In their epic Week 2 matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs, the Cincinnati Bengals found themselves in a bind that has lasted several weeks. In that game, Cincinnati defensive tackles Sheldon Rankins and B.J. Hill each suffered hamstring injuries that took them out of the game which was ultimately decided by the Kansas City rushing attack. Now, two weeks later, this defense is in desperate need of both of those players returning to form in order for this defense to function down the stretch.
Cincinnati Bengals Expect to Be Short at Defensive Tackle
Unfortunately for Cincinnati, that doesn’t appear to be this week as Rankins was listed as being out and Hill was listed as doubtful for the Week 4 matchup with the Carolina Panthers. Defensive tackle was considered to be one of the shallowest positions on the roster over the offseason and now that both starters are missing, this unit appears to be a problem less than a month into the regular season.
Without Rankins or Hill, Cincinnati will be left with Jay Tufele and Zach Carter as the starting tackles with veteran Lawrence Guy and rookie Kris Jenkins Jr. filling in as reserves. Considering how disastrous this situation was for Cincinnati in an embarrassing defensive display against the Washington Commanders in Week 3, this is certainly cause for panic for the beleaguered Cincinnati fanbase.
Guy was brought in after the injuries in Week 2 to provide depth and Jenkins is slowly recovering from thumb surgery that he underwent in Week 1 but given the situation, this defense is in desperate need of warm bodies. Last week, Jenkins was certainly the top performer at slowing down the potent Washington offense and Tufele struggled to hold his own against the double team up front but that could’ve been completely based on which player happened to draw the most double teams.
Heading into last offseason, nose tackle was considered one of the major needs on the roster and the team decided that they would prefer to switch to a small look up front by signing Rankins. Considering the injury struggles of this unit so far at this point in the season, that decision looks to be calamitous for the organization. If Cincinnati wants to win games down the stretch against elite rushing teams like Baltimore or Cleveland, they’re simply going to need to figure out how to get their defense healthy and then how to stop the run without a sizeable force like D.J. Reader in the middle.
At this point, Cincinnati’s defense looks like they’re in for a long season without an answer on the defensive interior.
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