The Cincinnati Bengals appear to quietly have one of the NFL’s better undrafted classes outright this year.
Damion Willis, after all, has been named the Week 1 starter in place of A.J. Green. Close behind him, Stanley Morgan has made a solid push for the roster and Ventell Bryant has shown some flashes too.
It has been enough for Bengals coach Zac Taylor to call it the best he’s seen when speaking with the media ahead of preseason Week 4: “‘Who’s that guy? Who’s that guy?’ All of the undrafted receivers have done a good job. All three of them. It’s the best group, in that sense, that I’ve ever been around. (Willis) has gone one notch above. He makes plays.”
High praise, to say the least, even from one of the NFL’s younger coaches. These wideouts picked Cincinnati despite a depth chart with Green, Tyler Boyd and John Ross specifically because of Taylor and his anyone-can-make-it mantra.
Granted, all three guys won’t make the 53, but their arrival has made life tough on Josh Malone, Cody Core and a host of others. At this point, Morgan is still hurt and might get stashed, while Bryant might slip through to the practice squad.
Looking down the road a bit more off into the distance, provided the Bengals do not have any of these non-Willis guys poached, Taylor has himself quite the farm system of sorts at the receiver position.
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