04-19-2021, 07:58 AM
A large part of what has held the Bengals back over recent years has been a lack of depth meaning that they've been unable to deal with the inevitable injuries. Whilst the narrative tends to be fixated on starters how do the Bengals stack up depth wise?
QB - it's Burrow or bust so this one is N/A
RB - the release of Gio hurts the RB depth and has turned what was a strength into a late round need. Fortunately there's no easier position to find late round/undrafted players who can contribute. C-
TE - This is a position which probably lacks top end talent more than depth with two viable if uninspiring starters in Sample and Uzomah. Cethan Carter has gone but that's more of a loss to Special Teams than the TE room. Given how much they use 11 personnel this is probably less of a priority than for most teams C.
WR - AJ Green and Ross may not have lived up to the Franchise Tag and 1st round status respectively but neither they nor Alex Erickson has been replaced yet. Let's assume they draft a starter in rounds 1-3 but that would still leave just Auden Tate and Mike Thomas as depth - not great for a team who uses 4 receiver sets more than most. D+ (assuming they go WR in first 3 rounds)
OT - they seem to be in a better position than they were last year with Adenijii and Fred Johnson both having a bit more experience. I wouldn't want to rely on them for an extended period of time but you could maybe still win with one of them in. D+
G - they're probably in a better position than last year having picked-up Spain and are surely going to address this position in the draft but for now it is a D-
C - with a former first round pick backing up the incumbent I'm going to give this position a B as I don't believe the drop-off from starter to back-up would be all that (although that may say more about the starter than the depth)
DE - hard to give this position anything other than an E. If one of the starters goes down they are completely screwed. I've been really surprised by the lack of even camp competition signed. Presumably they'll draft someone (or sign a free agent once it won't count against their comp pick)
DT - in a a much stronger position than last year when Tupou opted out and they were hit by injuries. Reader, Ogunjobi, Daniels, Tupou, Wren - NT seems to have plenty of options, less so 3T. B-
LB - with Bynes unsigned and Pratt, Davis-Gaither and Bailey unproven I'm going C- here as well.
CB - Darius Phillips is probably the best back-up on the team and they've signed Eli Apple as well. They could survive one, maybe two injuries at the position. A-
S - they've lost Shawn Williams but replaced him with Ricardo Allen. Brandon Wilson is mainly a Special Teams player but isn't a bad 4th safety. I'd give Safeties a B for depth.
Not great grades but the good news is there's the draft to come and there's still some money for depth signings.
QB - it's Burrow or bust so this one is N/A
RB - the release of Gio hurts the RB depth and has turned what was a strength into a late round need. Fortunately there's no easier position to find late round/undrafted players who can contribute. C-
TE - This is a position which probably lacks top end talent more than depth with two viable if uninspiring starters in Sample and Uzomah. Cethan Carter has gone but that's more of a loss to Special Teams than the TE room. Given how much they use 11 personnel this is probably less of a priority than for most teams C.
WR - AJ Green and Ross may not have lived up to the Franchise Tag and 1st round status respectively but neither they nor Alex Erickson has been replaced yet. Let's assume they draft a starter in rounds 1-3 but that would still leave just Auden Tate and Mike Thomas as depth - not great for a team who uses 4 receiver sets more than most. D+ (assuming they go WR in first 3 rounds)
OT - they seem to be in a better position than they were last year with Adenijii and Fred Johnson both having a bit more experience. I wouldn't want to rely on them for an extended period of time but you could maybe still win with one of them in. D+
G - they're probably in a better position than last year having picked-up Spain and are surely going to address this position in the draft but for now it is a D-
C - with a former first round pick backing up the incumbent I'm going to give this position a B as I don't believe the drop-off from starter to back-up would be all that (although that may say more about the starter than the depth)
DE - hard to give this position anything other than an E. If one of the starters goes down they are completely screwed. I've been really surprised by the lack of even camp competition signed. Presumably they'll draft someone (or sign a free agent once it won't count against their comp pick)
DT - in a a much stronger position than last year when Tupou opted out and they were hit by injuries. Reader, Ogunjobi, Daniels, Tupou, Wren - NT seems to have plenty of options, less so 3T. B-
LB - with Bynes unsigned and Pratt, Davis-Gaither and Bailey unproven I'm going C- here as well.
CB - Darius Phillips is probably the best back-up on the team and they've signed Eli Apple as well. They could survive one, maybe two injuries at the position. A-
S - they've lost Shawn Williams but replaced him with Ricardo Allen. Brandon Wilson is mainly a Special Teams player but isn't a bad 4th safety. I'd give Safeties a B for depth.
Not great grades but the good news is there's the draft to come and there's still some money for depth signings.
