The Bengals open a three-day mandatory minicamp Tuesday before heading into summer break. Here's a thumbnail look at the potential roster bouts that could take place.
QUARTERBACKS (4)
Joe Burrow (6), Logan Woodside (5), Jake Browning (3), Payton Thorne (R)
The Number: Exactly one-third of the nine most accurate passers of the 2020s have played for the Bengals. Burrow, of course, with his NFL all-time 68.6 completion percentage, Browning at 70.4 and AJ McCarron completing four of his five passes for the Bengals, per Pro Football Reference.
The Glimpse: Head coach Zac Taylor, heading into his seventh season, has indicated his starters are going to play more in the preseason. Burrow played 13 snaps last year, all in the opener, giving him a total of 16 career in the preseason. Most of the NFL has backed off their starters since COVID wiped out the 2020 preseason.
Just to compare the change in eras, in 2018, Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis' last season, quarterback Andy Dalton worked 17 plays in the preseason opener. In the same game, Bears starter Mitchell Trubisky played 10. Don't expect a swing all the way back, but it just shows how different eras in the league have approached it.
WIDE RECEIVERS (12)
Tee Higgins (6), Ja’Marr Chase (5), Andrei Iosivas (3), Charlie Jones (3), Jermaine Burton (2), Kendric Pryor (2), Mitchell Tinsley (2), Isaiah Williams (2), Cole Burgess (1), Jamoi Mayes (R), Jordan Moore (R), Rashod Owens (R)
The Number: Chase is trying to do what only Packers Hall of Famer Don Hutson has done. Become the only wide receivers in NFL and AFL history who have won multiple triple crowns. Hutson won his first during the Great Depression and his fifth and last in the last full year of World War II.
The Glimpse: Who backs up the Big Three of Chase, Higgins and Iosivas? It looks like Burton and Jones are the clubhouse leaders for 4-5. There's a battle. Jones has returned a kick and punt for touchdowns, and Burton has flashed on kick returns as they both seek seasons free of injury and inconsistency.
After Williams returned 11 punts in six games last year when he got picked up on waivers from the Lions in the wake of Jones' groin injury, he's got a leg up on the sixth and what is usually the last roster spot. Pryor has been a constant the last two years on the practice squad, and the undrafted Moore has impressed early with good hands and route running.
RUNNING BACKS (7)
Samaje Perine (9), Zack Moss (6), Gary Brightwell (4), Chase Brown (3), Kendall Milton (1), Tahj Brooks (R), Quali Conley (R)
The Number: In a franchise known for big backs, the 5-10, 211-pound Brown made a huge mark with his 283 touches last season that proved he could stand up to the pounding of a No. 1 back. It's the most touches by a back that small in club history, and his 1,350 scrimmage yards are in the tradition of the 5-9, 201-pound Essex Johnson (1,353 on 223 touches in 1973) and the 5-8, 185-pound James Brooks (three 1,500-yard seasons in the '80s), the only two smaller Bengals backs to hit 1,300 total yards.
The Glimpse: Brown is now the darling of the fantasy football set, and with the return of the playoff hero Perine, who always seems to come up big when you need big, this looks to be their best one-two punch since, well, Perine and Joe Mixon. If there's a poll for the top newcomer of the spring, the newest Brooks would get a pile of votes. He looks how one of the most productive backs in Big 12 history should look. Polished.
The question is always if they keep three or four backs. Moss is coming off a neck injury that sidelined him for most of last year. After serving a rookie apprenticeship on the practice squad last year, is the 6-1, 230-pound Milton ready to make a run? He's an intriguing big-back throwback they like who was reliable enough to be called up for two games last year.
TIGHT ENDS (7)
Mike Gesicki (8), Drew Sample (7), Tanner Hudson (6), Erick All Jr. (2), Cam Grandy (2), Tanner McLachlan (2), Kole Taylor (R)
The Number: In the second week of this season, Sample will play in his 80th career game, one more than C.J. Uzomah played in his Bengals career. Only Reggie Kelly, with 106, played more Bengals games at tight end in this century.
The Glimpse: All, one of their most impactful players last season as both a blocker and receiver, reportedly won't be ready for 2025 as he rehabs from last year's ACL injury. Gesicki's 65 catches and Sample's pass protection were staples last season for the NFL's top passing offense.
McLachlan, last year's sixth-round pick sidelined by injury, is healthy and gets his first long look as a pass-catching theat. Since it's hard to see them keeping three pass-catching tight ends, it's a battle. Grandy, undrafted last year, proved to be a reliable blocker down the stretch. Another spot where keeping three or four plays out as they go.
OFFENSIVE LINE (16)
C Ted Karras (10), G Lucas Patrick (9), T Orlando Brown Jr. (8), G-T Cody Ford (7), G Cordell Volson (4), T Devin Cochran (3), G Jaxson Kirkland (2), C Matt Lee (2), T Amarius Mims (2), T Andrew Stueber (2), T Andrew Coker (1), G Tashawn Manning (1), T Caleb Etienne (R), G Dylan Fairchild (R), C Seth McLaughlin (R), G-T Jalen Rivers (R).
The Number: Patrick is gunning to make his third straight Opening Day start with a different team and his fourth in six Septembers. But his first in the AFC.
The Glimpse: At the moment, their starting guards are Patrick at right and the rookie Fairchild at left. Ford, in the mix at right guard, is coming off a season he bailed them out starting at four different positions. That would appear to give them six. Rivers, the projected guard-tackle they drafted in the fifth round, also figures to make it as a swing tackle with Ford.
But there are plenty of other intriguing guys to watch. Lee is one of just three centers, along with Karras and Patrick, the two most experienced linemen. Volson, a three-year starter at left guard, appears to be revived by new offensive line coach Scott Peters. Before missing the last 12 games last season, Kirkland graded out highly by Pro Football Focus in preseason stints at left guard and left tackle.
A right tackle, Cochran came off the bench in the stretch run to make his first NFL start at left tackle in the win in Tennessee. McLaughlin, the Ohio State center who was one of the league’s highest-rated undrafted players, is rehabbing an Achilles' injury, and it's not clear when he can get on the field. They usually keep nine linemen, but they could go light elsewhere if they think they need 10.
DEFENSIVE LINE (15)
DE Trey Hendrickson (9), DT B.J. Hill (8), DE Joseph Ossai (5), DE-DT Cam Sample (5), DT T.J. Slaton Jr. (5), DE Myles Murphy (3), DE Isaiah Thomas (3), DT Kris Jenkins Jr. (2), DE Cedric Johnson (2), DE Raymond Johnson III (2), DT McKinnley Jackson (2), DT Dante Barnett (R), DT Howard Cross III (R), DT Eric Gregory (R), DE Shemar Stewart (R)
The Number: In the last seven games last year, Ossai had 10 hits on the quarterback and at least half a sack in six of those games.
The Glimpse: In Ossai, Murphy, Stewart, Johnson and Sample, they feel like they've put together a solid group of five edge players surrounding the NFL sack champ Hendrickson. They look pretty set at tackle with the four of Hill, Slaton, Jenkins and Jackson.
They're expecting big things from Jenkins and Jackson after injury-plagued rookie seasons, as well as Slaton, the free-agent vet nose tackle coming off some league-leading run-stopping metrics in Green Bay. Hill is in a boot, but he says not for long, and we're talking about a team leader who has answered many Bengal bells: Only Domata Peko, Geno Atkins, Pat Sims and John Thornton have played more games at defensive tackle for the Bengals in the 2000s than Hill and his 64.
Usually, they keep 10 here. The undrafted but massive 6-3, 319-pound Gregory looms as interesting in the battle for the fifth and last tackle spot. Sample is the intriguing swingman as an inside rusher and run-setter on the edge who could account for two spots in one. When Sample went down with an Achilles' injury early in last year's camp, some insiders considered it as significant as the loss of cornerback Dax Hill two months later.
As an international developmental player, Barnett has exemptions for the training camp roster, and practice squad.
LINEBACKERS (8)
Oren Burks (8), Logan Wilson (6), Joe Giles-Harris (2), Shaka Heyward (2), Maema Njongmeta (2), Craig Young (1), Barrett Carter (R), Demetrius Knight Jr. (R)
The Number: Wilson, the longest tenured Bengal on defense, comes into his sixth year leading all NFL linebackers in this decade with 11 interceptions. He also has the fifth most post-season linebacker tackles of the 2020s. He's a dozen games away from becoming the fifth Bengal linebacker to play 80 in the 2000s, joining Vincent Rey, Rey Maualuga, Germaine Pratt and Brian Simmons.
The Glimpse: It may be a re-made room under new coach Mike Hodges, with rookies Knight and Carter, as well as the Super Bowl champ Burks. But it's still going to be a hard five to dent. Especially with Njongmeta bringing another year of experience after an impressive rookie year. Plus, Heyward, Duke's Vincent Rey Award winner, came off the practice squad when Wilson got hurt late in the year and showed up big in his first six NFL games down the stretch, smothering a Steelers' fumbled punt in the finale at the Joe Burrow 33-yard-line.
SECONDARY (17)
S Geno Stone (6), CB Jalen Davis (5), CB Marco Wilson (5), S Tycen Anderson (4), CB Dax Hill (4), CB Cam Taylor-Britt (4), S Jordan Battle (3), CB DJ Ivey (3), CB DJ Turner II (3), CB Nate Brooks (2), CB Josh Newton (2), S Daijahn Anthony (2), CB Lance Robinson (2), S Jaylen Key (1), S P.J. Jules (1), CB Bryan Lux (R), S Shaquan Loyal (R).
The Number: Since 2022, Taylor-Britt is the only NFL cornerback who has two pick-sixes to go with at least seven interceptions and 33 passes defensed. That includes defending Defensive Player of the Year Patrick Surtain II, who has one pick-six and mirrors Taylor-Britt's seven and 33, respectively, over the last three seasons.
The Glimpse: They can all run and cover well enough that position coach Charles Burks calls his cornerbacks room the deepest and most versatile group he's had in his four seasons here.
Hill was their best cornerback last year before he went down. He won't work this week, but is expected back at some point in training camp as he recovers from his ACL injury. They're banking on Taylor-Britt reverting to his solid self that he was down the stretch last year after rebounding from two benchings. Newton drew praise during a solid rookie year pressed into service as a starter. All Ivey does is keep showing up with the more snaps he gets, and now he's coming off his first offseason not restrained by the draft or rehab. Can Davis, a reliable and gritty backup slot corner and the last link to the Super Bowl cornerback room, crack one of the six spots with everyone taking turns in the slot this spring?
They're banking on Stone and Battle being more settled at safety in their second year as a tandem. In the last two seasons, Stone has racked up 11 interceptions, second only to Lions safety Kerby Joseph's 13 in the league. Anderson is always interesting as a prolific preseason player who has emerged as one of the league's top cover players on special teams. Anthony, last year's seventh-rounder, looks to be on a track with his corner versatility. Potentially, he'd not only be the fourth safety, but maybe the seventh cornerback in one of the 10 secondary spots.
SPECIALISTS (4)
LS Cal Adomitis (4), K Evan McPherson (5), P Ryan Rehkow (2), LS William Wagner (R).
The Number: Rehkow broke every club record imaginable for a rookie punter last season when he finished sixth in the league in net average and ninth in gross average. After his first 53 punts, Rehkow's 49.1 gross has a four-yard edge on franchise leader Kevin Huber.
The Glimpse: After leading his unit to the No. 1 spot in last year's Pro Football Focus special teams rankings, coordinator Darrin Simmons talked about improving the field-goal operation. He'll oversee a training camp joust at long snapper between Adomitis, a fourth-year incumbent, and the undrafted rookie Wagner.
