Nickelback
Alexander vs Phillips- Alexander is a prized free agent who is one of the more physical CBs In the game. On the other hand Phillips proved himself last season with 4 INTs in limited time.
Edge- Alexander

Nickel LB
Wilson vs Williams- Wilson is the prize defensive pickup of the draft and had 10 INTs in his college career. Williams on the other hand has proven to be a solid player at SS and has played LB in passing situations.
Edge- Wilson

3rd WR
Ross vs Higgens- Ross is the speedy enigma of the Bengal universe. You either love him or hate him. His speed is game changing and he has shown that he can play on this level with 2 100 yard performances last year. Higgens is the next big thing though so it's only a matter of time before he plays.
Edge- Ross

Starting TE
Sample VS. CJ U- CJ is highly athletic but Sample is highly physical and was known for blocking in college.
Edge Sample


RT
F. Johnson vs Bobby Hart- Johnson is the Hyped newcomer vs Hart who is the veteran incumbent.
Edge Hart

Do we not think that ADG has a chance at the NLB

But my hope/thought would be

Phillips beats out Wayne’s eventually and Mackenzie and Wayne’s are our 3 and 4

ADG wins the NLB spot

Ross gets the nod in the slot. Higgins will be our number 1 by years end. Hope Aj balls out and we trade him by week 7. (I know doubtful)

I see CJ winning this in the beginning but my hope and thought is again by years end sample will have the job

If the team was smart they’d dump hart sign mixon and start the big man Johnson at RT. Guy can play. I’m excited for him.

(05-21-2020, 10:19 PM)J24 Wrote: Nickelback

Winner: Nobody
Loser: Everyone's Ears

I don't know if best means closest race, or best overall realistic outcome. Ideally, competition brings the best out in both guys, but for example Hart and Johnson may have great camps and the 3rd tackle never plays. I like that you brought up nickle corner, but my guess is they'll use Phillips all over the place and there will be more of a rotation than other years. Same goes for Higgins being used around the field and Ross getting plenty of snaps (if healthy and routes don't take a step back) for his ability to extend the defense.

Though we're desperate for the sample size of Johnson's sample size to be legit vs "good enough" Hart, TE is the interesting race for me. They have so much talent at WR and will keep 3 or 4 on the field at a time with Burrow. We won't see as many 2 TE sets, and they're comfortable with CJ in his limited role even as a starter. Sample becoming the guy they thought they were getting would be a big deal. The OL needs an absolute weapon in clearing room for Mixon or a threat in motion to double up a struggling lineman. Game planning for a struggling lineman leads to my dream battle..... LG: MJ vs XSF. I don't care who wins, it just means they signed what's left of Warford to gash at RG.

Alexander is the starting slot CB. Period. Phillips made some plYs, but also got torched and looked silly quite a bit. He'll be competing with guys like Sims and Brown for the #4 CB.

Shawn Williams is much better in coverage than in the box as a LB type - contrary to popular belief. He had a down year last year due to being forced into that role. Vonn Bell is much better as an in the box guy, so he'll do that, allowing Williams to go back to his strength as more of a coverage safety.

And there won't be a designated third WR. Four or five guys will all play, And they'll move around and mix and match as needed.

And I like Sample, but no, Sample is not the starting WR over CJ.

So basically everything in your post is off base.

Higgins will be WR #2. Ross and Boyd will be slot WR #3.

(05-22-2020, 01:23 AM)Mobster Wrote: Alexander is the starting slot CB. Period. Phillips made some plYs, but also got torched and looked silly quite a bit. He'll be competing with guys like Sims and Brown for the #4 CB.

Shawn Williams is much better in coverage than in the box as a LB type - contrary to popular belief. He had a down year last year due to being forced into that role. Vonn Bell is much better as an in the box guy, so he'll do that, allowing Williams to go back to his strength as more of a coverage safety.

And there won't be a designated third WR. Four or five guys will all play, And they'll move around and mix and match as needed.

And I like Sample, but no, Sample is not the starting WR over CJ.

So basically everything in your post is off base.

I don't know that I agree with the hard take that it was all off base.  If anything, it points toward how ambiguous some of the position battles actually are.  Is Williams battling for time with LB's or will they instead use 3 safety looks depending on matchup?  I think it's the latter, but for all I know maybe they use Bell or Williams in the box more in place of a LB.  I agree that they'll rotate wides, but if one of them has a breakout camp and earns starter reps, that's basically a 3rd WR.  If you're not giving Sample hope to start over CJ, you either hold CJ at a very high standard or don't actually "like" Sample.  What would be your idea of a solid camp battle then?  

(05-21-2020, 11:25 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Winner: Nobody
Loser: Everyone's Ears

Oh and as to the original question, I'll got with Higgins versus Ross.

Ross had his 5th year option declined and is on his last chance not just here but probably in the league with how bad he has looked at times and the injury history. If Higgins comes in like the player he was at Clemson right away (which is very rare for WR's to transition to the NFL right away), Ross not only would lose his #3 spot but could actually be on the roster bubble completely.

Interesting question. Pretty clear cut for me:

1) RT: Hart vs Johnson.

The winner is going to play virtually every snap, the loser hardly at all. Though I guess the loser could compete for RG.

2) WR2: Ross v Higgins.

AJ is one. Boyd is primarily a slot guy, so he is WR3. But this really does not matter. All four guys can play Split End, Flanker, or in the slot. Base is 3 WR. We will run a lot of 4 WR. Guys will rotate in and out and change where they line up to create matchups. I think Ross starts off the starter because he is the only burner.

I do not really see much competition on the other ones. Alexander is 100% the starting slot corner. CJ is 100% the starting TE.

I do not understand the other one at all. Nickel is our base D: 425. Two linebackers. Bynes and Pratt. If Wilson is really good, he maybe claims a starting spot in-season. And I could see him playing on obvious passing downs from jump. Now, if we go Dime (one LB, six DBs), I could see Wilson in that alignment. If the safety IS the lone LB (effectively 7 DBS), then that will be Bell, not Williams. Ditto if we play 3 safeties + 3 CBs. Bell will be the guy next to the LB.

I think the more common Dime look will be 4 CBs, 2 safeties, 1 LB. I one safety is up, it will be Bell, Phillips as CB#4. I think Phillips will play more than slot. They need to find out if he can step in for WJ3 in 2021. If we play 2 LBs, Wilson + Pratt, ASG, or Bailey.

The biggest camp battel should be at OG.

-I like Jordan's potential, but he has to show a lot of improvement before he earns a spot.  Just ask Price how much it means to come into training camp as a presumptive starter.

-Xavier has been a back up since being cut by the Titans in 2017.  I have heard the argument about how he is a better "scheme fit", but the fact is that we signed him for back up money.  After we released Miller he got signed for more money than we gave Su'a-Filo.  I hope he is an upgrade, but I have to see it first.

-Fred Johnson was an OG with the Stealers.  He played two meaningless games against two of the worst pass rushing teams n the league.   I have not seen so much hype over so little production since Christian Westerman.  People crucify Redmond for being a "penalty machine" but Johnson had two false starts in less than two games.

-Hart can play OG if Johnson does start at RT.  A lot of people are still judging Hart based on 2018 instead of 2019.

-Price has shown nothing yet, but he was a first round pick for a reason and will probably be given a fair shot at starting at OG.

-Bengals paid Redmond $2.2 million to return.  I don't see him starting, but The Bengals must like something about him, and i think EVERYONE will be given a chance.  And there are so many questions about everyone fighting for these spots that ANYTHING is possible.

The way I see it 3 of the 5 spots on the O-line are wide open for competition.

I'm very interested to see how WR plays out. It's pretty rare for a rookie to come in and just light it up. But I'd say Higgins will see significant snaps. But then you have AJ and Ross and their inability to stay on the field, will they this season ? My guess is we're gonna see a good bit of rotating around until things play out well into the season.

I don't know how to feel about Sample ? I'm hoping he shuts us all up.

Our LBer's have been our achilles heel for quite some time. I think Wilson and ADG are going to see a lot of snaps this season. And I think Wilson will surprise us.

I doubt they're going to bench Hart unless Johnson just tears it up.

(05-22-2020, 09:12 AM)fredtoast Wrote: The biggest camp battel should be at OG.

-I like Jordan's potential, but he has to show a lot of improvement before he earns a spot.  Just ask Price how much it means to come into training camp as a presumptive starter.

-Xavier has been a back up since being cut by the Titans in 2017.  I have heard the argument about how he is a better "scheme fit", but the fact is that we signed him for back up money.  After we released Miller he got signed for more money than we gave Su'a-Filo.  I hope he is an upgrade, but I have to see it first.

-Fred Johnson was an OG with the Stealers.  He played two meaningless games against two of the worst pass rushing teams n the league.   I have not seen so much hype over so little production since Christian Westerman.  People crucify Redmond for being a "penalty machine" but Johnson had two false starts in less than two games.

-Hart can play OG if Johnson does start at RT.  A lot of people are still judging Hart based on 2018 instead of 2019.

-Price has shown nothing yet, but he was a first round pick for a reason and will probably be given a fair shot at starting at OG.

-Bengals paid Redmond $2.2 million to return.  I don't see him starting, but The Bengals must like something about him, and i think EVERYONE will be given a chance.  And there are so many questions about everyone fighting for these spots that ANYTHING is possible.

The way I see it 3 of the 5 spots on the O-line are wide open for competition.

Scrolled to see if anyone said it before replying, but this is it.  There wasn't an "other" option, but the battle for RG is not only the biggest camp battle, but one of the most important.  

You made it more of "OG" instead of "RG", so I will drill it down a bit more:  I think Michael Jordan is our starting LG.  They really like him and he came back from injury to play very well down the stretch, and it wasn't like he had an all-pro playing on his left side.  Although I agree with the sentiment about being handed a job, I feel this is different as he has earned it.  

The RG spot is wide open:  I could see any one of XSF, Johnson, Akeem Adeniji (who I think I will now call AA), or Price.  That's a load of options and competition improves the breed.  If I had to bet, I think it will be XSF as he is on a somewhat of a prove-it deal and has a chance to start.  His strengths are kind of the opposite of what we had there and maybe is simply a better scheme fit.  I think AA will be given every chance to earn the RG spot, however, much like Jordan won LG a year ago.  Price would be first off the bench at Center/G and Johnson first off the bench at OT.  

As time goes on, I think Larry Warford's price will drop.  If he can sign a one-year prove it for around $5 million (instead of the $7 million he made last year), then that makes XSF expendable...although I have no idea his cap ramifications.  Perhaps it is someone else that gets cut to make space but if you knock off the $3 million of XSF, it make $5 million seem less impossible, given the desire to still extend Mixon and Green.  

Can see the rookie from Kansas fighting for the RT spot

I'm not ready to say Alexander beats out WJIII for the #2 CB. WJIII has had one good season in his career and was terrible last year.

I think Bynes Pratt and Wilson are out starting LBs and ADG comes in as the nickle for Bynes. Wilson and Prett will be battling for the other one that stays out there.

IF AJ and JR can stay healthy and we go by production alone. JR will be WR #3. Unfortunately, I don't see both staying healthy all year

Burrow vs Finley.

(05-22-2020, 09:12 AM)fredtoast Wrote: -Fred Johnson was an OG with the Stealers.  He played two meaningless games against two of the worst pass rushing teams n the league.   I have not seen so much hype over so little production since Christian Westerman.  People crucify Redmond for being a "penalty machine" but Johnson had two false starts in less than two games.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/J/JohnFr01.htm

   

Pretty funny-looking 2 there...

(05-22-2020, 04:17 PM)Truck_1_0_1_ Wrote: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/J/JohnFr01.htm



Pretty funny-looking 2 there...

In 4 of the 6 games he played a TOTAL of 16 snaps on offense (0,1,5,and 10). 

I am not impressed that he was able to play 16 snaps without a penalty.  In one of the two games I did give him credit for playing he was only in for a little more than 2/3rds of the offensive snaps.

Looking at the title of the thread- best battle, I'll go with Ross vs. Higgins. I think they will both flash in their own way and will really put some excitement out there for the fans and coaches.

Most important - RT.

(05-22-2020, 04:26 PM)fredtoast Wrote: In 4 of the 6 games he played a TOTAL of 16 snaps on offense (0,1,5,and 10). 

I am not impressed that he was able to play 16 snaps without a penalty.  In one of the two games I did give him credit for playing he was only in for a little more than 2/3rds of the offensive snaps.

Still a funny-looking 2

(05-22-2020, 04:26 PM)fredtoast Wrote: In 4 of the 6 games he played a TOTAL of 16 snaps on offense (0,1,5,and 10). 

I am not impressed that he was able to play 16 snaps without a penalty.  In one of the two games I did give him credit for playing he was only in for a little more than 2/3rds of the offensive snaps.

Hell, me either. He should have had at least 1 or 2.