Cuts announced

[sparky151]

It's hard to imagine the team going all season with just 6 LBs. We all know how much Marvin likes them. My guess is that when David Jones is healthy, one of Pope or Trent is moved to the PS and we sign another LB.

[oldschooler]

[b][size="5"]Bengals make final cuts[/size][/b]
By Joe Reedy • [email="jreedy@enquirer.com"][color="#000000"]jreedy@enquirer.com[/color][/email] • September 5, 2009


As the Bengals pared their roster to the NFL limit of 53 on Saturday, both of the major storylines from HBO's "Hard Knocks: Training Camp" earned spots.

Coach Marvin Lewis kept four running backs, meaning both DeDe Dorsey and Brian Leonard survived, while Tom Nelson earned a spot not as a punt returner but due to his versatility in a number of different areas.

"We were really able to settle on guys who were productive for us and have an opportunity down the road to be productive, and I think that's the way it ended up," Lewis said.

In a battle where it was expected only one would survive, both Leonard and Dorsey made convincing cases for being kept. Both did well running the ball. Leonard showed his skills catching passes out of the backfield and on special teams, and Dorsey saw time as a kick returner and blocked a punt for a touchdown against Indianapolis.

"When Coach Lewis called, I was a little nervous, but we both bring a lot to the team," Leonard said. "That's one reason why it was bad if one of us went, because we're both versatile and can do a lot. Instead of bringing a lot to another team, we are now bringing a lot to the Bengals."

The more interesting decision will be who suits up on Sunday. Cedric Benson will be the starter while Bernard Scott, Leonard and Dorsey are the backups. Scott also has returned kicks during the preseason.

"I think they all have contributed on special teams in different phases," Lewis said. "I don't know if I can get all four dressed on Sunday, but that's the way we're going to start out."

Of the three backs who were on last year's Week 1 roster, Dorsey is the lone survivor. Chris Perry was released in April, and Kenny Watson was cut early in training camp.

Dorsey had a nice start to camp with a 37-yard run in the team's scrimmage at Georgetown College and carried that momentum through the preseason. The fourth-year player finished as the team's leading rusher with 155 yards and averaged 6.5 yards per carry.

"It was definitely a battle from Day 1," Dorsey said. "My concern was always about making plays not every once in awhile, but all the time."

Dorsey and Leonard were wired for sound for Thursday's game for the final episode of "Hard Knocks," which will air at 10 p.m. Wednesday on HBO.

On if he thought the block against the Colts ended up cementing a spot, Dorsey said: "It might've helped. The more you show you can do, the better it is."

Nelson, who was being considered as a punt returner at the beginning of camp, showed his defensive prowess in the second preseason game against New England with a sack and forced fumble during the second half. Besides playing both corner and safety, he is expected to be a gunner on punt coverage on special teams.

"I wasn't sure what to expect (when I got the call), but Coach Lewis broke the news and it felt great," Nelson said. "I felt liked I showed I could do a lot for the team. It's just an honor. The coaches knew I had the ability and I got to show it to everyone else."

With Nelson making it and Kyries Hebert being a force on special teams, it meant Marvin White got caught up in the numbers game and was released.

Quan Cosby also made the roster and will be the punt returner when the Bengals open against the Broncos next Sunday. Cosby and Nelson were both undrafted and were signed as college free agents.

With the Bengals keeping four running backs, they kept only one fullback (Jeremi Johnson). Fui Vakapuna and Chris Pressley were released. The Bengals ended up releasing three of their 11 draft picks: Vakapuna, wide receiver Freddie Brown and defensive tackle Clinton McDonald.

It is possible the team might try to sign all three to the practice squad today if they clear waivers. The Bengals can assign up to eight to the practice squad.

Other possibilities for the practice squad are halfback James Johnson, offensive guard Jason Shirley, safety Corey Lynch, wide receiver Maurice Purify and defensive end Chris Harrington. Antonio Chatman, who missed the entire preseason with an ankle injury, was placed on injured reserve.

"It's difficult but not the end of the road (for those who got released). If you do what you're supposed to do there are 31 other teams looking at the same tape we do," Lewis said. "Most of them got a big opportunity to play a lot of snaps."

The roster is actually at 54. First-round pick Andre Smith remains on a roster exemption, which expires Sept. 14.






[url="http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090905/SPT02/90905008"]http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090905/SPT02/90905008[/url]

[oldschooler]

The more interesting decision will be who suits up on Sunday. Cedric Benson will be the starter while Bernard Scott, Leonard and Dorsey are the backups. Scott also has returned kicks during the preseason.

[b]"I think they all have contributed on special teams in different phases," Lewis said. "I don't know if I can get all four dressed on Sunday, but that's the way we're going to start out."
[/b]

[oldschooler]

[size="5"][b][color="#0d5e96"]Rucker, Cosby, Dorsey, Nelson survive; Safeties White, Lynch get 'knifed'[/color][/b]
[/size]By [color="#0d5e96"]Chick Ludwig [/color]| Saturday, September 5, 2009, 04:06 PM

Somebody please tell me with an answer to this question:

How in the world does Frostee Rucker continue to survive?

Dude's like a cockroach who keeps getting stepped on with a soft shoe.

He won't die and he won't go away. Despite playing in just 16 games with four starts in three previous seasons, Rucker lives to fight another day as a member of the Cincinnati Bengals' 53-man active roster.

Versatility, pressure up front and special teams ruled the day as the Cincinnati Bengals made 22 moves on "Cutdown Day" Saturday, Sept. 5, to reach the NFL limit of 53.

Don't think for a second that the roster is etched in stone. Tight end J.P. Foschi and rookie cornerback Morgan Trent made it. But that could change on Sunday or Monday once the club finishes scouring the waiver wire.

Safeties Marvin White and Corey Lynch? Gone.

Defensive tackles Langston Moore and Clinton McDonald? Gone.

Linebackers Darryl Blackstock and Jim Maxwell? Gone.

Offensive linemen Jason Shirley and Andrew Crummey? Gone.

But tailback DeDe Dorsey and fullback Jeremi Johnson are still here.

It's a crazy world, and the NFL is a cold, brutal, cut-throat business where only the strong survive.

Unless you're Frostee Rucker. He's just flat-out lucky head coach Marvin Lewis likes him.

I like Frostee, too, but can you trust him? The Bengal tiger is seldom healthy.

[b]CINCINNATI BENGALS ROSTER MOVES[/b]

Here are the 22 roster moves the Bengals made in in reaching the NFL limit of 53.

Placed WR Antonio Chatman (ankle) on the Reserve/Injured list, ending his season.

Terminated the contracts of three veterans — LB Darryl Blackstock, LB Jim Maxwell and DT Langston Moore — releasing them to free agency

[b]Waived the following 18 players:[/b]

S Marvin White (third-year player; Texas Christian)

G Andrew Crummey (second-year player; Maryland), injury settlement

S Corey Lynch (second-year player; Appalachian State)

G Jason Shirley (second-year player; Fresno State)

DE Chris Harrington (first-year player; Texas A&M)

RB James Johnson (first-year player; Kansas State)

TE Kolomona Kapanui (first-year player; West Texas A&M)

WR Maurice Purify (first-year player; Nebraska)

WR Freddie Brown (rookie; Utah)

TE Darius Hill (rookie; Ball State)

DT Ventrell Jenkins (rookie; Kentucky)

DT Clinton McDonald (rookie; Memphis)

CB Rico Murray (rookie; Kent State)

OT Augustus Parrish (rookie; Kent State)

FB Chris Pressley (rookie; Wisconsin)

LB Dan Skuta (rookie; Grand Valley State)

PK Sam Swank (rookie; Wake Forest)

FB Fui Vakapuna (rookie; Brigham Young)

[i](Brown, McDonald and Vakapuna were seventh-round Bengals choices in the 2009 draft, and the other seven waived rookies entered the NFL this year as college free agents.)[/i]

[b]PRACTICE SQUAD:[/b] With the exception of Marvin White, all of the players waived today are eligible to be signed to an NFL practice squad if they clear waivers tomorrow. The Bengals plan to announce tomorrow a practice squad of up to eight players.

[b]ADDITIONAL NOTES[/b]

Rookie T Andre Smith of Alabama remains with the team on a roster exemption, not counting against the 53 limit. The exemption expires on Sept. 14.

TE Matt Sherry cleared waivers and reverted to the Reserve/Injured list on Tuesday.

[b]CINCINNATI BENGALS DEPTH CHART

OFFENSE[/b]

WR: Chad Ochocinco, Chris Henry, Jerome Simpson

LT: Andrew Whitworth, Dennis Roland

LG: Nate Livings, Evan Mathis

C: Kyle Cook, Jonathan Luigs

RG: Bobbie Williams, Scott Kooistra

RT: Anthony Collins, Dennis Roland $-Andre Smith (two-week roster exemption)

TE: Daniel Coats, Chase Coffman, J.P. Foschi

WR: Laveranues Coles, Andre Caldwell, Quan Cosby

QB: Carson Palmer, J.T. O'Sullivan, Jordan Palmer

TB: Cedric Benson, Brian Leonard, DeDe Dorsey, Bernard Scott

FB: Jeremi Johnson

[b]DEFENSE[/b]

LE: Robert Geathers, Jonathan Fanene

LDT: Domata Peko, Pat Sims

RDT: Tank Johnson, Pat Sims

RE: Antwan Odom, Michael Johnson, Frostee Rucker

SLB: Rashad Jeanty, Rey Maualuga

MLB: Dhani Jones, Abdul Hodge

WLB: Keith Rivers, Brandon Johnson

LCB: Johnathan Joseph, David Jones

RCB: Leon Hall, Geoffrey Pope, Morgan Trent

SS: Roy Williams, Chinedum Ndukwe, Kyries Hebert

FS: Chris Crocker, Tom Nelson

[b]SPECIALISTS[/b]

K: Shayne Graham

P: Kevin Huber

KR: Andre Caldwell

PR: Quan Cosby

LS: Brad St. Louis





[url="http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/chickludwig/entries/2009/09/05/rucker_cosby_dorsey_nelson_jer.html"]http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/chickludwig/entries/2009/09/05/rucker_cosby_dorsey_nelson_jer.html[/url]

[Bengals1181]

[quote name='sparky151' date='06 September 2009 - 04:12 AM' timestamp='1252221173' post='798812']
It's hard to imagine the team going all season with just 6 LBs. We all know how much Marvin likes them. My guess is that when David Jones is healthy, one of Pope or Trent is moved to the PS and we sign another LB.
[/quote]


Michael Johnson is in essence your 7th LB.

[Oldcat]

[quote name='Actium' date='05 September 2009 - 07:59 PM' timestamp='1252202374' post='798769']
and we have a white RB too
[/quote]
He needs to give the Black RBs jumping lessons

[Oldcat]

[quote name='sois' date='05 September 2009 - 11:01 PM' timestamp='1252213286' post='798809']
Yeah I don't get that either. For all the MB is cheap folks, he could have just cut him. Or would he have to pay him either way? Putting him on IR guarantees the contract correct? I wish I knew rules of stuff.
[/quote]
He may be cheap in some ways, but he doesn't go cheap on injured players. I think he gave Weathersby and Pollack a year or more on IR instead of cutting them.

[Oldcat]

[quote name='sparky151' date='06 September 2009 - 01:12 AM' timestamp='1252221173' post='798812']
It's hard to imagine the team going all season with just 6 LBs. We all know how much Marvin likes them. My guess is that when David Jones is healthy, one of Pope or Trent is moved to the PS and we sign another LB.
[/quote]
Marvin must be counting Roy Williams as 3/4 Linebacker.

[Inigo Montoya]

Wow, the Bengals kept four tailbacks and only three full-time defensive tackles. I'm less surprised about the four tailbacks, but I think that was more of a situation where Dorsey played his way onto the team more than anything else. The same can pretty much be said for Quan Cosby. I am very surprised that they didn't keep one of the following: McDonald, Shirley, or Langston. I know Fanene and Rucker can rotate inside if needed, but you still have to worry if one of the three we kept (Peko, Tank, Sims) goes down. Coats made the team thanks to injuries more than anything else. Hodge over Blackstock has been written on the wall for weeks now. The backup safeties that were kept can both help on special teams and more importantly, weren't coming off knee injuries.

[sois]

[quote name='Oldcat' date='06 September 2009 - 10:09 AM' timestamp='1252256983' post='798988']
He may be cheap in some ways, but he doesn't go cheap on injured players. I think he gave Weathersby and Pollack a year or more on IR instead of cutting them.
[/quote]

That is really cool. Hopefully that brings the Bengals some nice Karma.

[ThurmanMunster]

in the preseason we played rucker, fanene and geathers at DT. geathers actually got some good inside pressure when he lined up at DT too. im not shocked we only kept 3 because we can put mcdonald on the PS and i dont think he would play that much this year anyways.

[howellar]

[quote name='ThurmanMunster' date='05 September 2009 - 03:04 PM' timestamp='1252177457' post='798609']
sad to see white go.

kinda surprised to see blackstock go cuz he was good on STs.

[b]would have preferred to have kept purify > cosby.[/b]

i figure the PS is:
G Jason Shirley
DE Chris Harrington
HB James Johnson
DT Clinton Mcdonald
WR Maurice Purify or WR Freddie Brown
CB Rico Murray
FB Chris Pressley or FB Fui Vakapuna
LB Dan Skuta

personally i wouldnt keep harrington though and i would keep both WRs.
[/quote]


Why? Cosby can be a top half returner in the league, IMO. Purify has nice size, but other than that inferior to Cosby overall.

[ThurmanMunster]

[quote name='howellar' date='06 September 2009 - 02:39 PM' timestamp='1252262392' post='799014']
Why? Cosby can be a top half returner in the league, IMO. Purify has nice size, but other than that inferior to Cosby overall.
[/quote]

cuz i prefer nelson as a PR to cosby. cosby had the 1 good return on a horrid punt and great blocking. nelson had multiple good returns and turned some that looked like nothing into good returns. purify is a better tackler and blocker on STs than cosby is plus cosby has no ability at all to produce as a WR and i think purify can produce as a WR if needed.

[Cricket]

[quote name='Oldcat' date='06 September 2009 - 02:09 PM' timestamp='1252256983' post='798988']
He may be cheap in some ways, but he doesn't go cheap on injured players. I think he gave Weathersby and Pollack a year or more on IR instead of cutting them.
[/quote]

Yes, Mike paid Weatherby's salary even though he didn't have to.

One of the other things Mike did was ask permission from the league to count a 2-point conversion attempt as a play from scrimmage so that Jon Kitna would qualify for a bonus.

[bengaled]

[quote name='Cricket' date='06 September 2009 - 10:40 PM' timestamp='1252287622' post='799088']
Yes, Mike paid Weatherby's salary even though he didn't have to.

One of the other things Mike did was ask permission from the league to count a 2-point conversion attempt as a play from scrimmage so that Jon Kitna would qualify for a bonus.
[/quote]

wasn't katie involved in pressuring her father, on kitna's behalf, for that bonus? seems like i remember that being the case.