Bengals 2026 Training Camp Preview: WR
Players:
1. Ja’Marr Chase
5. Tee Higgins
80. Andrei Iosivas
82. Mitchell Tinsley
86. Colbie Young
12. Ke’Shawn Williams
15. Charlie Jones
19. Kendric Pryor
17. Noah Thomas
14. Jordan Moore
81. Dohnte Meyers
18. Xavier Johnson
Continuing the series with the WR position. It might not be the deepest from top to bottom, but their top two is probably the best duo in the league. And beyond that, there is a decent enough mix of solid contributions and young guys with potential.
Chase and Higgins headline the unit, both having emerged as star players in the NFL. Primarily boundary guys, we do see each kick inside to the slot at various times. Perhaps this is something the Bengals make even more usage of in order to manufacture matchups.
Iosivas has operated as the 3rd guy, mostly out of the slot over the past couple of seasons. I maintain that he is miscast in this role, but with Chase and Higgins on the outside, there isn’t much you can do.
The 3rd spot for Iosivas seems relatively safe, as there isn’t any prominent competition in the receiver room. Though Mike Gesicki will probably eat into his snap count.
Onto the bench now, the 4th position on the depth chart may end up as a camp battle, but Tinsley’s strong preseason last year, and sporadic chunk plays during the regular season, make him the favourite to keep it.
It will be interesting to see if Colbie Young can make a play for it. The rookie is raw, but has some likeable traits. If he can fast track some improvements, I wouldn’t count him out.
Williams and Jones figure to be in the mix for the 5th spot. They both have some experience, and will try to use it to edge ahead of the rookie. But for these two, there is also a side battle. The numbers game already makes it difficult for both to make the roster. And neither one has really been able to establish themselves on offence thus far. However, they have been used in the return game. We could see the battle between these two come down to who shows more on special teams.
Pryor has been in Cincinnati for multiple preseasons now, and has spent a lot of time on the practice squad, with a stint in Jacksonville in between. He still seems to be riding the wave of an impressive preseason a few years ago. But with new talent continuing to be added in, his time might be running out. He’ll try to sneak out that last roster spot, but it is more likely that he’ll be fighting for a spot on the practice squad.
We continue on with the rest of the back-end guys, and I’ll start with Thomas because I think he has the most potential of the group. Going in, there isn’t really anything else to separate these guys unless you want to put, say, a 2025 UDFA ahead of one from 2026 by default. Thomas is a rookie, but his size and speed combination, to me, makes him the most likely to create waves in camp and/or the preseason. It’ll be hard for him to stick on the roster, but I wouldn’t rule him out. If he can’t make it on, he feels like a strong bet for the practice squad.
Moore and Johnson are both recent UDFA’s. Moore in 2025 and Johnson in 2024. The former spent all of last season with the Bengals on the practice squad, while the latter joined in December before returning on a futures deal prior to free agency.
Meyers, meanwhile, originally a 2023 UDFA, was also signed to a futures deal before free agency opened. He spent the last 2 seasons in the CFL with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, where he put up good numbers. However, as much as we love the CFL on this site, I’d still call him a long shot, based on his skill set. Meyers, along with Moore and Johnson, look like the longest shots of the WR room, though we’ve seen in past years that you can’t count anyone out.
