The Bengals have promoted LB Brian Asamoah from the practice.
Asamoah first signed to the practice squad a couple of weeks ago, after Shaka Heyward was placed on IR and Logan Wilson requested his trade.
Originally a 3rd round pick of the Minnesota Vikings, Asamoah spent 3 seasons there before being waived in August. After brief stints with the Titans and Raiders, the Bengals brought him aboard.
Now, with Logan Wilson having officially been traded, he gets his promotion to the active roster, where he will likely start off in a special teams role.
With the open spot on the practice squad, the Bengals added Antwaun Powell-Ryland.
Powell-Ryland is a rookie who was originally a 6th round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles. As an undersized player, he will have a hard time starting in the NFL. However, he has the kind of athleticism and refined rush moves that can make him an impactful situational pass rusher.
The addition of Powell-Ryland is a quiet, yet intriguing move. With the Bengals lacking any sort of flare when it comes to their pass rush (outside of Trey Hendrickson, who has missed games due to injury), adding a player who has the potential to make some splashy plays doesn’t hurt at all.
Being on the practice squad, he’ll have to either receive game day elevations (a practice squad player can receive a maximum of 3 in a season) or be promoted full time to the active roster in order to see game action. Hopefully, as he acclimatises himself to the organization, the team will give him a chance to make an impact.
