ProFootballCentral.com

By PFC Bengals Writer Collin Keith
Odell Thurman is released from the Cincinnati Bengals. After two years of absence from the NFL (due to an NFL suspension for violations of the league’s Substance Abuse Policy) Odell Thurman has been officially cut from the Cincinnati Bengals, Marvin Lewis issued the following statement. “The NFL provided Odell the opportunity to earn his way back onto our team, but we have not seen the right steps taken by him.  With our off season work in progress and new talent added at our linebacker position, we’ve determined it’s best to keep moving in a direction that does not include Odell.”

It’s also believed that part of the reason for the cut was not due to his lack of ability on the field, but his absence due to his grandmothers passing.  Thurmans parents have both passed away, and his grandmother passed away earlier this week.

There are no remaining players on the Bengals roster from the first day of the 2005 Draft.  Odell Thurman(2nd round) was released, David Pollack(1st round) will be retiring due to a fractured vertebra, and Chris Henry(3rd round) was recently released as well.

The remaining linebackers on the roster are Ahmad Brooks(was moved to OLB from MLB), Darryl Blackstock, Rashad Jeanty, Eric Henderson, Brandon Johnson, Dhani Jones, Corey Mays, Jim Maxwell, and rookies Anthony Hoke, and Dan Howell.

It’s believed by some that the starting linebackers going into the year will be Keith Rivers, Dhani Jones, and Ahmad Brooks, with Jeanty as a solid backup and potential starter.

The Bengals have 12 Wide Receivers on the roster today, I recently posted a poll asking who the 2 or 3 Wide outs the Bengals will keep going into the season.

Chad Johnson, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Jerome Simpson, and Andre Caldwell are all locks to make the roster. Which leaves  8 Receivers left to make the roster.

This is the order of the players who fans of the Bengals believe will make the roster, it’s possible that the Bengals carry 7 wide outs due to the Chad Johnson saga, but it’s believed that we will be carrying 6 as normal.

Antonio Chatman - 69.86%
Glenn Holt - 54.11%
Mario Urrutia - 32.19%
Maurice Purify - 20.55%
Doug Gabriel - 15.75%
Marcus Maxwell - 10.27%
Clyde Logan - 0.68%
Travis Brown - 0%

The conclusion of Bengaldom right now (it’s quite early to tell, as they will probably be judged more in pre-season) is that Antonio Chatman and Glenn Holt will make the team again, as they did last year.

Chatman is a decent punt return man, and Glenn Holt is pretty electric in kick return game as long as he can hold on to the ball.

That would give the team a pretty solid receiving corp as Chatman and Holt have more experience at position than any of the other players(not including Doug Gabriel).

Chad Johnson - T.J. Houshmandzadeh - Jerome Simpson - Andre Caldwell - Antonio Chatman - Glenn Holt