Cincinnati Bengals Top 2026 Player Position Battles Entering Training Camp

The full Bengals roster has reported for training camp in the hot July/August sun outside and inside Paycor Stadium.

It's a huge few weeks for not only the stars, but also names down the roster fighting for a spot on the final team or aiming to rise the depth chart. Cincinnati has pretty strong continuity on this roster (especially offensively), but there are still a few intriguing battles brewing up and down the depth chart.

Let's rip through the three most interesting position battles brewing this month.

Wide Receiver

The Bengals clearly aren't satisfied with the production they got beyond Tee Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase last season. Andrei Iosivas has manned the No. 3 role over the past three seasons, with some flash showings from guys like Charlie Jones and Mitchell Tinsley, who got in the mix last season.

Most of the passing production missed the mark. Iosivas caught just 33 of his 58 targets last season for 13.2 yards per catch, while Jones did not get targeted last season. Tinsley got plenty of looks as the season wore on, but he had similar issues getting open for easy targets like Iosivas (Tinsley caught just eight of 24 targets).

None of those players finished the 2025 season with a Pro Football Focus grade higher than 56.5 (Tinsley at 56.5, Iosivas at 53.7, Jones at 47.6 on 20 snaps total). They combined for just four touchdowns and 551 receiving yards on 82 targets. Far from good enough to properly complement the stars above them.

Enter fourth-round pick Colbie Young. The Georgia product is going to have a chance to make plays throughout camp and show that he is worthy of a high Day 3 pick. The 6-foot-4 talent has the skill to take hold of this role and be a major switch-up playmaker behind Higgins and Chase.

His 2025 season unfortunately ended at Georgia due to a broken leg, but he was their second-leading receiver when he went down, notching 23 catches for 336 yards and one touchdown. Young was a consistent force at Georgia and Miami, earning 70-plus PFF grades in each of the past three seasons. He showed decent run-blocking chops with his big size, and that underlying skill should only help him in this race.

"The physicality, the ownership, the accountability, the willingness to play positions, and then it was slowly coming out in the season with his play," Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said about Jones last season. "We found that he was one of the hardest guys to tackle, so his touches went up. He was the best point-of-attack blocker. He was the best vertical guy, and, unfortunately, it happens."

Iosivas and Tinsley are going to have to raise their games to hold off this SEC talent from making an instant splash and taking the WR3 reins.

Defensive End

The Bengals swapped out Trey Hendrickson for Boye Mafe this offseason after landing the former Seahawk on a three-year deal, so his top-dog spot is pretty cemented right now.

How the rest of the defensive end group rolls out is the big question.

It's a huge training camp for Myles Murphy and Shemar Stewart, who seem to be trending in the right direction this offseason. Murphy has all the motivation in the world to take that role and build on his career-high (and team-high) 5.5 sacks last season. He's coming off a career-best 64.2 PFF grade and had two of his three best games of the 2025 season in the final three weeks.

That positive arrow is pointing way up for Murphy to be the second-best edge rusher for Cincinnati in a contract season, but Stewart will be making his case, too.

The second-year defender had one of the weirdest rookie timelines possible last year with his contract dispute and first-ever injury-hampered season. That's in the past now, with Stewart keeping his head down all offseason and focusing on the work that helped make him one of the most athletic edge rushers to ever come into the league. Stewart's fully healthy and hungry.

There has been zero drama or even hints of it in 2026, and that could mean a big pop from the 6-foot-5, 267-pound monster after just one sack and 11 total tackles in eight games last season.

He has all the tools to even eclipse Mafe as the team's sack leader this fall, and a great coach in Jerry Montgomery to help him get there. It's the biggest summer yet for Stewart and Murphy's careers.

Nickel Cornerback

Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Jalen Davis (35) runs with the ball after catching a pass during an interception drill at Bengals spring practice at the IEL Indoor Facility in Cincinnati on Tuesday, June 11, 2024. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The third cornerback spot could be a mix of guys throughout the season, but as of today, Jalen Davis has earned the strongest shot at nailing down a full-time role.

The 5-foot-10, 186-pound journeyman appeared in seven games last season in what was his best campaign yet in the NFL. Davis posted a career-high 20 tackles, broke up a pass for the first time since 2023, and snagged his first career interception.

It amounted to a career-best 270 snaps and his second-highest PFF grade for a full season (65.5 overall). None of those numbers are going to wow anyone or get him hype as a potential first-time Pro Bowl candidate this season, but it's palatable compared to how bad the position was early in the season (Davis started taking over the role in Week 12). I'd be surprised if Davis lost this role across camp, but competition is there for him.

Ja'Sir Taylor is in the building as a depth signing, but he's never played good football in the NFL (sub-59 PFF grades in each of his four seasons, career-low 41.2 grade last season). After missing 21.4% of his tackles last season, he'd have to severely outplay Davis to get the Week 1 nod.

The same goes for Bralyn Lux, who may have a stronger dark-horse chance to take the role at 5-foot-11, 185 pounds. He's more of an unknown as a second-year player and performed well against terrible competition in the final two weeks of the season.

Lux notched a 73.7 PFF grade across 19 snaps in those contests against Arizona and Cleveland.

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