The Bengals: 5 Things Training Camp Has Already Revealed

John Sheeran breaks down the five biggest Bengals training camp takeaways so far and what they could mean for Cincinnati heading into the 2026 season. The defense has provided plenty of reasons for optimism, led by Dexter Lawrence's dominant performance, while several key roster battles are beginning to take shape.

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Video Transcript

There have been a lot of takes, a lot of highlights, a lot of clips coming out of Cincinnati Bengals training camp.

But what are the actual lessons that we have learned?

Now that the Bengals are preparing for an actual pre-season game, what have we learned from Cincinnati Bengals training camp?

I'm John Sheeran of A to Z Sports Cincinnati.

This is A to Z Sports Cincinnati, covering your Cincinnati Bengals throughout the 2026 off-season, leading up to the regular season.

Believe it or not, before this week is over, we will see the Bengals in full uniform playing an actual game, kind of, in Paycor Stadium.

The Bengals' first pre-season game of their three-week pre-season slate is Thursday night against the Detroit Lions at home in Cincinnati.

I'm expecting a similar plan for the starters compared to last year's week one pre-season game, which the Bengals played about a quarter on both offense and defense with the ones out there, about two drives for each unit.

Again, that could change based off of how long that first drive is, but we will see about a quarter of the game played with Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Dexter Lawrence, D.J.

Turner, and all the rest of the starters that the Bengals are counting on this year in the regular season.

But for three of the other quarters, it's gonna be a lot of the backups, a lot of the reserves, a lot of the guys fighting for roster spots.

And I would say that is the main importance of the pre-season.

It's to give those guys who don't get a lot of reps during the actual season a chance to prove themselves so that when injuries inevitably occur and depth is tested, that those guys, you know, below the top 22 on the roster can be counted on to help you win games.

A lot of roster battles that you're thinking of, they often do get decided first in training camp, but then their abilities and their observations are proven or verified in the actual pre-season games.

And since the main players, the starters, the stars of the team don't play that often in the pre-season, what we can learn about them and who this team really is is truly gauged in training camp.

It's truly gauged in the first two weeks of practicing when the team comes back from the summer and we start to learn just how good or how shaky this team can really be.

And objectively speaking, I'm pleased to say that the majority of things that we've learned about this team are rather good.

I'm here to say that after what feels like too long of the saying being the Bengals just need a average defense, they just need to be decent on the other side of the ball, whereas the offense is explosive and dangerous and always competes to be one of the best in the league.

Instead of just being average, I think the bar should be raised for what this defense can be, at least in 2026.

I think this defense has a chance to actually be good, to be one of the better defenses in the NFL where there are more defenses who are under them rather than above them.

And while the focus has been to just not be in the basement in terms of rankings and just be somewhere in the middle of the pack, I think that the defensive line that the Bengals have composed, along with the additions of Bryan Cook and some other players in the back end, I think the Bengals defense has a chance to actually be pretty good.

Because it's not just like last year when the defense had a lot of momentum during training camp, and they were stifling the offense, and it was just a lot of young guys just kinda coming together and playing together for the first time, kinda taking the offense by surprise.

There is a notable difference, I think, with this year's unit, just because it's comprised of players that we all know are already really good, and they're all just joining forces.

And it does entirely start with the pass rush.

It starts with Boye Mafe and Cassius Hail being injected into this defensive line, coming off the edge, and being real players in factoring into how good this pass rush can be.

Both of them bring a body type and a skill set and athleticism that I just don't think has been there for the Bengals defensive end group in the last handful of years, even with Trey Hendrickson on the field.

Defensive tackle B.J.

Hill hasn't even practiced yet, and yet that position group has still been a strength of the team.

We'll get more about that in a second.

But I think Jonathan Allen, when he's been out there, he's looked like the veteran presence that we've all come to expect.

And Bryan Cook and Jordan Battle at safety have both been really good playing alongside D- D.J.

Turner and Dak Sill and everyone else at cornerback.

I know the Bengals offense hasn't been always consistent this camp because they've been experimenting with different parts of the playbook, but this defense does look legitimate for reasons that haven't really been applicable in recent years when they've given us some false hope.

So for me, bring on the higher expectations for this Bengals defense.

I think it has a chance to be above average rather than just middle of the pack.

And you do not have to get any deeper in the defensive conversation to, in order to get to Dexter Lawrence, because he has been the definitive star of Bengals camp thus far.

Every single practice that he's been out there, because he's taken, I think, a couple of rest days for, you know, veteran rest days and whatnot, he has been an absolute wrecking ball, whether it's against the pass, against the run, just tackling Chase Brown with just one hand, you know, in, in the ways that he can tackle in training camp, just tossing Ted Karras to the side in pass protection, forcing the Bengals offense line to double him in situations in which they do not want to double any of the defensive linemen because these are just drills.

He has been a constant headache for this offense to maneuver around because that is who he is.

He is a game wrecking force multiplier.

And what makes this even more interesting is just how much people have been dying down their expectations for Lawrence, maybe outside of Cincinnati.

They don't think that he's the player that he once was with the New York Giants, that the Bengals are taking on a player entering the second ac- that the Bengals are taking on a player entering the second act of his career, and he's just not gonna be the same dominant all-pro caliber player that he once was.

He looks every bit of it out there, though.

So if you are still doubting whether or not the Bengals got a really good player in trading for Lawrence, I think you need to watch some more Bengals tape.

He has single-handedly transformed the perception of this defense and just how much it can actually do from all levels.

And I cannot wait to see how it translates when the games begin.

I'm also really intrigued at where things go at wide receiver from here, because we know who Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins are.

We know that Andre Jospeh is probably going to start the season as the other starting wide out in the slot, the number three.

But beyond that, I think everything is up for debate.

Everything is up on the table for, like, a handful of guys.

Throughout camp, Joseph has been rotating in and out with Mitchell Tinsley and Colby Young for that third receiver spot.

Tinsley has been mainly on the field for running plays because he has really impressed as a blocker, and that goes back to what he did, you know, last year when he wasn't catching these 50/50 balls.

And Colby Young specifically with 50/50 balls has looked fantastic, and it seems like every opportunity he, that he has gotten to, you know, catch passes from Joe Burrow, he has looked the part.

And all that makes sense because the Bengals do want more from that wide receiver three role.

They want Growth from Yosh Oz, but they also want to utilize the skills that both Tinsley and Young clearly have.

And when it comes to blocking in the run game and getting up there and winning these 50/50 balls in contested catch situations, I think Tinsley and Young respectively have the edge over Yoshi.

All three of those guys should be considered locks right now.

Yoshi, Tinsley, and Young are gonna be behind Chase and Higgins.

The number six spot, which could be the last actual roster spot the Bengals have at the wide receiver position this year, I think that's in a three-way battle right now between Charlie Jones, KeShawn Williams, and Dante Myers.

And the guy who may win it is the guy who has never played a down for the Bengals before in Myers.

He comes from the CFL.

He was a really productive receiver for Saskatchewan the last two years, and he also has a lot of history of returning kickoffs, and that is going to be his main value.

That's going to be his main avenue of making the roster because, honestly, at the end of the day, the six receiver is not gonna be counted on to run routes throughout the game.

So that battle between Jones, Williams, and Myers, that's mainly gonna be taking place during the preseason, but I think it's completely up in the air right now, and Myers is still staying in there because he's making plays as a wideout.

So that only adds more value to him.

Cincinnati sure knows how to develop receivers on the back end of the roster, and I cannot wait to see how this battle on both fronts look three weeks from now when roster cuts have to be finalized.

If it feels like there hasn't been a lot of news about both Demetrius Knight and Barrett Carter, you're right, and that I think is a good thing.

On the second day of training camp, Carter and Knight basically contributed, combined forces to intercepting Joe Burrow in just a seven-on-seven or 11-on-11 drill without any pads on.

Ever since then, I haven't really heard a lot about them, and I feel like that's a good thing.

It's a lot like offensive linemen during games, right?

The less you hear about them, the more you know that they're just doing their job, and they're not, you know, limiting that side of the ball in one way, shape, or form.

And I feel like that's been the case with both Knight and Carter.

I think they've just been slowly continuing to find themselves in this defense surrounded by a lot more competent players, and they're just kind of filling their roles.

They're just filling gaps in the run game.

They're being where they need to be in the pass game.

I think they've made some plays here and there, but for the most part, I haven't really heard anything about them in terms of just being out of place, missing a lot of tackles, or just having any bad angles, you know, when they actually are tackling out there.

So I think both of these guys, just the lack of headlines, I think, is more of a good thing for them.

And considering how we entered training camp saying that they need to be looking at the waiver wire and potential trade targets at linebacker in case one of these guys falters and doesn't look the part at camp, that's a great thing because it seems like the Bengals are gonna have one less thing to worry about when roster cuts come around.

And finally, I just wanna put it on record that I don't think the battle for slot cornerback, nickelback, whatever you wanna call it, I don't think it's a battle anymore, and it probably never really was a battle at the beginning of camp.

This is Jalen Davis's spot to lose.

He's been practicing with the ones consistently, going through drills with both Turner and Hill when they're out there.

I think this guy has the starting job locked up, and it's gonna take a phenomenal preseason performance from either Jasir Taylor or Braylon Lux to change that equation.

Now, don't get me wrong, like, Taylor has been out there sometimes, and I think Lux was even taking first team reps when they were in the stadium for, like, the welcome back fan practice or whatever the case may have been, and I think that was because Davis was also hurt along with Taylor.

So they have gotten some exposure there, but I think there's a lot more trust in Davis, and this is something I've harked back on for the majority of the off-season.

There's a lot more trust within the building for Davis holding down this position than I think there is outside of the building, and I think it's interesting how they signed Taylor to potentially push him and to compete for snaps with the starters at that spot, but I think Davis has looked more than fine at that position so far in training camp.

And so long as he's healthy, he's going to continue getting those reps, and he's going to stay ahead of this race that may not be a race at all.

Keep in mind, though, Dax Hill is monitoring a hamstring injury, and he hasn't really been practicing that much over the last week.

So that is going to lead to more opportunities throughout the rest of the cornerback room, maybe even for Josh Newton, who seems to be well out of the race to, you know, make the team at cornerback.

So I think injuries are probably his best hope of making the roster at this point because DJ Ivy and Dakario Davis look like the clear two choices behind starters Turner and Hill on the boundary.

The Bengals will practice at least one more time before they take the field for their first preseason game on Thursday night against the Detroit Lions.

But with the majority of training camp now behind us, how do you feel about the 2026 Bengals entering the preseason and eventually the regular season?

Let me know down in the comments below.

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