Bengals Training Camp Wild Cards: Amarius Mims, Joseph Ossai and Others

CINCINNATI – The Cincinnati Bengals don’t have a lot of questions to answer this summer as owners of one of the top rosters in the league. But there are several positions that are far from locks.

And there are a handful of players whose roles will be defined by how they, and others around them, perform during training camp.

The Bengals will hold their first camp practice on Wednesday. Let’s look at their five biggest wild cards.

Top 5 Bengals Training Camp Wild Cards

Amarius Mims

Literally and figuratively the biggest wildcard on the team, the 6’8″, 360-pound rookie tackle already has the Bengals feeling as though he was a steal of a draft pick at No. 18.

“I think he’s as rare of a young player coming into the league as there can be,” director of player personnel Duke Tobin said on Monday at the team’s pre-camp luncheon.

“I look and say to myself, ‘We got him at 18?’ That’s normally what a top-three or four or five pick looks like when they walk into your building,” Tobin added.

Head coach Zac Taylor said he was clear with Trent Brown before he was signed to a one-year, $4.8 million deal in free agency that the team might be taking another tackle in the first round.

With Mims’ athletic profile and Brown missing most of the voluntary portion of the offseason, the University of Georgia product could be the franchise’s first rookie to start a season opener at tackle since Anthony Munoz in 1980.

Of course, Brown could hold off the rookie and start every game this season. Or Brown’s injury history could lead to Mims taking over as a starter at any point.

For all of those reasons, Mims is the wildest of wild cards.

Andrei Iosivas

The 2023 sixth-round pick proved to be far less raw than the team expected when selecting him out of Princeton.

Iosivas played well in the games Tee Higgins missed due to injuries, and the rookie quickly earned the trust of quarterback Joe Burrow.

The departure of Tyler Boyd in free agency creates an opportunity for any number of players to take over his snaps in the slot, and Iosivas could be the guy who benefits most.

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But the Bengals signed tight end Mike Gesicki, who lines up in the slot 50% of the time, and a month later the team drafted wide receiver Jermaine Burton in the third round.

Iosivas spent the bulk of his offseason working with a receiver coach on his route running. That, coupled with his freakish athleticism, could lead to him earning the third-most receiver snaps behind Ja’Marr Chase and Higgins.

Or he could wind up shuffled to the middle of the back, or worse, among all of the other receiving options with Trenton Irwin, Charlie Jones, Burton, and even running back Chase Brown vying for reps in the slot.

Joseph Ossai

The 2021 third-round pick is hoping his first healthy offseason is going to translate into his best year, just in time to hit free agency in 2025.

After an injury in his first preseason game in 2021 cost him his entire rookie season, Ossai has shown flashes, particularly late in 2022 and punctuated by a great performance in the AFC Championship Game until his final play, which ended up being a season-killing personal foul.

Knee, wrist
and shoulder injuries have derailed Joseph Ossai's first three seasons with the Bengals, but the defensive end is finally fully healthy.
And just in time for his contract year. https://t.co/OlvnZLDN8B

— Jay Morrison (@ByJayMorrison) June 15, 2024

Ossai is behind Trey Hendrickson, Sam Hubbard, and Myles Murphy on the depth chart, but defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo has found success using Ossai as an inside pass rusher on third downs.

And if the team wants to manage the workload for aging veterans Hubbard and Hendrickson, Murphy and Ossai will have a big say in how much playing time they earn.

Ossai could have his biggest season just in time to sign a new contract, or he could return to a limited role as a third-down pass rusher, where he could be at the back end of the depth chart as well behind B.J. Hill, Sheldon Rankins, and second-round rookie Kris Jenkins.

Vonn Bell

Technically, the Bengals brought Bell back to Cincinnati to play safety after the team’s disastrous defensive performance in 2023.

In reality, the team signed Bell to help coach the safeties.

No one in the secondary has a better grasp of the intricacies of Anarumo’s defense, and a big reason Bell is here is to help everyone get on the same page.

Jordan Battle, the team’s 2023 third-round pick, played well as a rookie, only to see the team go out and sign Bell and Geno Stone to play his position.

The younger Battle could replace Bell, who will turn 30 years old in December, at some point in the season. Or Bell’s knowledge could outweigh his aging body, leading to him hold off Battle all season.

Charlie Jones

One of the five-to-seven players whom offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said could play a role in the slot this year, Jones could have a huge impact on the team even if he struggles to log snaps on offense.

He showed what we can do as a punt returner last year in Week 2 with an 81-yard touchdown against the Baltimore Ravens. The following week, he broke his thumb and missed six games.

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Jones is the leading candidate to handle both the punt- and kick-return duties this season. Special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons thinks kick returns will look more like punt returns with the new kickoff rules this season.

But the Bengals drafted Jones in the fourth round last year to be Boyd’s heir apparent in the slot. He’s going to have every chance to win the No. 3 receiver job this summer.