Bengals Training Camp Preview: DT
Players:
92. BJ Hill
98. TJ Slaton
93. McKinnley Jackson
90. Kris Jenkins
95. Howard Cross III
94. Eric Gregory
69. Dante Barnett
The DT position is one that severely underwhelmed for the Bengals last season. Trey Hendrickson put up a lot of pressure off the edge, but they failed to generate much from the middle. Similarly, the run defence left a lot to be desired after they chose to let DJ Reader walk in free agency. They made some additions during the offseason, but will largely be relying on many of the same players from last season to take a step forward.
After re-signing with the Bengals back in March, Hill is set to hold his place as the starting 3T. While he certainly wasn’t the problem last season, the Bengals will be asking for more. He is a high floor, lower ceiling kind of player, so to ask him to be a dynamic force as a pass rusher would be unfair. That said, we’ve seen him elevate his play in big games, and if he could reach that level a little more frequently, it would help a lot.
Slaton was signed to replace DJ Reader as the starting NT, after they failed to do so last year. He is the bargain bin version, but he did have good underlying numbers as a run defender. Slaton won’t bring much as a pass rusher, but as a NT, his job won’t be to rush the passer. The hope is that he can help improve a run defence that was awful for much of last year.
Jackson is also a NT, and I actually like him as a potential future starter at the position. He is still coming along in his development, but he showed some tremendous flashes in the back half of last season. His role for this season will likely be rotational, and I’m sure he’ll be out there in many short yardage situations. If he can continue to progress, he’ll be in a good spot to see his role increase later on this year, and put himself in position to contend for a starting spot next season.
While Jackson is behind Slaton on the NT depth chart, Jenkins fits behind Hill at 3T. He is also expected to be part of the rotation. Coming out of college, he was actually a pretty solid run defender, but I think the bigger appeal was the pass rushing upside that his athleticism brought. His main issue was needing to develop more rush moves, and I would say the same thing after his rookie season. Despite getting little production out of the position as a whole, the Bengals didn’t really do anything to address it. This would imply that they are betting heavily on Jenkins’ development.
The depth thins out a lot at this point, as the next three are all rookie UDFA’s. However, as I stated in my UDFA article, I’m actually pretty high on Cross III, for being a UDFA. In fact, I included him on the roster in my 53 man roster predictions. As a UDFA, he’ll certainly have to fight for his spot, something I’m sure he’s had to do frequently as an undersized defensive lineman. But what I really like about him is his athleticism and burst off the line. He has the potential to be a good gap penetrator, and if he can show that in camp/preseason, he definitely has a chance to play his way onto the roster.
Gregory is a lot less flashy than Cross III, but is solid against the run, and could be a decent rotational player at some point down the line. If Cross III can play his way onto the roster, then Gregory, in theory, could as well. He’ll be battling with Cross and Barnett for potentially one roster spot. If they don’t end up on the roster, both could definitely end up on the practice squad.
Barnett rounds out the position group. He is a UDFA out of Birmingham, England, and joined the Bengals via the NFL’s International Player Pathway program. He is likely raw and in need of development, so his chances of making the roster are slim. As well, the Bengals would get a 17th spot on the practice squad for him, should they choose to keep him there. It would be a big surprise if they don’t take this route with his development.
