Bengals 53-man roster prediction after preseason Week 2
- Who wins the QB2 job?
- How many RBs and WRs will the Bengals carry?
- Who makes the stacked DL?
Bengals 53-man roster prediction
Tight End (3): Irv Smith Jr., Drew Sample, Mitchell Wilcox
Wilcox isn't off the PUP list yet but he was practicing on Monday so I'll give him the TE3 spot. Smith and Sample are both basically locks to make the team. I'm bummed that Tanner Hudson won't make it but maybe he'll get activated later on in the season.
Offensive Line (9): Orlando Brown Jr., Cordell Volson, Ted Karras, Alex Cappa, Jonah Williams, Jackson Carman, Max Scharping, La'el Collins, D'Ante Smith
Usually, when I do these roster predictions, I try to give every starter on the offensive line a backup but that wasn't necessary here. If Brown gets injured, Williams will shift to left tackle, and Collins -- assuming he's healthy -- will take over at right tackle. Carman can play a few different positions if needed, Scharping can play guard and center if needed, and Smith is also someone who can bounce around to different spots.
Defensive Line (10): Sam Hubbard, B.J. Hill, D.J. Reader, Trey Hendrickson, Cam Sample, Joseph Ossai, Zach Carter, Myles Murphy, Josh Tupou, Jay Tufele
This is another position where it's going to be tough to cut people because of all of the quality depth here. Sample, Ossai, Carter, and Murphy were all recent draft picks plus the first three have played pretty well this preseason. Tupou has been a nice backup piece to have over the years and Tufele has been solid in the preseason.