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          Cincinnati Bengals' 53-man roster projection: Joe Burrow's O-line creating numbers issues

          • Ben Baby, ESPN Staff WriterAug 29, 2021, 07:00 PM ET
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              Ben Baby covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the company in July 2019. Prior to ESPN, he worked for various newspapers in Texas, most recently at The Dallas Morning News where he covered college sports. He provides daily coverage of the Bengals for ESPN.com, while making appearances on SportsCenter, ESPN's NFL shows and ESPN Radio programs. A native of Grapevine, Texas, he graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor's degree in journalism. He is an adjunct journalism professor at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).
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          The Cincinnati Bengals open the 2021 NFL regular season against the Minnesota Vikings at Paul Brown Stadium. The Bengals finished 4-11-1 in 2020.

          Second-year quarterback Joe Burrow is expected to make his comeback from a left knee injury that ended his rookie year. He will be leading a team that has six wins in the last two years and is looking to end a playoff drought that stretches to 2015.

          The roster will be cut to 53 players by 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Here is a projection:

          QUARTERBACK (2): Joe Burrow, Brandon Allen

          The Bengals brought in quarterbacks Eric Dungey and Kyle Shurmur for training camp. Dungey didn't make it to the 80-man cuts on Aug. 24. Given the numbers across the roster, it makes sense for Cincinnati to keep Burrow and Allen initially, and if an emergency quarterback is needed, the Bengals should be able to find one similar to Shurmur on the open market.