The life cycle of a Bengals’ draft pick hits high noon in a few hours when the roster must be cut to 53 players by 4 p.m.
The timeline continues to churn Wednesday with the claiming of waived players, the formation of a 16-man practice squad and the ticking clock to Opening Day. For sixth-round pick Cedric Johnson of Ole Miss, one of the stars of training camp, the answer comes at the Tuesday deadline.
“I think I’ve shown I can give value on special teams and the rush position and versatility,” Johnson said after one final strong outing in Thursday’s preseason finale against the Colts at Paycor Stadium.
It appears as if it could be good news for nearly all of Johnson’s fellow nine draft picks in the affirmation of a process that began years ago when they started playing in college and the Bengals scouts took their first cursory takes.
It’s not a done deal such a low draft pick makes it.
“At camp, you have to be felt,” says Bengals senior defensive assistant Mark Duffner, the first Bengals coach to meet Johnson. “Especially on defense. If you’re going to make it, they have to feel you.”
Johnson’s evolution may be accelerated because of the sudden lack of depth on the edge with the season-ending Achilles’ injury to Cam Sample and the week-to-week injury suffered by Myles Murphy.
That gave him a chance to play well against first-and second-team defenses and rack up 101 preseason scrimmage snaps, several more than expected. His career may have started on the roster but on the game day inactive list and now, if he makes it, it may be a career that starts Opening Day with a full diet of special teams and a handful of third-down snaps.
Still, after Johnson showed off his raw but natural pass-rush skills on the edge with three more pressures, it’s been a long, hard wait since Thursday night. And he got some tough news over the weekend when his older brother, Tampa Bay wide receiver Cephus…
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