Cincinnati Bengals: Looking at the undrafted free agents

DE James Graham

Graham actually spent most of his college career as a running back. It wasn’t until his third season of playing that he was even a full-time defensive end. Due to that slow transition, it’s no wonder he took awhile to become an impact player on defense.

His final college season did point to some ability, though. He was a half-sack away from leading Illinois State in sacks last year (7.5), and he also forced a couple fumbles too. His size (5-11, 205 pounds) would work a lot better if he were a runner — though I can’t say I remember anyone this small becoming a useful defensive end at the professional level. If his final college season is any indication though, he has some latent talent. If he can learn to summon it more often, he can make a roster.

DE Ja’Von Rolland-Jones

If you’ll take a chance on an undrafted free agent, you can’t really go wrong with  one who has at least one obvious strength. With Rolland-Jones, that would be pass rushing. He picked up 63 tackles for loss and 42 sacks in four years at Arkansas State, with those stats trending upward throughout his time there.

The biggest worry with this, however, is his level of competition. Since he did this against FBS competition, there are legitimate concerns over whether he can continue that excellence when facing the vastly superior competition which is found in the NFL. His weight (253 pounds) will leave him vulnerable to being beaten on size alone; if an NFL lineman gets their hands on him, he may be quickly beaten. That should show up relatively quickly; if he struggles against some of Cincinnati’s lesser linemen, it should tell us all we need to know.

DE Gaelin Elmore

Elmore had one of those rare college athlete experiences. He started his football career with Minnesota as a tight end, but quickly switched to defensive end. Then, he graduated while still having eligibility for sports; to use it, he had to transfer elsewhere to be able to play, which he did with East Carolina.

I started with that stuff because it is much more interesting than what he brings to the table as a player. His size is somewhat intriguing (6-6, 275 pounds), but he wasn’t exactly a productive pass rusher. In four years, he accumulated exactly four sacks, and couldn’t even manage 10 total tackles for loss in that time.

Some of that can be attributed to the late position switch, and some more can be placed on the graduation-forced transfer to an entirely new squad. The hope would be that he has latent potential to become a decent contributor in a rotation, but there is little to go off for that becoming a reality beyond his measurements.

DT Chris Okoye

Okoye may not be a well-known name, but he’s got lofty goals. When asked to compare himself to an active player, he put himself in the vein of Damon Harrison. If he can be anywhere near the run stuffer as Harrison, Okoye may have a nice future on a roster.

That’s doubtful, though. While it is true that the team went 45-7 during his time with them, he was only a small portion of that. He wasn’t racking up statistics (just 0.5 sacks in 2017), usually acting as a space eater. The NFL is changing now, though; players who can consistently collapse the pocket from the interior are nearly as valuable as edge rushers.

There’s already so much talent to work with on the interior defensive line for Cincinnati, so an undrafted, one-dimensional interior player likely won’t have much chance to make a claim for a spot.

LB Chris Worley

In terms of all the things teams look for in the draft process, Worley falls well short. He lacks speed, strength, athelticism, acceleration, and fluidity. His production at Ohio State wasn’t all that inspiring (just two 50+ tackle seasons) and he rarely caused impact plays (11 tackles for loss, two sacks, six pass knockdowns, three forced fumbles in four seasons).

If you like intangibles however, he’s sky-high in those. Toughness, physicality, and leadership are key pieces of what allowed him to be successful. He reacts relatively quickly as well, making him a good candidate for special teams play. That’s about all you should expect from him, though; expecting more would be poor planning.

LB Junior Joseph

Of all the UDFAs, Johnson may have the best shot at forcing his way onto the Cincinnati roster. The team needs linebackers, and at worst he would challenge for depth there. In three of his seasons at Connecticut, he had 80+ tackles. He was able to make plays before they began (14.5 tackles for loss), and as a senior he even showed some evidence of pass rushing ability (4.0 sacks).

Still, overall he seems more likely to be a two-down linebacker instead. It is his play against the run which really buoys his game; putting him in coverage makes him exploitable. Even with that glaring fault, however, there’s plenty of room on Cincinnati’s linebacker depth chart right now for him to have a solid shot of tagging along for this season.

S Trayvon Henderson

Even with a second round pick used on the position, safety still ranks as an area which could use a few more capable bodies for offseason competition. Count Henderson among those who should vie for a slot throughout training camp.

The five-year college player with Hawaii has some intrigue to him. Draft projections had him as a late-round pick, rather than undrafted. His aggression can be a major asset, as can his ability to diagnose how tight ends are being used and place himself right where he needs to be to stop them from making a play.

What hurts him is a lack of consistency, first and foremost. Lacking discipline and patience doesn’t help much either, nor does his relatively low top-end speed. He really will need to adjust his tackling style abit as well, lest he bounce off opponents like a bowling ball off of bumpers. His 2017 was a step down from his previous level of play, but if he can find that gear again, he may yet prove worthy of a shot somewhere.

S Shawn Miller

Miller is possibly the most interesting story of the UDFAs. He played for Delaware Valley as a freshman way back in 2012. How is he just finishing up his time there, then? Simple: he took two-and-a-half years off from the sport to join the National Guard. Once that time was up, he was lucky enough to be able to rejoin his former team, where he went on to play again from 2015-17.

Next: 2019 NFL Mock Draft: Way too early projection for next year

The story isn’t all he brings to the table, either. After returning to the team, he started showing an aptitude for forcing turnovers. From 2015-17, he grabbed 16 of them while breaking up 19 others. His final season shows that he may be a diamond in the rough: 80 tackles, three tackles for loss, six interceptions, three pass breakups.

There’s plenty of reason to hedge your bets on him, of course. Taking off nearly three years, while for an admirable cause, removed him from a handful of prime development opportunity; it leaves him much older than the players added in the draft, but without the experience that usually comes with that age. Also, his school already was a D-III outfit; that no doubt helped his numbers look better than they would have against elevated competition.

If the team had drafted him, I’d label it a bad move. Getting him as a UDFA, though? There’s zero risk now, with plenty of reward should he actually end up working out.