​NEW ORLEANS, LA – JANUARY 01: WR Colbie Young #8 of the Georgia Bulldogs prep for warmups during the College Football Playoff Quarterfinal game between the Ole Miss Rebels and the Georgia Bulldogs on Thursday January 1, 2026 at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, LA. (Photo by Nick Tre. Smith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images The Cincinnati Bengals march closer to that first preseason game. Today we saw some young players really open some eyes. We continue to see the defense hold its own against Joe Burrow and the offense.We are a week away from the first preseason game, and it is getting very interesting to see how some of these position battles progress.Colbie Young makes his case for WR3 as Andrei Iosivas strugglesHad his knees buckling https://t.co/nqGLEbF2Zk— Goodberry (@JoeGoodberry) August 6, 2026#Bengals rookie WR Colbie Young continues to impress at camp. Nice grab here with Demetrius Knight Jr. and Jordan Battle in coverage.@FOX19pic.twitter.com/AKGE9yfOJA— Gabi Sorrentino (@GSorrentinoTV) August 6, 2026Burrow ➡️ IosivasAndrei can’t hang on at the end.#Bengals@FOX19pic.twitter.com/ZyGpThHI2X— Gabi Sorrentino (@GSorrentinoTV) August 6, 2026Yoshi with a drop 😕 pic.twitter.com/LItF0xPVG8— Andrew Fo 𝕏 Miller (@AndrewFoxMiller) August 6, 2026One thing that has been an issue since Tyler Boyd’s departure from the team is the lack of a consistent third option behind Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Iosivas looked like he was going to fit perfectly right into that role, but he has had issues with drops and being able to consistently beat the weaker coverage he is afforded by having the other receivers drawing so much attention.The Bengals drafted Young in the fourth round, and this was two years after the experiment of Jermaine Burton blew up in their face. This team wants healthy competition at that area, and so far Young has been doing just that. He has the athletic profile and hands to absolutely destroy single coverage. And he has shown he can make plays over the middle the past few days. It will be interesting to see how this plays out moving forward with Iosivas in a contract year. Cashius Howell wows against first teamWhew yeah it isn’t all speed with Cashius Howell pic.twitter.com/krswlCrs7E— Goodberry (@JoeGoodberry) August 6, 2026I got my wish, Cashius getting reps vs. the 1s today. OBJ ends up on the ground on this one. https://t.co/h3aznrIvtI— Jake Liscow (@JakeLiscow) August 6, 2026Howell was expected to be a rotational pass rusher coming into his rookie season. The one thing every evaluator agreed on pre-draft was that his bag of pass rush moves is incredibly deep. Many expected that to be mainly finesse given his stature, but he takes down one of the biggest offensive linemen in the NFL here in Orlando Brown Jr. with pure power.He may even be afforded more of an opportunity to show his skills as his former Texas A&M teammate is going to be out a few weeks, missing th