Preseason 2 Game notes and 53 man guess

[MichaelWeston]

First group is 53---second practice squad----3rd cut----4th Injured list

QB

Burrow 29

Browning 26

2

Woodside 25

1

Lombardi 27

 

Barring injury and a wildcard like AJ McCarron this seems settled. Burrow is a top 5 QB in the league, Browning is a top 5 backup. Woodside showed enough to call on him in a pinch. Lombardi might go most of the final game. He is the type of mobile QB who can fight for extra yards with his feet that's fun. He doesn't seem ready for this level but the Michigan Panthers chose him in the UFL draft and should get an opportunity to extend his career there. A perfect no-cost scenario for us. Michigan had these 4 all play last year with Etling leading the way. 

Brian Lewerke	19	QB	6'3"	212	Michigan State	Phoenix, AZ	27
Danny Etling	8	QB	6'2"	222	LSU	Terre Haute, IN	30
E.J. Perry	4	QB	6'1"	208	Brown	Andover, MA	26
Bryce Perkins	17	QB	6'3"	214	Virginia	Queen Creek, AZ	27

 

RB

Moss 26

Brown 27

Williams 25

3

Collins 27

1

Cain 27

Evans 25

 

Moss-Brown and Williams are locks. Williams probably won't play in game 3. Evans is on to IR. Collins seems to be the lead back amongst the UDFAs. The potential release of Samaje Perine clouds this spot. He'd be a 4th back and I am sure te team would welcome him back for his work in the passing game and special teams. It would be hard for me to imagine where the other cut comes from though. In regards to the practice squad back I'd like to see a more dynamic back there but Collins showed pretty well so far this preseason. 

 

WR	Chase 26	Irwin 25			2		Jackson	1		Burgess 27
WR	Higgins 25	Burton 28			2		Lassiter	1		Butler 25
WR	Iosivas 27	Jones 27			2		Pryor	1

 

The top 6 are locked. The only question is do they keep 7? I think that is unlikely. Lassiter and Pryor are more than capable as the end of the 53 WRs. Jackson has a higher upside but is becoming more consistent. I hate cutting Butler but it's a numbers game and you don't need 4 WRs on the practice squad. This unit is one of the best in the league from top to bottom. 

 

TE

Gesicki 25

Sample 27

Hudson 25

All 28

4

McClachlan 28

1

 

This is my hardest cut. I think McClachlan is a fringe starter in this league before his career ends. Again it's a numbers game. For me, it's McClachlan v Anderson and Anderson probably wins that battle. McClachlan has shown more than All this preseason. Grandy lands on the practice squad as a developmental blocker at the position. 

 

LT

Brown 27

1

Grandy 27

1

Carman 25

Cochran 25

LG

Volson 26

Kirkland

2

Gilliam

1

C

Karras 26

Lee 28

2

Hill 25

1

RG

Cappa 26

Ford 25

2

Miller 27

RT

Mims 29

Brown 25

2

Smith 25

 

This group seems pretty clear after week 2. And this is a best case scenario. We went into training camp with what I thought was 5 backup lineman who would be heading to free agency after the year. Brown-Ford-Hill-Carman-Smith. It seems pretty clear Lee and Kirkland have won their jobs and that gives you two younger guys both with 4 years under contract. Lee showed promise to be an eventual starter at the position. Kirkland played LT this game and while he doesn't look like a long term guy there he played fine against the Bears first team D. Brown will be the primary LT backup and Ford probably 3rd string but having Kirkland there in a pinch will help. Rewatching the game its possible Gilliam looked the best of the group. He is more of a journeyman and I think therefore more likely to sneak on to the practice squad. Hill goes to the Practice squad in this scenario. I think Cochran is a maybe there as well. 

 

K	McPherson 28				1
P	Wing 25				1		Rehkow 27	1		Robbins 27
LS	Adomitis 25				1

 

Rehkow had a chance to win the job and I don't think he did. I would quickly pivot to Brad Wing. Wing is a veteran who kicked for the Eagles-Stealers and Giants and then in the USFL, XFL and UFL. He's 33. 

https://www.foxsports.com/ufl/stats?category=kickoffsandpunts&sort=k_pnetavg&season=2024&seasonType=reg&sortOrder=desc

Then throw Rehkow or Robbins or both on the practice squad.

 

LE

Hubbard 26

Murphy 27

Johnson 28

3

Carter 27

Sample 25

LT

Rankins 26

Jenkins 28

2

Tufele 25

1

Davis

Davis 25

RT

Hill 25

Carter 26

Jackson 28

3

Bell 25

1

Maxwell 26

RE

Hendrickson 26

Ossai 25

2

Blazek 27

Pryor 25

 

The DEs are a lock. Johnson was playing all over special teams so that's great. I am not sure at DT. Carter seems terrible but he's playing with the backups. Tufele was in there as well when we went to a 5 man line. I like every DT we have but none have taken control. This spot is influx with any of the 5 cuts going to the practice squad. Need a run stuffer to eat double teams and we don't seem to have that guy. 

WLB	Pratt 26	Davis-Gaither 25	Njongmeta 27		3		Harper 26	1		Casey 27
MLB	Wilson 28	Bachie 25			2		Heyward	1

 

Seems pretty impossible to cut Njongmeta at this point. He had a few errors, including on the TD, but overall he's shown he can play some on D and he was getting special teams snaps this game. Harper and Heyward both are solid and could be on the practice squad. 

 

S	Bell 25	Battle 27			2		Jules 27	1		Dowell 27
S	Stone 26	Anthony 28	Anderson 26		3

 

The top 4 are locks I think. Anderson played a lot of the first group of special teams and they love him there so I think he makes it over McLachlan. Jules seems to have the most upside amongst the group. 

 

CB

Taylor-Britt 26

Hill 27

2

George

1

Brooks 25

CB

Turner 27

Newton 28

2

Robinson 28

Ivey 27

NB

Hilton 25

Davis 25

2

 

I think these 6 are all locks. Davies quietly looked great yesterday. It would be great if we can sneak through George on the Practice squad and Ivey on the PUP. Corner isn't settled but it, along with QB, WR, DE and LB are our deepest positions. 

 

 

[Griever]

 

[Griever]

 

[|BlackJesus|]

^ Njongmeta needs a nickname. Perhaps he already has one on the team? 

 

There's no way you can put him on the PS and he has to make the 53 roster. (Diamond in the rough, who is essentially free and you control his rights for 4 years). 

[claptonrocks]

1 minute ago, BlackJesus said:

^ Njongmeta needs a nickname. Perhaps he already has one on the team? 

 

There's no way you can put him on the PS and he has to make the 53 roster. (Diamond in the rough, who is essentially free and you control his rights for 4 years). 

I call him Mama Meta...

His 4.91 is a red flag but he does react quicker than Shaka.

I like both but .Meta has an edge right now.

Shaka to ps..

 

 

[|BlackJesus|]

Just now, claptonrocks said:

I like both

 

I would keep Shaka over Bachie. Him and Meta both belong on the 53 in my view. 

[claptonrocks]

1 minute ago, BlackJesus said:

 

I would keep Shaka over Bachie. Him and Meta both belong on the 53 in my view. 

That may happen but Bachie is a vet they seem to have confidence at the Mike 

 

[Jamie_B]

QB 

Burrow, Browning

 

RB

Moss, Brown, Williams 

 

WR

Chase, Higgins, Burton, Yoshi, Chuck, Irwin

 

TE

Geseki, Sample, Hudson, All, McLachlan

 

Tackle

Brown Jr, Brown, Mims

 

Guard

Cappa, Volson, Ford, Kirkland

 

C

Karas, Lee

 

K, 
Money Mac

 

P

Robbins

 

DE

Hubbard, Hendrickson, Ossai, Murphy, Johnson

 

DT

Rankins, Hill, Jenkins, Jackson, Carter

 

LB 

Wilson, Pratt, Davis-Gaether, Bachie, Njongmeta

 

CB

Taylor-Britt, Hill, Turner, Hilton, Newton

 

S

Battle, Bell, Stone, Anderson, Anthony

 

Edited to add 

Long Snapper 

Adomitis

 

That gets you to 53

[Jamie_B]

11 minutes ago, BlackJesus said:

 

I would keep Shaka over Bachie. Him and Meta both belong on the 53 in my view. 

 

They kept 5 LBs laster year, I think the number stays the same. Njongmeta takes Bailey's spot. Bachie has a lot to offer on teams.

 

LB 

Wilson, Pratt, Davis-Gaether, Bachie, Njongmeta

[dex]

My 53 man roster prediction:

 

OFFENSIVE (24)

QBs (2) Burrow/Browning

RBs (3) CBrown/Moss/Williams

WRs (6) Chase/Higgins/Iosivas/CJones/Irwin/Burton

TEs (4) Gesicki/DSample/Hudson/All

OL (9) OBrown/Volson/Karras/Cappa/TBrown/Mims/Ford/MLee/Kirkland

 

HEALTHY INACTIVES in the opener: Kirkland/All

 

DEFENSIVE (26)

 

DL (10) Hendrickson/Rankins/BJHill/Hubbard/Murphy/Ossai/Carter/Jenkins/MJackson/CJohnson

LBs (5) Wilson/Pratt/Davis-Gaither/Bachie/Njongmeta

DBs (11) Taylor-Britt/DHill/Hilton/Turner/Davis/Newton/Stone/Bell/Battle/Anderson/Anthony

 

HEALTHY INACTIVES in the opener: CJohnson/NJongmeta/Newton

 

Specialists (3) Adomitis/McPherson/PUNTER

 

Have no idea who the punter will be. Still pissed that the Bengals didn't make an effort to sign P Tommy Townsend in free agency. Punting is so important in the postseason, not to mention in the AFC North with 3 great defensive opponents. Houston Texans snapped him up though. Every year they have punter tryouts and every year the problem still persists because it considered a "premium position."

 

 

[Jamie_B]

2 minutes ago, dex said:

My 53 man roster prediction:

 

OFFENSIVE (24)

QBs (2) Burrow/Browning

RBs (3) CBrown/Moss/Williams

WRs (6) Chase/Higgins/Iosivas/CJones/Irwin/Burton

TEs (4) Gesicki/DSample/Hudson/All

OL (9) OBrown/Volson/Karras/Cappa/TBrown/Mims/Ford/MLee/Kirkland

 

HEALTHY INACTIVES in the opener: Kirkland/All

 

DEFENSIVE (26)

 

DL (10) Hendrickson/Rankins/BJHill/Hubbard/Murphy/Ossai/Carter/Jenkins/MJackson/CJohnson

LBs (5) Wilson/Pratt/Davis-Gaither/Bachie/Njongmeta

DBs (11) Taylor-Britt/DHill/Hilton/Turner/Davis/Newton/Stone/Bell/Battle/Anderson/Anthony

 

HEALTHY INACTIVES in the opener: CJohnson/NJongmeta/Newton

 

Specialists (3) Adomitis/McPherson/PUNTER

 

Have no idea who the punter will be. Still pissed that the Bengals didn't make an effort to sign P Tommy Townsend in free agency. Punting is so important in the postseason, not to mention in the AFC North with 3 great defensive opponents. Houston Texans snapped him up though. Every year they have punter tryouts and every year the problem still persists because it considered a "premium position."

 

 

Robbins has been better than last year, but I'm not sold on either guy either. Hope they find someone when cuts come around. Still irritated they let the Chiefs get Araiza, I know he was accused of some sick stuff, but he was found not guilty. We could have at least taken a flyer. This team gets too conservative in their thinking at times to me.

[claptonrocks]

10 minutes ago, dex said:

My 53 man roster prediction:

 

OFFENSIVE (24)

QBs (2) Burrow/Browning

RBs (3) CBrown/Moss/Williams

WRs (6) Chase/Higgins/Iosivas/CJones/Irwin/Burton

TEs (4) Gesicki/DSample/Hudson/All

OL (9) OBrown/Volson/Karras/Cappa/TBrown/Mims/Ford/MLee/Kirkland

 

HEALTHY INACTIVES in the opener: Kirkland/All

 

DEFENSIVE (26)

 

DL (10) Hendrickson/Rankins/BJHill/Hubbard/Murphy/Ossai/Carter/Jenkins/MJackson/CJohnson

LBs (5) Wilson/Pratt/Davis-Gaither/Bachie/Njongmeta

DBs (11) Taylor-Britt/DHill/Hilton/Turner/Davis/Newton/Stone/Bell/Battle/Anderson/Anthony

 

HEALTHY INACTIVES in the opener: CJohnson/NJongmeta/Newton

 

Specialists (3) Adomitis/McPherson/PUNTER

 

Have no idea who the punter will be. Still pissed that the Bengals didn't make an effort to sign P Tommy Townsend in free agency. Punting is so important in the postseason, not to mention in the AFC North with 3 great defensive opponents. Houston Texans snapped him up though. Every year they have punter tryouts and every year the problem still persists because it considered a "premium position."

 

 

Id go with this squad.

Nicely done.

[esjbh2]

52 minutes ago, Griever said:

 

Was Lee the one who kept snapping the ball very inaccurately?  When Lombardi was in there he had to lunge to get to the ball on just about every shotgun snap and a couple plays were a bust as a result.

[Griever]

5 minutes ago, esjbh2 said:

Was Lee the one who kept snapping the ball very inaccurately?  When Lombardi was in there he had to lunge to get to the ball on just about every shotgun snap and a couple plays were a bust as a result.

Honestly not sure man

[Shebengal]

34 minutes ago, dex said:

My 53 man roster prediction:

 

OFFENSIVE (24)

QBs (2) Burrow/Browning

RBs (3) CBrown/Moss/Williams

WRs (6) Chase/Higgins/Iosivas/CJones/Irwin/Burton

TEs (4) Gesicki/DSample/Hudson/All

OL (9) OBrown/Volson/Karras/Cappa/TBrown/Mims/Ford/MLee/Kirkland

 

HEALTHY INACTIVES in the opener: Kirkland/All

 

DEFENSIVE (26)

 

DL (10) Hendrickson/Rankins/BJHill/Hubbard/Murphy/Ossai/Carter/Jenkins/MJackson/CJohnson

LBs (5) Wilson/Pratt/Davis-Gaither/Bachie/Njongmeta

DBs (11) Taylor-Britt/DHill/Hilton/Turner/Davis/Newton/Stone/Bell/Battle/Anderson/Anthony

 

HEALTHY INACTIVES in the opener: CJohnson/NJongmeta/Newton

 

Specialists (3) Adomitis/McPherson/PUNTER

 

Have no idea who the punter will be. Still pissed that the Bengals didn't make an effort to sign P Tommy Townsend in free agency. Punting is so important in the postseason, not to mention in the AFC North with 3 great defensive opponents. Houston Texans snapped him up though. Every year they have punter tryouts and every year the problem still persists because it considered a "premium position."

 

 

I’m not sure I like only having 3 RBs and 3 TEs on Opening Day. I think you need one more of either position.

 

I think the final cuts are going to come down to special teams, and I think they’re going to go with the players who can absorb the new kickoff rules the quickest. 4 holding penalties on kickoff returns is unacceptable and needs to be cleaned up quickly. We can’t have the offense starting in a hole on every series.

[dex]

1 hour ago, Shebengal said:

I’m not sure I like only having 3 RBs and 3 TEs on Opening Day. I think you need one more of either position.

 

I think the final cuts are going to come down to special teams, and I think they’re going to go with the players who can absorb the new kickoff rules the quickest. 4 holding penalties on kickoff returns is unacceptable and needs to be cleaned up quickly. We can’t have the offense starting in a hole on every series.

Agree that the final cuts are going to come down to special teams, which is why I don't think you necessarily need more than 3 RBs/3 TEs active if they aren't going to get offensive snaps. The 5 inactive players on opening day, assuming good health, should just come down to who is needed the least on special teams. So if that's the criteria then the position groups the inactive players are drawn from becomes almost irrelevant.

[|High School Harry|]

Don't forget the Bengals always add some other team's late cut.

[Dautcom08]

5 hours ago, Griever said:

 

 

Really rooting for this kid.  Especially after hearing his story when he was on with Hoard/Lap and how his family gave up everything to come here.  His parents seem like good people and highly intelligent to boot both having their PHD and he mentioned his father has 3 Masters degree to go along with it.  Joked that if he got a C he would have been forced to give up football lol.

[Griever]

 

[dex]

 

[texbengal]

7 hours ago, dex said:

My 53 man roster prediction:

 

OFFENSIVE (24)

QBs (2) Burrow/Browning

RBs (3) CBrown/Moss/Williams

WRs (6) Chase/Higgins/Iosivas/CJones/Irwin/Burton

TEs (4) Gesicki/DSample/Hudson/All

OL (9) OBrown/Volson/Karras/Cappa/TBrown/Mims/Ford/MLee/Kirkland

 

HEALTHY INACTIVES in the opener: Kirkland/All

 

DEFENSIVE (26)

 

DL (10) Hendrickson/Rankins/BJHill/Hubbard/Murphy/Ossai/Carter/Jenkins/MJackson/CJohnson

LBs (5) Wilson/Pratt/Davis-Gaither/Bachie/Njongmeta

DBs (11) Taylor-Britt/DHill/Hilton/Turner/Davis/Newton/Stone/Bell/Battle/Anderson/Anthony

 

HEALTHY INACTIVES in the opener: CJohnson/NJongmeta/Newton

 

Specialists (3) Adomitis/McPherson/PUNTER

 

Have no idea who the punter will be. Still pissed that the Bengals didn't make an effort to sign P Tommy Townsend in free agency. Punting is so important in the postseason, not to mention in the AFC North with 3 great defensive opponents. Houston Texans snapped him up though. Every year they have punter tryouts and every year the problem still persists because it considered a "premium position."

 

 

That’s exactly how I see the 53 today, given what we know. Guess we will see on Robbins but if he’s healthy, I think he gets the gig. Could see Rehkow as a PS guy, potentially. Especially to see what happens with Robbin’s because if he comes back too soon, he could re-injure it. 

[Griever]

 

[dex]

 

[Griever]

 

[Griever]