Cincinnati Bengals: Early 53-man roster predictions 2018, defensive line
By Kenn Korb
Moving to the other side of the ball with our early predictions for the Cincinnati Bengals 53-man roster in 2018, we look at the defensive line.
Time to get to the Cincinnati Bengals defense. This has been the strength of this team for some time now, and could be so again in the 2018 season. It’s deep in the offseason right now with OTAs underway, but we’ve already been looking ahead with some predictions about the forthcoming campaign.
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, and offensive linemen.
We begin the defensive side of the ball with the defensive linemen.
Defensive Linemen
* = starters; + = make roster
*Carlos Dunlap
*Geno Atkins
*Chris Baker
+Michael Johnson
Andrew Billings
+Andrew Brown
Gaelin Elmore
+Ryan Glasgow
+Sam Hubbard
Ja’Von Rolland-Jones
Josh Tupou
+Jordan Willis
Though somewhat flawed, the defensive line was the strongest unit on the team last season, and it should continue to be that once again. If anything, the new players in tow should make it even more potent in garnering pressure (41 sacks in 2017) while being much better against the run (3rd-worst rushing yards allowed).
The starting group will be led by some long-time stalwarts. Dunlap will continue to be a really talented pass rusher who has an elite knack for batting down passes. Atkins should keep being one of the best interior pass rushers in the league (only Aaron Donald had a better Pro Football Focus Edge grade among interior defenders than Atkins’ 91.5 overall grade).
The group may have two new starters, though. One is Baker, who had an underwhelming 2017 (68.4 PFF grade) but that came right after a couple really good seasons (2015-16 PFF grade: 82.9 and 84.2, respectively). In terms of long-term impact, the younger guys the team has drafted could become better, but at least for now Baker would give the best floor while pairing well with Atkins as an interior pass rusher.
As for the other usual starting lineman spot, due to the prevalence of nickel and dime packages I’m letting someone not listed as a defensive lineman hold down that spot instead. If I were to just stick with the usual 4-3 base, it’d be Johnson getting the nod. As he did last year, he’ll mostly play at end opposite Dunlap and be a good option for sliding to the interior on some passing downs.
There are so many good options left to choose from for the backups, but only a few can make it. Willis should lead that charge. He came in last season seen as a steal in the third round, but the success of a couple other young players and a deep line rotation kept him from having much impact. In the limited snaps he saw, however, he was good and could be a major help in improving the run defense issues (80.0 PFF run defense grade; only Atkins and Dunlap were better).
Hubbard and Brown were draft picks this year, and Cincinnati heavily favors giving their rookie class a great shot at making the final roster. Both of them were given a good chance to become NFL starters by their NFL.com draft profiles, and their insatiable motors should make them favorites of their coaches throughout the summer and through the season.
The rough part of having the rookies make it will be that it probably pushes out some of the other recent young drafted guys. One of the final roster spots may come down to who the team likes more of Billings and Glasgow. In theory, they each provide something unique: the former is an anchoring nose tackle, while the latter is a playmaker against the run.
While neither is a good choice when teams pass, Glasgow at least can make a decent attempt to make an impact through effort; Billings is there to eat space. He hasn’t done that effectively though, and the team only has so many spots for non-contributors (plus, his NFL.com comp from his draft profile is already on the roster; why keep a less impactful facsimile of the original?).
Next: NFL 2018: Ranking all 32 starting RBs
The others just don’t seem to offer enough promise to overcome the players already mentioned. Tupou got brought in for a couple games last season, but did little to show himself as more than roster fodder. Elmore showed some athletic prowess in college, but never turned those into sacks (4 total in four college seasons, none as a senior).
Rolland-Jones was a productive sack artist in college (42 in four seasons; 13 in each of his junior and senior years), but it was done against a lower level of competition; even worse, his combine and his pro day testing were particularly awful. The odds are long for any one of them to push their way up the depth chart and onto the final 53.