Bobby Hart and Trey Hopkins among OL starters on Bengals’ first depth chart

The Cincinnati Bengals and Chicago Bears will square off on Thursday night in Week 1 of the preseason.

Ahead of this, both teams are putting out their depth charts to give media and fans an idea of what the pecking order on their rosters looks like. For the Bengals, it's a lot of the same names and faces occupying the top spots, though there are some notable surprises.

Perhaps the biggest of which is Bobby Hart being listed as the starting right tackle. For much of the year, Jake Fisher and Cedric Ogbuehi were viewed as the strongest contenders for this spot, but Hart has apparently outplayed them in training camp thus far.

As expected, Nick Vigil is the starting strongside linebacker. The third-year backer had a promising rookie season but awful sophomore year. Newcomer Preston Brown is the starting middle linebacker.

For the most part, we’re seeing tenured starters and veteran backups occupying the top two spots throughout the roster. That’s to be expected in Week 1 of the preseason, but that doesn’t mean it will remain the case in Week 1 of the regular season.

Here's the latest look at the Bengals' depth chart entering their first preseason game:

Offense

Quarterback:

1. Andy Dalton
2. Matt Barkley
3. Jeff Driskel
4. Logan Woodside

Running Back:

1. Joe Mixon
2. Giovani Bernard
3. Mark Walton
4. Tra Carson
5. Brian Hill
6. Jarveon Williams
7. Quinton Flowers
8. Ray Lawry

H-Back/Fullback:

1. Ryan Hewitt
2. Cethan Carter
3. Jordan Franks

Wide Receiver 1:

1. A.J. Green
2. Josh Malone
3. Cody Core
4. Auden Tate
5. Devonte Boyd
6. Kayaune Ross

Wide Receiver 2:

1. Tyler Boyd
2. John Ross
3. Alex Erickson
4. Kermit Whitfield
5. Ka’Raun White
6. Jared Murphy

Tight End:

1. Tyler Eifert
2. Tyler Kroft
3. C.J. Uzomah
4. Mason Schreck
5. Moritz Boehringer

Left Tackle:

1. Cordy Glenn
2. Jake Fisher
3. Justin Murray
4. Austin Fleer

Right Tackle:

1. Bobby Hart
2. Cedric Ogbuehi
3. Kent Perkins

Left Guard:

1. Clint Boling
2. Christian Westerman
3. Cory Helms

Right Guard:

1. Trey Hopkins
2. Alex Redmond

Center:

1. Billy Price
2. T.J. Johnson
3. Brad Lundblade

Defense

Left Defensive End:

1. Carlos Dunlap
2. Sam Hubbard

Right Defensive End:

1. Michael Johnson
2. Jordan Willis
3. Carl Lawson

Defensive Tackle:

1. Geno Atkins
2. Ryan Glasgow
3. Andrew Brown
4. Eddy Wilson

Nose Tackle:

1. Andrew Billings
2. Chris Baker
3. Josh Tupou
4. Chris Okoye

Middle Linebackers:

1. Preston Brown
2. Hardy Nickerson
3. Junior Joseph

Strongside Linebackers:

1. Nick Vigil
2. Vincent Rey
3. Brandon Bell

Weakside Linebackers:

1. Vontaze Burfict
2. Jordan Evans
3. Malik Jefferson
4. Chris Worley

Left Cornerback:

1. Dre Kirkpatrick
2. Darqueze Dennard*
3. Devontae Harris
4. C.J. Goodwin

Right Cornerback:

1. William Jackson III
2. KeiVarae Russell
3. Tony McRae
4. Darius Phillips

Free Safety:

1. George Iloka
2. Jessie Bates
3. Josh Shaw
4. Tyrice Beverette

Strong Safety:

1. Shawn Williams
2. Clayton Fejedelem
3. Brandon Wilson
4. Trayvon Henderson

Special teams

Kicker:

1. Randy Bullock
2. Jonathan Brown

Punter:

1. Kevin Huber

Long Snapper:

1. Clark Harris

Kickoff Returner:

1. Alex Erickson
2. Darius Phillips

Punt Returner:

1. Alex Erickson
2. Tyler Boyd

*Note: There is no starting slot cornerback position, which would have likely gone to Darqueze Dennard.

Key observations:

• Josh Shaw is now listed as a safety on the depth chart. He’s rotated between cornerback and safety through his first three seasons, but it now appears he’s sticking to safety, which is a very crowded position.
• Bobby Hart was one of the lowest-graded offensive linemen in the 2017 season, so seeing him already taking a starting spot is not the most encouraging news.
• Mark Walton has already passed Brian Hill, Tar Carson and Jarveon Williams at running back. While it’s very likely the rookie fourth-round pick makes the roster, it is still interesting to see he’s already passed Carson and Hill, both of whom shined at various points in 2017.
• Tyler Boyd is listed as the starting No. 2 receiver, though he’s probably the starting slot receiver with either John Ross or Josh Malone on the boundary across from A.J. Green.
• To no surprise, Matt Barkley is the backup quarterback. Barkley and Jeff Driskel have had poor camps thus far, but Barkley has been slightly better.
• Despite his snapping issues thus far, Billy Price is still the starting center. The Bengals are banking hard on him being ready to make a positive impact by Week 1, so it makes sense to keep giving him as many reps as possible. He made it through Monday’s practice without a snap issue.
• Vincent Rey may be a ‘backup,’ but he’s going to play a starter’s amount of snaps between all three linebacker spots, not to mention his role on special teams.
• Andrew Billings has had a good camp thus far, and it was enough to hold off newcomer Chris Baker for the starting nose tackle spot. However, expect this competition to last for the entire preseason, and Baker is still going to get plenty of snaps between both tackle spots.
• For now, Jake Fisher is the backup left tackle behind Cordy Glenn. There was some belief that, when the Bengals drafted Fisher in the second round out of Oregon in 2015, that he would be best suited as a left tackle. The only problem there is he’s not starting over Glenn as long as he’s healthy, so ideally, Fisher is still getting a real chance to compete for the right tackle spot.
• Rookie fifth-round pick Darius Phillips being listed behind Tony McRae on the depth chart isn’t the greatest sign. Phillips needs to have a good preseason to secure his roster spot. Just last year, the Bengals cut two fifth-round picks before Week 1, so Phillips can’t assume he’s got his spot secure.
• Don’t put an ounce of stock into Carl Lawson being a third-string defensive end. He’s going to get a starter’s amount of snaps, though most of them are probably going to come on passing downs. He’s still bulking up and getting to where he can be serviceable against the run, thus preventing him from having a starting role.
• C.J. Uzomah has been getting a lot of first-team reps as of late, but so far, it’s not been enough to pass Tyler Kroft for the backup tight end spot, which is essentially a starter since Eifert can’t last for a full regular season.

What are your thoughts on the first Bengals depth chart of 2018?