Matt’s Take: Bengals roster set; Sal Stewart is the Rookie of the Year frontrunner
By Matthew McAdow
HCP columnist
For the first time in recent memory, the Bengals had many tough decisions to make to get the 53-man roster set. There were many good players who unfortunately didn’t make the cut, but the Bengals finally had enough depth that there were many competitions between players.
Some of the players to get cut include:
Charlie Jones was released – previously the Bengals kick returner and wide receiver. Ke’Shawn Williams won the spot over Charlie Jones.
Cam Grandy did not make the final cut in the very deep tight end room for Cincinnati.
McKinnley Jackson was released by Cincinnati. He is now a free agent.
Brayln Lux was released.
Mitchell Tinsley, who has made some very athletic catches, unfortunately didn’t make the roster. He will find himself on a team, Cincinnati just has too deep of a wide receiver room.
Notable players that made the roster
Undrafted free agent Jacob Bayer, offensive lineman made the roster.
Swayne Bozeman made the roster and joins a very young linebacker group.
PJ Jules, an undrafted safety, made the Bengals' roster.
The biggest story of the offseason, Dohnte Myers made the roster. After playing in the Canadian Football League, being a zero star recruit out of high school, paying $100 for a CFL tryout, and driving from Atlanta overnight to catch passes from Joe Burrow, he looks like he completely belongs. What a story, but the story is far from finished.
Way-too-early Bengals prediction as of now
Buccaneers – Win
Texans – Win
Steelers – Win
Jaguars – Lose
Dolphins – Win
Ravens – Lose
Titans – Win
Atlanta – Win
Steelers – Lose
Commanders – Lose
Saints – Win
Browns – Win
Chiefs – Lose
Panthers – Win
Colts – Lose
Ravens – Win
Browns – Win
* * *
Sal Stewart – Rookie of the Year frontrunner
There shouldn’t be a single discussion about this any further. Sal Stewart is absolutely silencing Cardinals' fans and the rest of the baseball world, as he has taken over as the favorite to win the rookie of the year award.
He breaks a new record every week and at 22 years young, it is remarkable what he is doing night in and night out. He leads all of baseball with 105 RBIs on one of the worst offensive teams in the league. He is 9th in all of baseball with 31 home runs and trails Kyle Schwarber by just 9 home runs.
Imagine if they could’ve played together or if Suarez would’ve had the year we all had hoped for him. He has the 17th most hits in all of baseball and is 22nd in Slugging percentage.
In comparison to all rookies, he nearly leads or is top five in every category and the comparison with Wetherholt isn’t even close. Sal Stewart is going to win the rookie of the year, unless he drastically falls off over the last month of baseball.