Bengals: Full Position Breakdown and Depth Chart Analysis at Wide Receiver

The Cincinnati Bengals feature recognizable names at wide receiver, but the position was one of the team's weaknesses last season thanks to both poor luck in the health department and simple depth.

Coach Marvin Lewis and the front office worked hard to remedy the depth situation this offseason and a few names continue to work their way back from injuries, forming one of the team's most interesting roster battles of the summer and preseason.

Suffice it to say, wideout may give the coaching staff the toughest decisions on cut day.

Here's a look at the current depth chart:  

1	A.J. Green
2	Marvin Jones
3	Mohamed Sanu
4	Brandon Tate
5	Denarius Moore
6	Cobi Hamilton
7	James Wright
8	Tevin Reese
9	Mario Alford
10	Jake Kumerow

The names at the top aren't going anywhere, for obvious reasons. Some may argue A.J. Green's a top-five player at the position when healthy. Mohamed Sanu might see a reduced role next season, but his spot's secure, as is a spot for Marvin Jones, whose absence last year hurt the offense.

For context's sake, here's how the wideouts performed last year:

NAME	REC	TAR	YDS	TD
A.J. Green	69	116	1041	6
Mohamed Sanu	56	98	790	5
Brandon Tate	17	26	193	1
Dane Sanzenbacher	9	16	105	0
James Wright	5	16	91	0
Ryan Hewitt	10	14	86	0
Greg Little	6	12	69	0

What the list doesn't show is former tight end Jermaine Gresham, who received the third-highest amount of targets on the team last year at 79. He caught 62 of them for 460 yards and five scores. 

It also doesn't show production out of the backfield, with Giovani Bernard targeted a whopping 59 times, giving him 43 catches for 349 yards and two scores. Jeremy Hill caught 27 balls for 215 yards.

The point is the coaching staff has to know it needs more production from other names. It's great that Tyler Eifert figures to be healthy at tight end, but the team can't bank on his health and needs wideouts to create better separation so Andy Dalton isn't just dumping off to backs on the majority of downs.

A healthy Green-Jones-Sanu trio would help. Remember, Jones caught 51 passes for 712 yards and 10 scores in 2013 before missing last season. As ESPN.com's Coley Harvey pointed out in early June, the recovery seems on track:

Jones also happens to be a big advocate of an intern coach a few Cincinnati fans might recognize— T.J. Houshmandzadeh. Jones credits the veteran wideout's help for his return, as FoxSports.com's Kevin Goheen captures:

"

Looking at how he handles his business in terms of consistency with routes and sure hands, it popped out. You could tell that he was a guy that honed in on the details and did everything the same. That's what I base my game on. One of the aspects of my game is the little details, the consistency and the route-running.

"

Right now, it's Green and Jones at the first two slots, but don't sleep on Denarius Moore as the wideout most likely to see the field more than any other after those two.

Moore's just 26 years old, and for those who don't know, he's a burner who can stretch the field with ease. His best season came in 2012, when he caught 51 passes for 741 yards and seven touchdowns, and he even spent some time under the guidance of then-Oakland coach Hue Jackson, who now functions as Cincinnati's offensive coordinator.

Just the presence of a wideout who can create separation at the line of scrimmage will work wonders for the Bengals offense—just look at the ugly playoff loss this past season (don't).

The ripple effect of Moore's arrival and sheer talent seems sure to push others off the roster. Cobi Hamilton might be the first who comes to mind as a speedster who continues to struggle with drop issues.

Also of note is returner Brandon Tate, whose one job on the roster may be in jeopardy with the arrival of seventh-round rookie Mario Alford. The West Virginia product was one of the country's most dangerous collegiate returners last year and also caught 65 passes for 945 yards and 11 scores, averaging 14.5 yards per catch.

Should the coaching staff like what it sees from the rookie in camp and the preseason, he might even be able to work his way into the base offense in an Andrew Hawkins-esque role, meaning he could catch bubble screens or even line up in the backfield to keep defenses guessing—bad news for Tate.

It already sounds like Alford turned a few heads, too, per Harvey:

Another name to keep an eye on in training camp who could make some noise when it comes to snap counts next season is sophomore James Wright. He didn't make a major impact last year, but two of his minimal receptions did go for more than 20 yards, so if the coaching staff likes what they see there, it may have another solid deep threat to keep defenses honest.

Unlike last year, it's clear the Bengals are in a good position at wideout should one or two of the big names go down with an injury again. Even better, it's obvious the front office tackled some of the unit's weaknesses head-on this offseason.

It's going to be a long, brutal summer for the guys near the tail end of the depth chart after the first four, as the Bengals might keep a maximum of six receivers on the roster.

No matter what the final depth chart looks like, it's clear the Bengals will be better than last season at the spot, which does nothing but help Dalton and the offense move the chains and get in the end zone.

Stats courtesy of NFL.com and are accurate as of June 17. All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus.