Bengals Roster Breakdown: Daijahn Anthony is well prepared to defy odds in the NFL

Throughout the summer leading up to the regular season, we will go through the entire 2024 Cincinnati Bengals roster. Every single day until the season opener against the New England Patriots, we will break down a player on the roster including his background, contract status, and path towards making the team.Today, we take a closer […]

John Sheeran — Cincinnati Bengals News Writer
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Daijahn Anthony
© Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

Throughout the summer leading up to the regular season, we will go through the entire 2024 Cincinnati Bengals roster. Every single day until the season opener against the New England Patriots, we will break down a player on the roster including his background, contract status, and path towards making the team.

Today, we take a closer look at Daijahn Anthony, the first of two seventh-round picks the Bengals made in this year's NFL Draft. Anthony's journey to Cincinnati was nothing short of an odyssey, but he's got more obstacles to overcome if he's to be a part of the 53-man roster this season.

Daijahn Anthony

  • Age: 23
  • Year: 1st
  • Position: Safety
  • College: Ole Miss
  • Previous Teams: None
  • Jersey Number: 33

Anthony was drafted by the Bengals with the 224th overall pick in the seventh round of the 2024 NFL Draft. His last season in college was spent as a starter at Ole Miss, but his path to get there is far more extraordinary.

Not a single Division I offer came to Anthony, whom wasn't ranked as a recruit. He walked on to Division II Shepherd and eventually earned a scholarship. He started five games in 2019 after redshirting the year prior, but a cancelled 2020 season due to COVID altered his plans. He transferred to Liberty where he walked on to his second team in three years. He played in 24 games from 2021-22 but only started three of them.

Anthony hit the portal once more and landed on Mississippi for his final year of eligibility. Ole Miss hit a home run as Anthony led the defense in interceptions (3), passes defensed (11) and forced fumbles (1) to go with 61 total tackles in 13 games (10 starts). He played all over the secondary, though 380 of his 713 snaps came in the slot. 

Six years and three schools later, Anthony finally entered the NFL Draft. That he's turning 24 as a rookie with just one year of starting experience at the college level dropped him all the way to the seventh round, where the Bengals scooped him up with the ninth of their 10 selections.

Contract details

Anthony signed a four-year, $4,137,784 deal with the Bengals in May that will pay him the minimum salary for the 2024 season.

His salary will cost $795,000 for the entire season if he's kept on the team for the entire regular season, but with a $117,784 signing bonus prorated throughout the deal, his cap hit as of now is $824,446 for the year.

Roster chances

It's tough to project a likely path for Anthony to make the 53-man roster this year. He's got the advantage of having a four-year contract and positional versatility in a defense that prioritizes versatile players, but the positions he's best at are already loaded with players. 

Mike Hilton, Dax Hill, and Jalen Davis gives Cincinnati ample options at nickelback, and that's assuming Hill doesn't win the starting cornerback job from DJ Turner II. Turner can play in the slot as well should he find himself a backup. The most likely player Anthony can beat out is Davis, which may be the battle to watch in training camp.

Anthony can also play safety, which is what the Bengals list him as, but that room got a facelift weeks before he was drafted. Geno Stone and Vonn Bell are set to start with Jordan Battle and Tycen Anderson backing them up. Anthony might be able to leap Anderson as the latter is recovering from a knee injury that ended his 2023 season early, but the Bengals value Anderson's special teams ability as a known commodity. Will they keep five safeties just to hold on to Anthony?  

Anthony is an enticing player with a history of earning unlikely opportunities. He'll have to continue down that path if he's to make the 53-man roster as a safety or nickelback. Perhaps it isn't smart to bet against someone like him, but the numbers game is tough to beat. 

Chances of making the roster: 35%

Previous player breakdowns

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