The Cincinnati Bengals head to Philadelphia on Friday night with a shot at their first undefeated preseason since 2006, but the bigger drama comes right after the final whistle.
Less than 48 hours later, the roster has to go from 88 players to 53. Most of those spots are already spoken for, but a few jobs are still up for grabs, and for the players hanging around the edge, this game is one last audition before the practice squad picture gets sorted out Monday.
At quarterback, the situation is straightforward. Joe Burrow and Joe Flacco are in, with Jake Browning out.
Burrow played just two series, and Flacco matched that workload while producing the team’s only touchdown in the game on a 4-yard pass to rookie tight end Jack Endries. The article projects Browning as a practice-squad holdover, and if Burrow stays healthy and other teams lose quarterbacks, trade calls could start coming in for Flacco.
That would leave the Bengals with a veteran whose value goes beyond the depth chart.
The receiver group also has a clear shape, with Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Andrei Iosivas listed as starters. Colbie Young, Dohnte Meyers and Ke’Shawn Williams are projected behind them, while Charlie Jones, Mitch Tinsley, Kendric Pryor, Xavier Johnson, Jordan Moore and Noah Thomas are on the outside looking in.
Meyers has benefited from first-team reps with Chase sidelined and has done extra work after practice with Burrow, which makes him feel like a lock. Williams has also gained ground in the return game, averaging 34.5 yards on two kick returns and 9.5 yards on two punt returns.
Jones has only one fair catch, and both Jones and Tinsley have seen their receiver reps shrink lately.
Tight end is another spot where the picture is mostly settled. Erick All Jr., Tanner Hudson and Jack Endries are projected to make the team, with Tanner McLachlan Grandy headed for the practice squad.
Endries, a rookie seventh-round pick, made noise on draft night when he was unhappy about falling that far, and he backed it up with a 4-yard touchdown and a 17-yard catch-and-run against the Lions, the Bengals’ second-longest pass play of the night. He also added a 7-yard catch against the Bears.
Since 2006-23, Cincinnati never kept more than four tight ends, but the team has carried five in each of the last two seasons because Gesicki is a tight end in name only.
The offensive line projects with Orlando Brown Jr., Dylan Fairchild, Ted Karras, Dalton Risner and Amarius Mims as the starters. Connor Lew, Brian Parker II, Jalen Rivers and Javon Foster are the backups.
Andrew Coker, Corey Robinson II, Christian Jones, Jacob Bayer and Liam Brown are projected to miss. The Bengals are expected to open with the same five they used in the previous finale, something they haven’t done in a season opener since 2010.
Cody Ford’s release means the depth behind them is very young, with rookies Parker and Lew, second-year player Rivers and Foster, who is in his third season but has appeared in just four games.
Running back looks tight as well. Chase Brown, Samaje Perine and Tahj Brooks are the projected group, while Gary Brightwell, Kendall Milton, Jamal Haynes and Kentrel Bullock are left off.
Brooks bounced back against the Bears after a pair of rain-soaked drops against the Lions, and he remains the clear No. 3 option. He played 41 percent of the special teams snaps last year and has been right around that number again this preseason, taking 20 of 55 special teams snaps.
Cincinnati has kept three running backs in each of the last two seasons and in four of Zac Taylor’s seven years, though from 2009-2018 the team did it only once.
The defensive line is where the biggest questions remain. The projection has Boye Mafe, Dexter Lawrence II, Jonathan Allen and Myles Murphy as starters, with Shemar Stewart, B.J.
Hill, Cashius Howell, T.J. Slaton Jr., Kris Jenkins Jr. and Landon Robinson backing them up.
Cedric Johnson, McKinnley Jackson, Isaiah Foskey, Jodan Jefferson and Howard Cross III are the names left off. This is the group with the most uncertainty because the Bengals could try to trade Jenkins or another reserve to help at offensive line, and Stewart’s health also matters.
If Stewart starts the season on Injured Reserve-Return, Cedric Johnson could be the one who benefits. Robinson has stood out in both preseason games and looks locked in as the second of the two seventh-round picks to make the roster.
Johnson would be a sure-fire returner on the practice squad if he clears waivers.
At linebacker, Oren Burks, Swayze Bozeman and Joe Giles-Harris are projected to stick, with Shaka Heyward, Antwaun Powell-Ryland, Liam Anderson, Jack Dingle and Eric Gentry on the bubble’s wrong side. Bozeman has played well enough to make things interesting, but linebacker could be the place where Cincinnati goes light if it wants to keep a seventh receiver or an 11th defensive lineman.
The Bengals haven’t carried six linebackers since 2020, though Bozeman has even played in a Super Bowl. Giles-Harris and Burks bring more experience, so if the team keeps five, the final spot could come down to Bozeman and Heyward.
The secondary projection keeps six cornerbacks, with Dax Hill, Cam Taylor-Britt, DJ Turner II, Josh Newton, Jalen Kimber and Bralyn Lux all on the bubble list. The article notes the Bengals have only kept more than six corners once in the last 20 years, in 2022.
D.J. Ivey is projected to stick at safety, and that spot has been set since the team chose not to add competition there.
Geno Stone and Jordan Battle are also listed as starters, with Russ Yeast behind them after picking off a pass against the Lions and taking advantage of extra reps while Cook has been out. A 2022 seventh-round pick of the Rams and the son of former Bengals player Craig Yeast, Russ has moved ahead of Jules.
Special teams is already decided, with the team set on its kicker, punter and long snapper after deciding not to bring in competition at any of those three spots.
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