Alex Neutz vs. The Bengals' Depth Chart

The Bengals lack a true #2 WR, but they have plenty of depth:

2013 Stats:

AJ Green, 1st round pick 2011: 98 Receptions, 1,426 yards and 11 TDs.

Marvin Jones: 51 Receptions, 712 yards and 10 TDs.

Mohamed Sanu: 47 Receptions, 455 Yards and 2 TDs.

Dane Sanzenbacher: 6 Receptions, 61 Yards.

Brandon Tate: 1 Reception, 2 Yards, also the Bengals' return man.

Ryan Whalen: Played 4 games on special teams for the Bengals in 2013.

Cobi Hamilton: On practice squad for Bengals in 2013.

James Wright, 7th round pick from LSU, no receptions in 2013.

Colin Lockett, UDFA from SDSU, 52 receptions, 736 yards and 5 TDs.

Alex Neutz, UDFA from Buffalo, 61 receptions, 1,024 yards and 12 TDs.

Tracy Moore, UDFA from Oklahoma State, 51 receptions, 738 yards and 6 TDs.

Cincinnati will probably keep 6 Wide Receivers on the 53 man roster, a 5 wide set and a return specialist.

Green, Jones, and Sanu are solidly top 3, Brandon Tate is the return specialist, which leaves 2 spots open on the active roster with 7 receivers fighting for those spots.

Size

The median Bengals receiver is 6'1, 201 pounds, however both AJ Green, 6'4 207, and Mohamed Sanu, 6'2 210 pounds have succeeded by providing a bigger target for Andy Dalton. At 6'3, Neutz is the 2nd tallest receiver on roster behind Green. Neutz is 5th in pounds per inch, Sanu, Tracey Moore, Cobi Hamilton and James Wright are all bigger than Neutz.

Combine Drills

Alex Neutz performed below median in all the drills he performed in during an injury riddled pro day.

Neutz performed 14 bench reps, below the Bengals median of 17, his 4.58 40 time was .08 slower than the median, his vertical jump was 1.5 inch lower than the median and his broad jump was an inch shorter than the median.

Neutz did not participate in the 20 yard shuttle or the 3 cone drill due to injury.

The only silver lining is Mohammed Sanu, who has the big size like Neutz, ran an even slower 4.62 in his combine.

James Wright shines in the combine drills, outside of the bench press and the 3-cone drill, he out performed AJ Green.

Speaking of, the 3-cone seems to be significant for the Bengals' offense. All 4 contributing WRs for the Bengals in 2013 had sub 6.91 3-cone drills, AJ 6.91 seconds, Sanu 6.88, Jones 6.81 and Sanzenbacher 6.46. SDSU's Lockett and Ryan Whalen are the only other receivers on roster to post sub 6.91 3-cone times.

College Production

The median Bengals receiver played 42 games in college catching 142 balls for 2,031 yards and 15 TDs. Neutz's college production exceeded this, he had 195 receptions, behind only Sanu who caught 210 balls in college. Only Neutz, AJ Green and Sanu averaged more than 4 catches per game in college: Neutz grabbed 4.4 receptions per game, AJ Green 5.2 and Sanu 5.5.

No one on roster had more career receiving yards or more career receiving TDs than Neutz. AJ and Neutz were 1 and 2 respectively in receiving yards per game, (81.84 & 70.32) and receiving TDs per game (.72 &.70).

Brandon Tate scored 6 return touchdowns in college, but Colin Lockett was also a good return man, with 24 yards per return and 3 return touchdowns.

Conclusion

James Wright has impressive athletic numbers, but no real experience playing wide receiver.

Lockett as the small speedster is more a direct competitor for Ben Tate's return man roster spot.

I felt like Dane Sanzenbacher might not make it on roster due to Giovanni Bernard taking the short yardage receptions away from him. However the Bengals gave Sanzenbacher 1.2 million dollars for 2014, so they may be committed to one more year with him.

Thus I think out of Neutz, Cobi Hamilton, Ryan Whelan and Tracey Moore one makes the active roster, one hits the practice squad and two get cut. Despite Neutz's injury plagued pro day, the competition didn't put up numbers that out class Neutz. In the meantime, Neutz has superior size, and has by far the most impressive college resume. Neutz caught 20 balls for 347 yards and 3 TDs against Georgia, Ohio State and Baylor in 2012 and 2013.

Neutz's advantage is his ability to get open, catch what's thrown to him, and draw pass interference with his deceptive speed, (White receiver descriptor sure, but I don't know how else to explain how a WR runs a 4.58 but consistently finds a way to beat faster defenders deep).

If the Neutz UB fans are used to seeing shows up at Paul Brown Stadium, I think Neutz would at least be on the practice squad, and he'd have a legitimate chance to be the #4/5 receiver for the Bengals.