Cincinnati Bengals: Early 53-man roster predictions 2018, linebackers

Continuing predictions about which players will make the Cincinnati Bengals 53-man roster in 2018, now looking at the linebackers.

After their disappointing campaign in 2017, the Cincinnati Bengals are ready to make marked improvements. They’ve addressed major holes on the roster this offseason, and will now put their plan into place as they go through OTAs, minicamps and more.

With the rosters as full as they can be, now is a great time for an early look at who the team may decide is worthy of those coveted 53 available spots once the regular season kicks off. We have already seen the quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, offensive linemen, and defensive linemen.

We continue with the linebackers.

Linebackers

* = starters; + = make roster; () = suspended

(Vontaze Burfict)
*Preston Brown
*Carl Lawson
*Nick Vigil
Brandon Bell
+Jordan Evans
+Malik Jefferson
Junior Joseph
Hardy Nickerson
+Vincent Rey
Chris Worley

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The most important player on this team’s defense is yet again going to miss the beginning of the season. As his career has evolved, that has meant more and more peril for his franchise. The past two years bore it out as clearly as possible: when Burfict plays the team has been a .500 squad (10-10-1), but when he is unavailable due to injury or suspension, the team has cratered (3-8). Much of that is due to him growing into being the energy and heart of the defense, but it also is heavily ingrained in dissolving depth and usefulness of the other linebackers.

Hopefully for them, that is changing. Preston Brown comes in from Buffalo, and he should be the best option the team has had at linebacker beyond Burfict in the past few years. He was a starter for most of his time with Buffalo (started 62-of-64 possible games; played in all 64), and proved to be pretty solid, while adding in the occasional forced turnover (two forced fumbles, three interceptions). At 25, he’s got plenty of prime years to improve, too.

Carl Lawson is another major player in this equation. He exploded out of the gate as a pass rusher as a rookie, collecting 8.5 of them in less than 400 pass rushing snaps. The team already made mention of getting him involved more than than he was last season, and a bigger role (plus more use of subpackages) should essentially make him into a starter. His run defense will need to improve, but regardless he should take a big step forward in year two.

Jefferson has a chance to really make a difference here, too. Though he’s a rookie, there’s a decent chance he could find himself on the field immediately because of Burfict’s suspension. His talents helped Texas turn around their program with his abilities, and that should be a boon to a team which has lacked linebackers even worth snaps lately. He is flawed in certain ways (his instincts came into question throughout the draft process), but his athleticism and build make him an exciting prospect who could be a long-term difference-maker for Cincinnati.

The questions are abundant beyond those three, however. Nick Vigil has not been a good contributor in his two seasons with the team despite being given plenty of opportunity (759 snaps in 2017 — second-most among Cincinnati linebackers). Jordan Evans is young, but was an absolute sieve when called upon as a rookie and could easily fall into the same path Vigil appears to be on. Cincinnati seemed to realize Rey was on the downside of his career due to demoting him to backup status despite Vigil’s struggles, but he fell well into outright damaging territory with his abilities dropping off a cliff.

Next: NFL 2018: Ranking all 32 starting RBs

Between Cincinnati’s persistence to keep both recent draft selections and long-term Bengals though, the aforementioned players are who seem most likely to stick onto the final roster. Bell, Joseph, and Worley each have certain intangibles Cincinnati may like, but none have anything close to the same level of potential and skill as the guys above them, nor the same amount of capital (draft or cash) invested in them. A couple may make the practice squad, but outside of injuries the others are who will likely give the team their best options going forward based on who they have available.