team since joining them two years ago. He's played in just 217 snaps since entering the league and has left much to be desired.

Even after a brutal preseason where Hill looked atrocious, he still made the final roster though. What gives?

The Bengals even had Max Scharping take snaps at center so that they'd have a backup option should anything happen to Ted Karras but somehow, someway, Trey Hill is still on the roster.

It really does appear that Hill made the team so that the Bengals had as much depth on the offensive line as possible because the former Georgia Bulldog did not earn his way onto the team.