5 Bengals at risk of losing their roster spots from last year
- Defensive line is stacked
- Receivers in danger
- QB has to prove himself
- Former second-round pick could be a cut candidate
By Glenn Adams
4. and 3. (or 3 and 4) Trent Taylor and Stanley Morgan
The Bengals will keep a maximum of seven wide receivers on cutdown day. Tee Higgins, Ja’Marr Chase, Tyler Boyd, and Trenton Irwin are locks. Charlie Jones is a lock as long as he does not end up on the PUP or IR list due to a shoulder injury.
That leaves two spots for Trent Taylor, Stanley Morgan, Andrei Iosivas, and Kwamie Lassiter II to fight for.
Surprisingly, Cincinnati used two draft picks on wide receivers this past draft. The team selected Jones in the fourth round and Iosivas in the sixth.
Iosivas is impressing the coaching staff and quickly becoming a fan favorite.
Anonymous @Bengals player on Andrei Iosivas during practice:
— Mike Brown SZN (@Original_Anees) August 15, 2023
“He walked in our locker room & walked right by me.”
“He tapped CTB on the leg & said, ‘Lace em up, it’s gonna be a long f–-king practice.’”
The @Bengals rookie wide receiver is no joke 👀👀 pic.twitter.com/9tfXS75BHX
Now the prevailing thought is Iosivas could be locking up one of the final two spots. If true, the last spot could come down to Morgan and Taylor. This would not be ideal for special teams coach Darrin Simmons.
Morgan has been a special teams maven since joining the team in 2019. He had 11 tackles on special teams last year. He has also proven himself as a valuable blocker in the run game on offense.
There are many Bengals roster projections around. Most of them have Taylor on the outside looking in. However, Taylor is the starting punt returner and one of the best in the NFL.
If the team were to part ways with the veteran, replacing him could be more strenuous than many are accounting for. Furthermore, he is a capable receiver currently listed as the second-string slot receiver on the Bengals’ depth chart.
Either way, losing Morgan or Taylor would not be ideal for Simmons’ plans for his special teams unit. Yet one, or perhaps even both, if Cincinnati only keeps six receivers, are in danger of losing their roster spots from last year.