Impact Sports Organizational Review: Projecting the 2019 Cincinnati Bengals

File Photo – Chris Asbrock (Impact Sports Cincinnati)

by Chris Asbrock

It is certainly a New Dey in Who Dey nation. The Marvin Lewis era in Cincinnati ended after 16 seasons with the Bengals. Lewis did a fantastic job of turning around a once miserable organization. Under Lewis, the Bengals won the AFC North Division four times and made the playoffs seven times. The Bengals decided the time was now, to move on from Lewis and brought in 36 year-old Zac Taylor from the Los Angeles Rams. Now, the preseason has finally completed and teams are now down to their final 53 man rosters.

Look ahead to each position group for the 2019 season:

Offense:

2019 Projected Starters (Rookies in Italics):

QB: Andy Dalton
RB: Joe Mixon
WR: A.J. Green (Injured)
WR: Tyler Boyd
WR: Damion Willis
TE: Tyler Eifert
C: Trey Hopkins
RG: John Miller
RT: Bobby Hart
LG: Michael Jordan
LT: Cordy Glenn

Bench:

QB – Ryan Finley, Jake Dolegala
RB – Giovani Bernard, Samaje Perine, Trayveon Williams
WR – John Ross III, Alex Erickson, Pharoh Cooper, Auden Tate
TE – C.J. Uzomah, Cethan Carter, Drew Sample
OL – Andre Smith, Billy Price, John Jerry

The offense will certainly be something to watch this season. The defensive mentality is now out the window with the hiring of Taylor. With Dalton under center, Taylor is lucky to have a veteran signal caller to lead the new offense for the season. Dalton is a solid NFL quarterback, who will not go out and win you a game but will not lose you a game either. In his career, Dalton has accumulated a 68-50-2 record, with 188 touchdowns and 104 interceptions. A cerebral quarterback, Dalton has quality weapons around him to once again, help lighten the load. Ryan Finley had a solid preseason, which saw him rise up to second on the depth chart while undrafted free agent Jake Dolegala had a great preseason, earning him a spot on the 53 man roster. If the Bengals let Dolegala go and signed him to the practice squad, there was a high probability a team would snatch him up relatively quickly. While Dalton is under contract through next season, so the Bengals are smart to keep the two rookies on the roster and let them develop.

A.J. Green is expected to miss at least the first three weeks of the season so Taylor will be looking for rookie Damion Willis to step up and be a starter the first few games. Willis had a solid preseason and did enough for Taylor to give him the start in week 1. Taylor has also come out and stated that John Ross will be a big part of the offense and look for Alex Erickson to take on a bigger receiving role as well. The one x-factor in this group is second-year receiver, Auden Tate. Tate is a freak athlete who seems to haul in every pass that comes his way. Add in Tyler Eifert as one of the best pass catching tight ends in the league, Dalton has some fantastic targets to sling the ball to.

Even with A.J. Green being out, the offensive line will once again be the weakest link on this offense. Last season, the offensive line was terrible and while the potential for them to be better is there for this season, it will be up to the Taylor and Offensive Coordinator Brian Callahan to dial up some brand new plays to get the ball out of Dalton’s hand quick and into the hands of the playmakers. Joe Mixon led the AFC in rushing last season, with 1168 yards and will feature heavily in Taylor’s offense. Taylor’s offense will be reminiscent of the Los Angeles Rams offense. Giovani Bernard will once again be the second running back. Rookie Trayveon Williams and newly acquired Samaje Perine could be major factors for the Bengals as they will focus on running the football. The offensive line will need to get it together and gel quickly for the Bengals to get off to a solid start.

Defense:

2019 Projected Starters:

DE: Carlos Dunlap
DT: Geno Atkins
NT: Andrew Billings
DE: Sam Hubbard
LB: Nick Vigil
LB: Preston Brown
CB: William Jackson III
CB: Dre Kirkpatrick
CB: B.W. Webb
SS: Shawn Williams
FS: Jessie Bates III

Bench:

DL – Kerry Wynn, Jordan Willis, Carl Lawson, Josh Tupou, Andrew Brown, Ryan Glasgow, Renell Wren
LB – Germaine Pratt, Jordan Evans
DB – Clayton Fejedelem, Tony McRae, Brandon Wilson, Darius Phillips

Last season, the defense did not live up to the expectations to say the least. Let’s be honest, the defense last season was flat out awful. The Bengals defense was dead last in the NFL with an average of 413.6 yards per game and 30th in the league giving up an average of 28.4 points per game. This season we don’t know what quite to expect and there are some more questions under first time Defensive Coordinator Lou Anarumo. A victory for this season would be the defense playing better than what they did last season. If the Bengals defense can step up and play to their ability, that could be good enough to secure a few more wins.

As of now, the Bengals are only keeping four linebackers, while keeping 11 defensive linemen. Keeping only four linebackers brings up the question whether the Bengals will be playing a 5-2 defensive set or in the nickel package for the majority of the plays. One would think the Bengals will be in the nickel package. During the preseason, the Bengals showed a variety of looks but the roster cuts will determine more of what type of defensive package they roll out.

Anarumo has three solid end rushers in Carlos Dunlap, Sam Hubbard and Carl Lawson. Those three can do damage and disrupt any passing play. Dunlap, a 9-year veteran, has played in 134 games in his career, tallying a solid 72.5 sacks. With Lawson becoming a rising star and Hubbard looking to build off a solid rookie season, the defensive line is still anchored by Geno Atkins. The two-time NFL All-Pro is the main man on defense for the Bengals. In 137 games, Atkins has 71 sacks, 96 tackles for loss and 161 quarterback hits. A beast on the defensive line, Atkins will be a big asset in Anarumo’s defense.

The Bengals pass defense gave up a league worst average 275.9 passing yards per game. William Jackson III, Dre Kirkpatrick and B.W. Webb will be looked upon to step up and help lock down and improve the leagues worst pass defense. Jessie Bates is another star on the rise. The second year ball hawking strong safety was a welcomed addition to the defense last season. Bates had three interceptions with one of those returned for a touchdown. Bates figures to grow and improve from his solid rookie season and Anarumo will need for Bates to continue his solid play.

Special Teams:

2019 Projected Starters:

LS: Clark Harris
P: Kevin Huber
K: Randy Bullock
KR/PR: Alex Erickson, Pharoh Cooper, Darius Phillips

Bench: Alex Erickson, Pharoh Cooper, Darius Phillips

The Cincinnati Bengals have one of the best punters in the league in Kevin Huber. Throughout his 10 year career, Huber has punted 768 times with an average of 45.1 yards per punt. Huber is a special teams weapon who is capable of flipping the field with one punt and does an amazing job of pinning the opponent inside the 20 yard line. The hometown guy is heavily relied upon to put the Bengals defense in a good starting spot with a single punt.

Randy Bullock is entering his fourth season with the Bengals and has been another consistent piece in their special teams unit. Throughout his time with the Bengals, Bullock has made 42 field goals in 49 attempts, with a long of 51 yards. Inside of 40 yards, Bullock is seemingly automatic but like most other kickers, things get shaky the longer the kick. During his time in Cincinnati, Bullock has withstood any competition thrown his way.

Alex Erickson has been a major bright spot in the Bengals return game. His ability to provide a quality return has helped put the Bengals offense in a solid spot consistently. Erickson is the number 1 guy on the return team but Darius Phillips was given a lot of chances during this preseason and rebounded nicely in the final two games. Phillips was a prominent returner during his time at Western Michigan and the Bengals coaching staff feel Phillips can contribute to that level. After rosters were set at 53 men, the Bengals claimed former All-Pro returner Pharoh Cooper. At this time, Cooper is not listed as a starter in the return game but Cooper along with Erickson and Phillips give the Bengals one of the top return groups in the league.

Coaching:

Head Coach: Zac Taylor

This past offseason was one of the craziest in recent memory for the Bengals. Gone are the days of Marvin Lewis and in is the New Dey with Zac Taylor. Taylor was hired on as the new Head Coach of the Cincinnati Bengals, following the Los Angeles Rams loss in the Super Bowl. Taylor has been a coach who has been around during his young career. Taylor started off as a Graduate Assistant at Texas A&M from 2008-2011 before he took a position with the Miami Dolphins. Taylor was in South Florida for five seasons where he was the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. The University of Cincinnati came calling and Taylor moved to the Queen City where he became the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator for the Bearcats. Taylor has been with the Rams for the last two seasons where he has coached under Sean McVay. Taylor is a young, offensive mind, who will bring a youthful vibrancy to Paul Brown Stadium which is something we have not seen in a long time. While Marvin Lewis was a players coach who the players seemed to enjoy playing for, the time had come where a change needed to be made. The trend around the NFL is bringing in a young coach and that all started with the success by McVay in Los Angeles. The Bengals made a great move in bringing a young coach to change the vibe that was previously around the stadium.

Schedule:

Week 1: Sunday 9/8 at Seattle Seahawks, 4:05 p.m. (CBS)
Week 2: Sunday 9/15 vs San Francisco 49ers, 1 p.m. (Fox)
Week 3: Sunday 9/22 at Buffalo Bills, 1 p.m. (CBS)
Week 4: Monday 9/30 at Pittsburgh Steelers, 8:15 p.m. (ESPN)
Week 5: Sunday 10/6 vs Arizona Cardinals, 1 p.m. (Fox)
Week 6: Sunday 10/13 at Baltimore Ravens, 1 p.m. (CBS)
Week 7: Sunday 10/20 vs Jacksonville Jaguars, 1 p.m. (CBS)
Week 8: Sunday 10/27 in London Los Angeles Rams, 1 p.m. (London) (CBS)
Week 9: BYE
Week 10: Sunday 11/10 vs Baltimore Ravens, 1 p.m. (CBS)
Week 11: Sunday 11/17 at Oakland Raiders, 4:25 p.m. (CBS)
Week 12: Sunday 11/24 vs Pittsburgh Steelers, 1 p.m. (CBS)
Week 13: Sunday 12/1 vs New York Jets, 1 p.m. (CBS)
Week 14: Sunday 12/8 at Cleveland Browns, 1 p.m. (CBS)
Week 15: Sunday 12/15 vs New England Patriots, 1 p.m. (CBS)
Week 16: Sunday 12/22 at Miami Dolphins, 1 p.m. (CBS)
Week 17: Sunday 12/29 vs Cleveland Browns, 1 p.m. (CBS)

Conclusion: This season is an incredibly difficult one to predict. There are so many unknowns to this season that will certainly play out as the season moves forward. In looking at their roster, the Cincinnati Bengals are one of the more talented teams in the league. That is what makes this season so interesting. Usually with a new head coach, a team will struggle in the first season but with the Bengals talent, any struggles could be short lived. In years past, it was easy to predict how the Bengals would finish under Lewis. This year, the Bengals could finish 3-13 or could be as good as 10-6. The offensive line could be the biggest hindrance for Taylor and the offense. With A.J. Green set to miss the first few games of the season, another player will need to step up and be the man until he returns. Since Taylor is an offensive minded coach, look for the offense to be big factor for this team in 2019. The schedule is difficult but the team is talented enough to steal a few games. The Cleveland Browns look to be the class of the AFC North but second place and a spot in the playoffs will be up for grabs. The defense was horrendous last season so any improvement will help the Bengals this season. The first part of the season could see the Bengals go 4-4 before they head into the bye in week 9. Seeing how this season progresses will be the major thing to watch with this team. The potential is there for this season to be special but the injuries could once again be too much to overcome and could cost this team a spot in the playoffs. Regardless of how this season ends, the Bengals are in a great spot moving forward. With the talent on this roster and the youthful exuberance of Zac Taylor, things are looking bright on the riverfront. 

2019 Final Bengals Prediction: 7-9, 3rd in AFC North

Chris Asbrock is a staff writer and analyst for Impact Sports Cincinnati and can be followed on Twitter  Follow @iamchrisasbrock