OTAs and other off-season workouts have concluded and players are on vacation. However, it’s never too early to take a look at a few Bengals position battles to watch as Training Camp kicks off on July 26th.
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Iron sharpens iron and all that, so a team with as good of a roster as the Bengals would warrant plenty of great battles both in head-to-head competition as well as in inter-positional clashes. There are a few veteran players whose roles are not immediately locked in. Sometimes, the talent is just too great to keep off the field.
Bengals Position Battles to Watch
Punter: Drue Chrisman vs Brad Robbins
If the biggest positional battle that the Bengals will have to decide is a punter, they’re going to be okay.
Last year, Drue Chrisman beat out longtime punter, Kevin Huber. During their battle in Training Camp, it made sense. Huber had lost a step, his punts did not have nearly as much pop, and Chrisman could flip fields at will. Fast-forward 11 months and the Bengals are having to make the same decision.
Last year, Chrisman had punts that made you wonder if he had a nuke attached to his hip. Other punts were line drives right at dynamic returners and gave his punt team no chance at stopping it. In total, Chrisman punted it 28 times, and just 13 of them were pinned within the 20 (31st in the NFL). He averaged 47.8 yards per punt, good for 13th in the NFL.
Brad Robbins, on the other hand, is a rookie out of the University of Michigan and he is mustached and ready to battle it out. Where Robbins may lack leg strength, he makes up for everything else. At Michigan, Robbins was able to pin offenses back and didn’t have a single punt hit the endzone for a touchback. He’s an incredibly accurate punter and, if he’s not in the position to pin them within the 10, he can generate plenty of hangtime for his coverage team to get down.
These two couldn’t be much more different. Chrisman has a powerful leg whereas Robbins is finesse and accurate. Chrisman is a Buckeye and Robbins is a Wolverine (from Columbus, no less). If the punter competition in the most exciting thing on the docket for the Bengals position battles, they’ll be okay.
Safety: Nick Scott vs Jordan Battle
The lone real battle on the defensive side of the ball makes sense considering the two stud safeties who left in free agency. It’s assumed that of the four safeties on the roster, Dax Hill is cemented in his role after moving around last year. Tycen Anderson should be a decent depth piece behind the first three but the Bengals don’t fully know what they have in the former Toledo star due to him missing all of last year with an injury.
During free agency, the Bengals poached a Super Bowl-winning safety, it just was not the one many hoped. Nick Scott comes to Cincinnati by way of the Los Angeles Rams. In total, Scott spent four years in Los Angeles, mostly as a depth piece.
It took him until Week 15 of his third year (2021) when he made his first start and was a regular contributor on the Super Bowl LVI run. In those first three years, Scott amassed 71 tackles, two interceptions, and four pass breakups. He became a regular starter in 2022 where he finished with 86 tackles, two interceptions, five pass breakups, and two forced fumbles.
He came to Cincinnati because he felt wanted and appreciated the flexibility of Lou Anarumo’s defenses.
Battling with him is Jordan Battle, the third-round rookie out of Alabama. It was a massive surprise that the Bengals went with a safety with another premium pick but Battle was the best player available and they just could not pass him up.
Bengals coaches have raved about Battle all offseason. He’s all about competition and has yet to shy away from the opportunity to prove himself. He is incredibly flexible with how and where he can play. At Alabama, he lined up a deep safety, as a nickel, as well as in the box.
Between the two, it’s very likely that the Bengals will use three-safety looks as they did last year in an attempt to get as many athletes on the field as possible.
If Battle can supplant Scott, he’s going to make an immediate impact.
Wide Reciever (depth): Andre Iosivas vs Stanley Morgan, Jr. vs Trent Taylor vs Trenton Irwin
If the receiving corps is so loaded that you have to pay attention to the bottom of the roster, you’re in a good spot. Of the Bengals position battles hading into Training Camp, the back-end receivers are going to have some eyes on them.
Last year, a strong preseason showing from a guy like Kendrick Pryor earned him a roster spot…for another team. No matter the hype generated by fans and media alike, Pryor could not beat out Stanley Morgan, Jr., Trenton Irwin, or Trent Taylor.
Starting with the youngest of the four, Andrei Iosivas is a ridiculous athlete from Princeton. He could be the hidden gem that could kick the Bengals offense into another gear by way of providing depth. When Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and/or Tyler Boyd missed time over the last two years, it was obvious. The Bengals were still able to win without their stars but That’s because Burrow can make a star out of anyone, it seems. Iosivas moves like nobody’s business at his size. He says that he models his game after Higgins. If the Bengals get a Higgins-lite out of Iosivas, it’s over.
As for the latter three, the Bengals know them well. Morgan is a great special teamer who is adept as a gunner. Taylor has been the punt returner for the team. Overall, he’s done well and he had a career year in 2022. However, unless a player is as dynamic as Devin Hester, it’s going to be difficult to justify keeping a player solely on punt return ability. Only three players returned a punt for a touchdown last year, so Taylor could be the odd man out.
Finally, Irwin has been a great feel-good story for the Bengals in terms of just giving a guy a shot. In his four-year career with the Bengals, Irwin has amassed 18 receptions (15 in 2022) for 270 yards (231 in 2022) and four touchdowns, all of which were last year.
Rookie receiver Charlie Jones was an adept returner at Purdue. He very well could take over as punt returner in addition to his WR4/Boyd understudy role. These four receivers — not to mention the three UDFAs they signed — will have to battle it out for, likely, two spots.
Running Back: Joe Mixon vs Chase Brown
Finally, one for the “running backs don’t matter” crowd.
In his time in Cincinnati, Joe Mixon has grown into one of the best running backs we’ve seen in stripes. To date, Mixon has run for 5,378 yards and 40 touchdowns, good for fifth and fourth in franchise history, respectively. That this is likely his final year in Cincinnati, so he won’t catch Corey Dillon (8,061 yards) or Pete Johnson (64). However, both James Brooks’ mark of 6,447 yards and Rudi Johnson’s 48 touchdowns are within reach.
Unfortunately, he’s not playing to the level that he was in 2021 when he made the Pro Bowl. He’s expensive (in terms of positional value). Plus, Mixon is not a guy the team can rely on for third down or in two-minute offenses. He had a good season last year. However, raw stats don’t tell the whole story. Mixon ran for 814 yards and seven touchdowns in 2022; 153 yards and four touchdowns came in one game. Against teams not named the Carolina Panthers, Mixon averaged just 47 yards per game and 3.5 yards per carry.
He’s going to need to step up to keep Chase Brown at bay.
Brown was second in the Big Ten in rushing last year. Considering that conference had a pair of studs in Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State along with Mohamed Ibrahim (who finished with just 22 more yards) and Braelon Allen, that’s saying something. Brown amassed 1,643 yards and 10 touchdowns in an Illinois offense that looked rejuvenated.
Already, Brown has been impressing coaches. He’s been working with receivers to hone his game which is something the Bengals have utilized well. In total, Cincinnati targeted its running backs 133 times, good for third-most in the NFL. Those targets converted to 103 receptions, 796 yards, and seven touchdowns. With Samaje Perine opting to leave for Denver, there’s a vacuum of opportunity.
Brown has the ability to take the job from Mixon outright but will the Bengals give him the opportunity? Mixon had better not start off the season as he did in 2022. There may be some feeling that a change at running back will be what puts the Bengals over the edge.
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