The Cincinnati Bengals made a few minor roster moves to reach the 90-man roster limit just as training camp opened.
Even those back-of-roster additions could make pushes during camp and a handful of preseason games though, even if there aren’t a ton of notable position battles on a Super Bowl roster that returned most of its core pieces and upgraded others.
Still, those Bengals have to hope they enjoy the relatively good health from a year ago again and that starts right at camp opens — Joe Burrow, after all, needed to go get surgery on his appendix the day after reporting.
Here’s a look at a 53-man projection as camp begins.
Quarterback
(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Starter: Joe Burrow
Backup: Brandon Allen
Burrow will miss a small portion of early camp. But it’s not a major ordeal, especially considering he probably wasn’t going to see many, if any preseason snaps anyway.
Running back
Syndication: The Enquirer
Starter: Joe Mixon
Backups: Chris Evans, Samaje Perine, Trayveon Williams
Look for Evans to bypass Perine as the primary backup after those flashes last year. It probably doesn’t hurt that he’s going to see an increased role on special teams, too.
Wide receiver
Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports
WR1: Tee Higgins
Slot: Tyler Boyd
WR2: Ja’Marr Chase
Backup: Stanley Morgan, Trent Taylor, Mike Thomas
The big three and three core special-teamers make the cut here for now. There are some interesting names who don’t make it here, but they face a near-impossible battle to win jobs as returners, shoving one of these guys aside.
Tight end
(AP Photo/Aaron Doster)
Starter: Hayden Hurst
Backup: Drew Sample, Mitchell Wilcox
It’s safe to project Hurst somewhere in the same statistical range as C.J. Uzomah from a year ago. Sample isn’t expected to take on much of a bigger role in the passing attack.
Offensive line
Syndication: The Enquirer
LT: Jonah Williams, Isaiah Prince
LG: Jackson Carman, D’Ante Smith
C: Ted Karras, Ben Brown
RG: Alex Cappa, Cordell Volson
RT: La’el Collins
There’s a lot of interesting versatility here. The rookie Volson is directly in the competition for the starting spot at left guard. Smith has experience all over the place that helps him make it. Ben Brown’s versatility as an undrafted guy actually shoves…
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