Bengals release first depth chart of season

The Cincinnati Bengals released their first depth chart of the season Monday, and it has Bobby Hart as the starter at right tackle and Trey Hopkins starting at right guard.

Those were the two biggest questions heading into training camp, and those spots are still are up for grabs with four preseason games and 33 days until the season opener in Indianapolis.

One of the biggest surprises on the chart is second-year defensive end Carl Lawson listed as third string behind Michael Johnson and Jordan Willis despite recording 8.5 sacks last year.

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The main reason for that is the depth chart is constructed to reflect the base defense when in actuality the Bengals will be in their nickel defense (five defensive backs instead of four) for more than two-thirds of the snaps.

When the Bengals are nickel, Lawson is the rush defensive end and Darqueze Dennard, who is listed as a backup corner, is the extra defensive back.

The same goes on offense, with the team listing H-back Ryan Hewitt as a starter with just two wide receivers, A.J. Green and Tyler Boyd.

Look for Green, Boyd and John Ross to be on the field most of the time, with Hewitt continuing in his limited role that saw him play just 11 percent of the snaps in 2017.

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Here is the full break down of the depth chart:

OFFENSE

QB: Andy Dalton, Matt Barkley, Jeff Driskel, Logan Woodside

RB: Joe Mixon, Giovani Bernard, Mark Walton, Tra Carson, Brian Hill, Jarveon Williams, Quinton Flowers, Ray Lawry

H-B: Ryan Hewitt, Cethan Carter, Jordan Franks

WR: A.J. Green, Josh Malone, Cody Core, Auden Tate, Devonte Boyd, Kayaune Ross

WR: Tyler Boyd, John Ross, Alex Erickson, Kermit Whitfield, Ka’Raun White, Jared Murphy

TE: Tyler Eifert, Tyler Kroft, C.J. Uzomah, Mason Schreck, Moritz Bohringer

LT: Cordy Glenn, Jake Fisher, Justin Murray, Austin Fleer

LG: Clint Boling, Christian Westerman, Cory Helms

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C: Billy Price, T.J. Johnson, Brad Lundblade

RG: Trey Hopkins, Alex Redmond

RT: Bobby Hart, Cedric Ogbuehi, Kent Perkins

DEFENSE

LDE: Carlos Dunlap, Sam Hubbard

NT: Andrew Billings, Chris Baker, Josh Tupou, Chris Okoye

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DT: Geno Atkins, Ryan Glasgow, Andrew Brown, Eddy Wilson

RDE: Michael Johnson, Jordan Willis, Carl Lawson

SAM: Nick Vigil, Vinny Rey, Brandon Bell

MIKE: Preston Brown, Hardy Nickerson, Junior Joseph

WIL: Vontaze Burfict, Jordan Evans, Malik Jefferson, Chris Worley

LCB: Dre Kirkpatrick, Darqueze Dennard, Davontae Harris, Sojourn Shelton, C.J. Goodwin

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RCB: William Jackson, KeiVarae Russell, Tony McRae, Darius Phillips

SS: Shawn Williams, Clayton Fejedelem, Brandon Wilson, Trayvon Henderson

FS: George Iloka, Jessie Bates, Josh Shaw, Tyrice Beverette

SPECIAL TEAMS

K: Randy Bullock, Jonathan Brown

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P: Kevin Huber

LS: Clark Harris

H: Kevin Huber

KR: Alex Erickson, Darius Phillips, Brandon Wilson

PR: Alex Erickson, Tyler Boyd, Jessie Bates

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