Bengals Roster Look: Young Guns Don’t Back Down As The Games Begin
Joe Burrow took a deep shot, and so did the Bengals roster in Saturday night’s festive Paycor Stadium preseason opener where their young players put enough on tape to spice up a short week.
The Bengals return to training camp Monday for two practices before breaking camp Wednesday to travel to Chicago for Thursday’s joint practice with the Bears, which sets up their preseason game Saturday (1 p.m.-Cincinnati’s FOX 19) at Soldier Field.
Burrow headlined the 17-14 loss to Tampa Bay with a 12-play touchdown drive that heralded his first appearance since last November.
But if it was a good night for the scriptwriters, so it was, too, for the Bengals player personnel department.
The Bengals’ last three first-round picks — Dax Hill, Myles Murphy and Amarius Mims — flashed. So did this year’s two seventh-round picks, safety Daijahn Anthony and center Matt Lee. Third-rounder Jermaine Burton caught the night’s two longest plays, undrafted Wisconsin free agent linebacker Maema Njongmeta was their highest-graded defensive player via Pro Football Focus and the two punters both had a good night to begin their competition.
The first dozen training camp practices with all the X clips, breakdowns, takeaways and coveted Players of the Day were all very nice, but the competition for the 53-man roster spots officially began Saturday night. The club came into camp thinking they had 60 or so players who could make it, and that played out against the Bucs.
Rocket Man has launched. Browning didn’t get points in his seven drives, but when was the last time the Bengals quarterback room has been this strong at this point in training camp? A healthy Pro Bowl starter with one crisp preseason touchdown drive under his belt and a backup coming off a 4-3 playoff bid?
Woodside lit it up in his Paycor return, six years after his only appearance when he was a Bengals’ seventh-round pick. He was pretty good back then, 9 of 15 for 96 yards in the 2018 preseason finale before they cut him a few weeks later. But he was lights out Saturday with a 137 passer rating and 149 yards on his eight completions. He showed why head coach Zac Taylor believes he’s a competent veteran who can run a game in a pinch.
WIDE RECEIVERS (11)
Tee Higgins (5), Trenton Irwin (5), Ja’Marr Chase (4), Hakeem Butler (2), Andrei Iosivas (2), Charlie Jones (2), Kendric Pryor (2), Shed Jackson (1), Kwamie Lassiter II (1), Cole Burgess (R), Jermaine Burton (R).
Taylor has classified Jones as week-to-week after knocking knees in last week’s practice. They believe this position is as deep as any in the NFL, and it certainly showed up from top to bottom Saturday. Higgins dominated the first drive, and Burton made the two longest plays of the night on the final two drives.
With Iosivas playing so well (a nifty 23-yard catch out of the slot on which he made a nice adjustment) and the coaches valuing Irwin’s reliability at any receiver spot and on special teams, Burton still has a climb to get into the regular action with Burrow as he continues to get more comfortable in the offense. But he certainly is a big-time prospect who is likely to gain earlier snaps making downfield catches like he made Saturday.
Burgess (hamstring) figures to debut in Chicago in what could be a practice squad bid.
TIGHT ENDS (6)
Mike Gesicki (7), Drew Sample (6), Tanner Hudson (5), Erick All Jr. (R), Cam Gandy (R), Tanner McLachlan (R)
All played only two snaps, but The Bengals are getting ready to take the wraps off the fourth-rounder this week. They’ve been careful as they bring him back from ACL surgery, but they’ve been impressed in his limited practices. The coaches love his approach to blocking, how well he runs and how physical is when catches the ball.
With two big catches in Browning’s two-minute drill at the end of the half (he maybe should have caught another) Hudson showed why he’s one of Burrow’s go-to-guys. Sample had some good blocks on Chase Brown runs in the first drive. After a quiet camp, the sixth-rounder McLachlan had a 23-yard run-and-catch late.
RUNNING BACKS (6)
Trayveon Williams (6), Zack Moss (5), Chris Evans (4), Chase Brown (2), Noah Cain (R), Elijah Collins (R)
Moss didn’t play because he was sick, but Brown had his quicks on to tease the Bengals’ new-look backfield under Burrow. Brown committed in the offseason to work on his pass-blocking and, like the entire drive, the script played out. On Higgins’ touchdown catch, Brown came across the formation to pick up the blitz.
Good depth here, too. They know Williams and Evans offer quality snaps and special teams experience.
