BenJarvus Green-Ellis to Battle Rex Burkhead for Spot on 53-Man Roster

The days of running back BenJarvus-Green-Ellis being a big contributor are probably over. So too may be his days in Cincinnati.

With one year left on his deal, the 29-year-old Green-Ellis will have to hold off younger and fresher legs in James Wilder Jr., Cedric Peerman and Rex Burkhead just to earn a spot on the roster as the Bengals' third or fourth RB.

In his positional preview of the running backs, Paul Dehner Jr. thinks Green-Ellis will be facing Burkhead for the final RB spot on the 53-man roster.

Few players own more respect in the Bengals locker room than Green-Ellis. He's professional, dedicated and core piece of the locker room leadership group. But as Marvin Lewis often says, "it's a young man's game," and The Law Firm is guilty of depreciating results. His 3.4 yards per carry last season logged a career low.

Burkhead must prove himself in the preseason to unseat the veteran. The second-year pro from Nebraska can scoot and needs to show potential worth holding onto.

Green-Ellis' odds of making the roster aren't great, but then again, Burkhead is an unknown commodity to this point. He was a gameday inactive for Games 1-9 and 11-16. As a rookie, Burkhead couldn't even make an impact on special teams, which is why most assume Peerman makes the roster, leaving Rex and BenJarvus to fight for that fourth spot.

So long as Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard make it through the preseason healthy, it's getting harder to see the Law Firm being on the final 53-man roster.