BOULDER – Carson Wells has a new home.
Colorado’s star linebacker wasn’t selected in the 2022 NFL Draft but he picked up a free agent deal with the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. He’ll have a chance to compete for a spot on the 53-man roster which should be decided in late August or early September. If he doesn’t make the cut, he’ll be eligible for a 16-man practice squad, either with the Bengals or elsewhere.
The Bengals run a base 4-2-5 defense, which essentially dares offenses to run the ball on them. They have stout run-stuffers in the trenches with a pair of well-rounded but run-stuffing-first linebackers behind them. The idea is that the five defensive backs on the field can ensure that offenses can’t pick up big gains in the air and the six players up from have a shot to bottle up the running game despite a numbers disadvantage. The linemen are big and try to command double-teams and hold their ground, while the linebackers have to read where the running lanes are developing and meet the running back in the gap. It’s a physical challenge for the linemen and a mental challenge for the backers.
Wells’ fit into this system is complicated.
At Colorado, Wells primarily played outside linebacker in the Buffs’ 3-4 defense. He lined up on the line of scrimmage and set the edge in the running game and rushed the edge in the passing game. But during the pre-draft process, Wells made it clear he thought he could play any linebacker spot and it sounded at times like he preferred playing off the ball.
The Bengals have drafted outside linebackers and converted them to defensive end before. Take Joseph Ossai, who CU fans may remember from the 2020 Alamo Bowl, for example. But Ossai weighs in at 253 pounds, while Wells is only 240. Ossai is the smallest of the Bengals’ defensive ends and is primarily a pass-rusher.
We can say with at least 90% certainty that Wells will be trying to carve out a role as an off-ball linebacker, a position we haven’t seen him play all that much. When he played off the ball at CU, he was primarily in the slot and not in the middle of the defense. Again, Wells has sounded very confident about his abilities playing as an inside linebacker and there’s no reason to doubt him.
The Florida native’s 4.56 40-yard dash time would have ranked as one of the best for the position at the combine if he had been invited. His agility times jumped off the chart as well. The biggest challenge will probably be on the mental side. While Wells has the smarts to pick up on the position, he’ll have to learn to read the running game from the inside rather than bullying a tackle or tight end and setting the edge. And remember, the Cincinnati linebackers are asked to read-and-react, not to blindly fly through a predetermined gap.
Logan Wilson was a standout in his rookie year last season and the Bengals’ other starter, Germaine Pratt, will also return for the 2022 campaign. Wilson is a lock to make the starting lineup but Pratt could potentially be beaten out, although that would be unlikely.
Wells will also compete with Markus Bailey, a seventh-round pick in 2020 and Akeem Davis-Gaither a fourth-rounder in the same class. Both of Bailey’s two career starts came in 2020 while all three of Davis-Gaither’s came last season. Clay Johnston shouldn’t be much of a factor going into Year 4 and Joe Bachie picked up a couple of spot starts last season after coming over from Philadelphia.
Wilson, Pratt, Davis-Gaither and Bailey will be the favorites to make the roster. The Bengals could keep a fifth linebacker if he shows big-time special teams ability in the preseason. That means Wells will probably need to beat out Bachie, and Johnston while giving the Bengals reason to believe he can make an immediate impact on special teams while also showing long-term potential. Or he can also beat out one of Davis-Gaither or Bailey, which could very well be in the cards.
More likely, though, Wells will land on the practice squad either in Cincinnati or elsewhere.
Or, who knows, maybe the Bengals want to put another 10 pounds on him and have him play with his hand in the dirt but that seems much less likely.
