The Cincinnati Bengals wrapped up the practice squad a day later than anticipated by announcing five new additions.
Tucked into those new arrivals for the Bengals was a pretty big surprise, too.
First, the five names added to what is now a 16-man practice squad:
- QB Josh Johnson
- TE Tanner Hudson
- CB Trikweze Bridges
- OT Blake Freeland
- DE Garmon Randolph
Bengals fans on social media noticed it pretty quickly: Blake Freeland.
After cutting Cody Ford early, the Bengals went with waiver claim Myles Hinton and Javon Foster on the final 53 as tackle backups, if not swing-tackle backups.
But here comes Freeland, a fourth-round pick in 2023 by the Indianapolis Colts who played a big chunk of games for that club before missing all of last year due to injury.
While the Colts eventually went a different direction, the Bengals added Freeland for his
upside through what is some of the most wicked athleticism to hit the NFL level from his position in a long time:
BYU's Blake Freeland with a 37" vertical jump, the best recorded by an OL at the Combine.
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) March 5, 2023
That's better than some notable WRs:
AJ Brown (36.5)
Michael Pittman (36.5)
DeAndre Hopkins (36.0)
Stefon Diggs (35.0)
CeeDee Lamb (34.5)
Amari Cooper (33.0) pic.twitter.com/nNgqqi8tOU
Make no mistake, it’s still an open competition for the tackle depth spots. They claimed Hinton, adding him to the 53, for good reason. But Freeland is a solid long-term investment with game experience if they need him to be active on a gameday, too.
And to summarize, a quick glance at the full 16-man practice squad:
- QB Josh Johnson
- TE Tanner Hudson
- CB Trikweze Bridges
- OT Blake Freeland
- DE Garmon Randolph
- HB Kentrel Bullock
- QB Sean Clifford
- DT Howard Cross III
- DE Isaiah Foskey
- LB Joe Giles-Harris
- LB Shaka Heyward
- CB Bralyn Lux
- HB Kendall Milton
- WR Jordan Moore
- WR Noah Thomas
- S Russ Yeast
This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Bengals tuck a big steal into newest practice squad signings
