Light offensive line depth, rookie claiming special teams battle headline biggest surprises from Bengals’ 53-man roster
Cincinnati came away with an interesting initial 53-man roster.
Forget a flawless March Madness bracket. Perfectly predicting an initial 53-man NFL roster is just as rare. Surprises are always in store for all 32 teams, and the Cincinnati Bengals were no exception this year.
Cincinnati’s 53-man roster has three undrafted free agent rookies, a couple other long shots who’ve been around here and there, and the work is probably not done with waiver claims being made as we stand here.
These were the surprising aspects of the first 53-man roster of the 2025 Bengals.
There’s room being saved along the offensive line
Eight offensive linemen may be the number that’s active on game days, but it’s certainly not a number the Bengals should want to have on the roster altogether. Cody Ford is the main backup tackle but he can also slide inside to guard, Jalen Rivers can do the opposite, and Matt Lee is the backup center. The group is missing just one more reserve tackle or guard to bring things together.
The ninth player was not on the roster, as indicated by final cuts. He very well could be arriving via waivers Wednesday afternoon. Stay tuned.
Hello defensive tackle depth
If another o-lineman joins the fray, the most likely corresponding move to be made is knocking one of Erick Gregory or Howard Cross III down to the practice squad once that is settled. Gregory and Cross are two of SIX defensive tackles on the 53 as of this moment. Head coach Zac Taylor remembers well how injuries at the position stacked up right before last season began.
“I think it was important to keep depth there,” Taylor said after Tuesday’s cuts. “As you remember early in last season, we went through that depth pretty quickly. So I think if there’s a spot to go heavy sometimes it’s in those areas, and so that that helped us in our decision there.”
Six still feels like a bit overboard, especially when two of them are unproven undrafted rookies who may not be relied on much, which is why Wednesday’s waiver movement is important to note.
William Wagner out-snaps Cal Adomitis
How does one evaluate a long snapper competition if no one screws up? Wagner, a rookie UDFA, was given equal opportunity to take Adomitis’ job of the last three seasons and sure enough, the rookie came out victorious.
It’s easy to default to the more experienced player in a battle that appears equal on the surface, but Taylor and special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons saw enough from Wagner to go in a different direction.
Producing better operations with the field goal unit was a priority for Simmons this offseason. Wagner was signed after the draft to be part of the solution, and now he’ll get a chance to officially prove himself.
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