FanPost

My crack at 53 man roster.

It's a long offseason so thought I would give this a shot, and check back in September to see how close I was.

QB- (3) Dalton, McCarron, Pryor..

RB- (4) Hill, Bernard, Burkhead, Peerman

HB/TE- (1) Hewitt

TE- (3) Eifert, Kroft, Uzomah

OL- (9) Whitworth, Boling, Bodine, Zeitler, Smith, Fisher, Winston, Hopkins, T.J Johnson

WR- (6) Green, Jones, Sanu, Wright, Moore, Alford

ST- (3) Harris, Huber, Nugent

DL- (9) Atkins, Peko, Sims, Hardison, Dunlap, MJ, Hunt, Clarke, Gilberry

LB- (6) Maualuga, Lamur, Rey, Hawk, Dawson, Flowers

CB- (5) Hall, Jones, Kirkpatrick, Dennard, Shaw

S- (4) Nelson, Iloka, Williams, Smith

PUP-- Burfict, Ogbuehi

Not really sure about the last couple of OL spots. I know they liked Hopkins before he got hurt last year, so depends on how healthy he returns. I could also see Winston being released, but put him on with Ogbuehi likely being on PUP. Since they have so much versatility on paper, maybe they could go with 8 lineman

The Defensive Tackle position is tough to call. I can't see them cutting Peko, and if Hardison shows enough in camp he should make it. Normally they only keep 4 DT at most, which would leave a 3 man battle for 1 spot between Sims, Thompson, Still... maybe the Bengals will surprise and keep 10 DL.

.I feel like the secondary is pretty clear cut and they will keep 9 total. At WR, Alford needs to show he can return kicks and punts if he wants to beat out Tate. They could always go with 7 here, they have done that before. At LB, will be interesting to see if Porter can stay healthy and show enough to make team. If Burfict starts on PUP, it is another position they could go with 7 guys.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Cincy Jungle's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan, which is as important as the views of Cincy Jungle's writers or editors.