Bengals Beat: Biggest Takeaways From Cutdown Day, Bengals First 2023 53-Man Roster, Make Way For Youth

CINCINNATI – The Bengals have their first 53-man roster set for the 2023 season.

It will be far from the last one they have.

In the mill that is the NFL season, teams have to make adjustments throughout to account for injuries, illness and performance.

The Bengals are no different and they already are facing an interesting challenge with regard to defensive edge Joseph Ossai. The third-year pass rusher out of Texas suffered a high ankle sprain in Saturday’s loss to Washington.

The Bengals may wind up having him sit out for several weeks and keep him on the roster (having him occupy a valuable 53-man spot) or place him on IR, with a designation to return when he is fully healthy. It depends on the severity.

Quick Takes:

• The Bengals are undergoing a youth movement while still competing for a Super Bowl:

With new deals for Logan Wilson, Germaine Pratt, Orlando Brown Jr., and extensions coming for Joe Burrow and possibly Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase, the Bengals need to save money somehow. That’s why all seven draft picks figure to have a role on this roster right away and why all seven made the roster. Certainly, DJ Ivey and DJ Turner II may take a while to see their role on defense and Andrei Iosivas will wait his turn behind the Three Amigos and Trenton Irwin. But there was no room on the 53-man for now for guys like Stanley Morgan, Michael Thomas and Trent Taylor.

“We’ve got really young talent. As the roster gets more expensive, it gets younger as well,” Zac Taylor acknowledged Tuesday after the cuts. “That’s the nature of the NFL and how it unfolds. Duke has done a great job in the draft. It’s all these guys we’ve drafted over the last couple of years, they’re playing key roles for us if they’re starters, depth players or featured on special teams. It does speak to the young talent we have, and I’m really impressed by a lot of those guys.”

• Will Grier is the new practice squad QB:

The Bengals were indeed in the market for another QB. After watching Jake Browning and Trevor Siemian struggle at times in camp and in the preseason, they plucked Will Grier off waivers per Adam Schefter. Grier will be on the practice squad later today when it’s announced. Grier, a third-round pick out of West Virginia in 2018, threw for 305 yards for the Cowboys over the weekend in their preseason finale and ran for 45 more.

• Everyone will contribute:

More and more, there is no dead weight on an NFL roster, and that includes the practice squad. With the aforementioned attrition to injuries throughout a 17-game season, everyone is going to get a chance to prove their worth in practice, if not games. And if you’re a Super Bowl contender like the Bengals believe they are, then you have depth upon depth throughout. That’s especially true at the edge position, with someone like Raymond Johnson III getting cut and Jeff Gunter, a draft pick from 2022, getting waived.

“It’s really now just an extension,” Taylor said. “To me, you have a 69-man roster with 21 inactives on game day. Because you can standard elevate with the COVID rules that have become permanent rules. So there’s a group of guys on the practice squad that you feel like, ‘Man, these guys could play for us quickly on game day if you have an injury or the situation calls for it.’ And there’s other guys that are more developmental, maybe younger guys that you want to keep in your system and on your roster and in your organization that you continue to develop. Maybe they aren’t ready to play in a real game right now, but you feel like in time they will be, so you want to continue to invest in them. With the larger practice squad now at 16 players, different guys fall on different places on the scale, but they’re all here because we think they’re ultimately going to help our organization.”

• What to do at third tackle?

This was a question we posed before cuts and it’s the same question after. With the Bengals keeping 10 offensive linemen, the Bengals want D’Ante Smith and Jackson Carman to have a competition for that third tackle spot behind Jonah Williams and Orlando Brown Jr. The Bengals have good depth and versatility and Cody Ford did enough to show the Bengals he can be a people mover inside if need be. They also kept Max Scharping and Trey Hill. Lots of versatility until La’el Collins returns from PUP.

• Chris Evans gets another shot:

The running back has been a bit of a mystery in his first two seasons in Cincinnati. He’s now getting a chance to be the third down back to start the season, likely as Trayveon Williams builds back up after a sprained right ankle in camp. Evans showed burst against Green Bay and Atlanta and can return kicks. Evans is a good NFL route runner for a back and the Bengals can’t have too many of those. If he solidifies his pass protection, the Bengals believe he can be a force. The competition between Evans and Williams will be one to watch.

• Which vets return?

A strong case could be made for all six vested veterans returning to the practice squad at some point. Trent Taylor is ole’ reliable in the punt return game but expendable if Charlie Jones proves reliable himself. Stanley Morgan and Michael Thomas are glue guys in the locker room. And Sidney Jones IV is a good Cover-2 corner.