Cincinnati Bengals' Training Camp Postion Battles for 2009

Tight Ends: Veteran Reggie Kelly is a trusted piece of Marvin Lewis’s offense, more of a blocking tight end , but he fits well in the Bengals power run formations.

Veteran Ben Utech was signed last year in free agency from the Colts, but he didn’t produce very well last year and was injured for most of the season.

Reggie Kelly is entering the final year of his contract and Ben Utech hasn’t proven he is durable enough yet, that could be why the Bengals opted to draft a TE in the third in the form of Rookie Chase Coffman.

If Chase shines this year it is likely that Reggie Kelly would be expendable and not brought back for the 2010 season.

Coffman is known more for his circus fingertip catches, and sure hand more than his pass blocking ability, if he wants to see playing time immediately then he better get used to blocking in the AFC North.

Training Camp position battles for the 2009 Bengals

Safeties: One thing is for sure for the safeties on the Bengals roster this year; they are going to pack a punch.

Chinedum Ndukwe, Marvin White, Chris Crocker and Roy Williams are all known for making an emphasis on impact; Marvin White was given the nickname Gator for his aggressive style of play.

Roy Williams is a monster run stopping safety, and Chinedum Ndukwe and Chris Crocker are known to pack punch as well. The Bengals have younger safeties in Corey Lynch, Kyries Hebert, and Tom Nelson who will all battle for playing time with four experienced safeties ahead of them.

Training Camp position battles for the 2009 Bengals

Center: This year no matter who wins the job, the Bengals will start the season with no NFL experience at center. While Center Kyle Cook is not a rookie, he has not had a snap.

Last year he was poised to take over the starting job in Dallas and had a toe injury in pregame warm-ups. Still one could argue that no NFL experience is better than having the open door they had manning Center last year in Eric Ghiaciuc.

Cook has been named the starter coming into camp, which in my opinion is a mistake seeing how they used a fourth round pick on Center Jonathan Lugis of Arkansas.

Lugis can only be judged on his past performance, which in his last three years has been one of the finalists for the Rimington Award, winning it in 2007.

Leaving this position open for battle in camp might have inspired better play out of both, I just don’t think you hand over a position without making them sweat and bleed for it in camp.

Training Camp position battles for the 2009 Bengals

Fullback: Jeremy Johnson must be considered the favorite to land the starting job; he was the Bengals starter before being released in 2008 for being out of shape.

He just resigned a contract this year, it is not yet known if he can physically handle the job.

Jeremy and Chad Johnson are the only two Bengals not in minicamp, Jeremy is not in camp because he is working with a personal trainer to get in shape for the season.

If he can’t watch out for Fui Vakapuna drafted in the seventh round, a powerful runner out of BYU known for his explosiveness at the point of impact.

Chris Pressley, an undrafted free agent, is a powerful classic style fullback, can block out of the power I, and catch out of the backfield, Chris is known for his YouTube video where he squats over 600 pounds repeatedly.

If Jeremy Johnson is not in shape look for him to be ousted before the season, with two young capable fullbacks pushing for playing time behind him.