It’s the absolute dead period of the offseason, and the Cincinnati Bengals are resting up before training camp. We’re pushing through our position-by-position breakdown of the Bengals’ 90-man roster and depth chart. Check out previous position breakdowns here.

The undeniable weakness of the Bengals’ roster is the middle of their defense. Naturally, these are the players with the most amount of pressure on them.

Bengals Linebacker Depth Chart

Starters: Barrett Carter, Demetrius Knight Jr.
Backups: Oren Burks, Joe Giles-Harris, Shaka Heyward, Swayze Bozeman, Liam Anderson, Eric Gentry, Jack Dingle

The Starters

It all starts with the top guys. Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight Jr. have been deemed starters entering 2026. They were drafted in the fourth- and second-round, respectively, in the 2025 NFL Draft. Carter eventually took over for Logan Wilson as the MIKE backer in the middle of his rookie season, while Knight was starting from Day 1 of his first offseason program.

Neither one played particularly well last year. Tackling and general awareness issues were prevalent throughout the year. It looked exactly like what it was, which was two rookie linebackers starting next to each other. Neither one had any veteran knowledge to help through games. The defense around them wasn’t much help, but they represented the main weakness of the unit.

It seemed like a certainty at least one of the two were going to be demoted this offseason. Free agency and the draft passed, and while the Bengals exerted effort to add to the position, none were signed or drafted. It was a huge statement signifying Carter and Knight are their answers for at least this coming season.

The Backups

Carter and Knight have to improve because the depth here is not very promising. Oren Burks is still the first off the bench and has played well at times in his career. He wasn’t an asset for Cincinnati last year when called upon to fill in for Knight at times. Alongside him are Joe Giles-Harris and Shaka Heyward, whom are mainly on the roster for special teams. Liam Anderson was added last year as a practice squad player, and Eric Gentry and Jack Dingle are undrafted rookies.

Swayze Bozeman is the lone new player with NFL experience here. Bozeman previously played for the Kansas City Chiefs and New York Giants, though has only taken 42 career defensive snaps.

Story to watch

Will Carter and Knight make the necessary Year 2 leap? At least one of them needs to show immense growth from last year. To Knight’s credit, he started making strides at the tail end of the season. Joe Goodberry made an excellent breakdown of that. There’s hope for him as a former top-50 pick. Carter is wearing the green dot on his helmet and needs to be able to stay on the field for all three downs. If he can be an improved player in coverage, the unit might just be alright for the future.

Joe Burrow and others have praised Cincinnati’s roster, but until proven otherwise, LB is the weakest position group.

Projected Players on the 53-man roster

Starters: Barrett Carter, Demetrius Knight Jr.
Backups: Oren Burks, Joe Giles-Harris, Shaka Heyward