McKinnley Jackson's recovery, Tanner McLachlan's upside among takeaways from Bengals' initial 53-man roster
There weren't going to be any double-takes once the Cincinnati Bengals trimmed the roster down to 53. This is a well-built team that made it out of training camp mostly healthy. That makes one of the hardest days of the football calendar easier than it has to be, but there are still things to learn from […]
There weren't going to be any double-takes once the Cincinnati Bengals trimmed the roster down to 53. This is a well-built team that made it out of training camp mostly healthy.
That makes one of the hardest days of the football calendar easier than it has to be, but there are still things to learn from all of the cuts.
When the dust settled Tuesday afternoon, the Bengals kept five tight ends, six defensive tackles, and five cornerbacks. We can learn at least one things from each of those position groups.
Tanner McLachlan was too valuable to risk losing
Five tight ends is a large number, especially for a team that deploys three wide receivers four out of every five plays on average. The composition of the room may justify the decision to go deep as two of the tight ends are basically big-bodied wideouts, making McLachlan one of the few traditional in-line players.
Despite all of that, McLachlan can be viewed no higher than the fifth option at the position on the depth chart. The team could've waived him to keep a more realistic four, but that would require them to let him go through the waiver wire where another club could claim him. The Bengals clearly didn't want to risk that happening, which says a lot about their evaluation of the sixth-round selection.
McKinnley Jackson is close, but not ready to play yet
Jackson suffered a knee injury early on in training camp and hasn't practiced since, but the Bengals chose not to placed him on the Reserve/Injured list. They could've given him four weeks to rest without using an active roster spot on him. Instead, the Bengals will evaluate him on a week-to-week basis.
Cincinnati ended up going heavy at defensive tackle as Jackson is one of six to make the initial 53. Once the third-round pick is healthy, that number may drop to five. That should happen sometime within the next month based on the decision to keep him on the active roster.
Rookies made Jalen Davis too expendable to keep
If the most surprising cut was a 28-year old veteran who never started a game, the results were pretty much expected. Davis getting the boot wasn't completely out of left field, but he had a good case to remain with the team on the last year of his contract. He's appeared in 50 games to provide quality depth in the slot and on special teams.
Ultimately, his position became too crowded. Rookies Josh Newton and Daijahn Anthony both made the cut and will see the majority of their snaps at Davis' spot in the slot. Dax Hill and DJ Turner II can also fill in at that spot in a pinch. The cornerback room as a whole evolved to the point where Davis' services were no longer needed.
UPDATE: Davis is reportedly returning to the practice squad.
Bengals taking advantage of new NFL rule also indicates a roster battle isn’t quite over yet
Don’t punt this battle away just yet.
