Bengals DBs Tyrice Beverette and Trayvon Henderson turning heads in OTAs

Safety is quickly turning into one of the most interesting positions to watch for the Bengals in 2018.

They may already have two established starters in George Iloka and Shawn Williams, but the competition behind them may be as good as any position on the roster.

We know that already includes special teams ace Clayton Fejedelem, do-it-all defender Brandon Wilson, cornerback/safety hybrid Josh Shaw, and second-round rookie Jessie Bates.

But while those guys will get most of the attention going into training camp, don’t sleep on the Bengals’ undrafted safeties looking to make their mark, according to Bengals.com’s Geoff Hobson.

In his most recent Hobson’s Choice, he wrote “A couple of rookie free-agent safeties have turned some heads, such as Tyrice Beverette and Trayvon Henderson.”

Both Beverette and Henderson signed with the Bengals not long after the draft, and the latter was arguably the team’s best UDFA signing. The 6-foot, 200-pound defensive back was ball hawk at Hawaii, and he was projected to be a Round 5-6 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft by NFL.com:

Henderson’s tape from 2016 pops way more than what he put together in 2017. His struggles to tackle consistently and handle his duties in deep coverage lead to too many big plays he didn’t have the recovery speed to make up for mistakes. Henderson plays with an aggressive demeanor and has hit moments as a striker, but his inability to perform the consistent duties required of the position could make it hard to land on a roster.

As for Beverette, he was on few team’s radar going into the draft, and he ended up going through tryouts with the Jets and Bengals before signing with the latter. While he may not be getting much pub, his college tape does show a very physical box safety who can really lay the wood in a safety/linebacker hybrid role:

At this point, both players are still facing some stiff odds of making the 53-man roster, but if nothing else, a good showing in OTAs and the preseason will earn them spots on he practice squad. Henderson is more of a known commodity, so he may be a little harder to get through waivers and to the practice squad, but Beverette should get there unless he has a really big preseason.