Bengals sign DL Adolphus Washington

[Lionel Hutz]

Bengals signed defensive lineman Adolphus Washington from Cowboys' practice squad. He from tOSU and also a local product from Cincinnati Taft High School. I always liked him at Ohio State but wondering how he couldn't make an impact on a terrible Buffalo team which just released him a few weeks ago. Either way, we now know their plan for replacing Glasgow.

[clevelandsdad]

Replacing a Michigan guy with an OSU guy...HUGE upgrade.

[Lionel Hutz]

(09-25-2018, 01:20 PM)clevelandsdad Wrote: Replacing a Michigan guy with an OSU guy...HUGE upgrade.

Realize you probably didn't mean anything by it, but as big of an OSU fan I am, I wish this move wasn't coming at the expense of Glasgow's injury.  Glasgow plays hard every time he steps on the field.  Looking forward to Glasgow coming back healthy next year and also hoping that Washington plays well enough to earn a spot on the roster going forward.  Washington definitely should help out the interior run defense. 

[Sled21]

https://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2018/8/22/17653054/nfl-breakout-players-2018-buffalo-bills-defense-adolphus-washington

Quote:Stephen White Aug 22, 2018, 1:55am EDT

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Photo by Bryan Bennett/Getty Images
Scheme changes aren’t always kind to young defensive linemen. Adolphus Washington was drafted in 2016 to play in Rex Ryan’s 3-4 defense, and he ended up with 11 starts as a rookie. Ryan had him lining up all over the place along the defensive line, including as a 5-technique on the edge of offensive tackles. Washington finished that season with a respectable 21 tackles, two and a half sacks and a pass defensed.
Not bad at all!
But then Rex and ‘em got the ax. Sean McDermott, Washington’s new head coach who’s now in his second season, switched the defense to a 4-3 scheme. Now, I know some folks will have you believe there isn’t much of a difference between 3-4 and 4-3 schemes any more, but the techniques and alignments used in each scheme can be very different even if both employ four down linemen a lot.
While the 6’4, 295-pound Washington is pretty much prototypical size for the 5-technique role he had under Ryan, the scheme switch meant he would be more of a full-time interior defensive tackle.
At the beginning of last season Washington played a little bit of 3-technique and a little bit of nose tackle as a backup, and played pretty well. He showed steady improvement, in particular as a nose tackle, and as fate would have it, starting nose tackle Marcell Dareus (who probably should have been the starting 3-technique instead, but that’s a story for another time) quickly fell out of favor with the new coaching staff. Dareus was eventually traded to the Jaguars after a Week 7 win over the Buccaneers. Washington took over the starting nose tackle job in Week 8 and went on to start all but one of the remaining regular season games as well as the first playoff game in 18 years in Buffalo.
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I think it’s safe to say Washington handled the scheme change well.
Even though he isn’t one of those humongous defensive tackles that just eats up space, Washington is still strong at the point of attack and hard to move. In new defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier’s 4-3 scheme, the nose tackle lines up in the A gap with no tilt, and they play the run with more of a read and react style rather than trying to penetrate and get upfield. Washington did a good job of fighting to stay in his gap against the run, and he improved as a pass rusher from the A gap as the year went on. By the end of the season he’d racked up 33 tackles, a sack and two passes defensed.
That was a good start, but I think he can still continue to improve and be more productive.
Now normally after turning in a decent season like that in your second year, you might assume you would automatically be the starter again the next season. This time, however, the addition of former Panthers first-rounder Star Lotulelei complicates things a little for Washington. I don’t think they brought Lotulelei in to be the 3-technique, and I don’t think they signed him for $50 million over five years to have him riding the bench.
On the other hand Kyle Williams, who started as the 3-technique last season, is headed into his 13th season in the NFL. He’s starting to slow down and hasn’t had more than 5.5 sacks since 2013, which also happens to be the only year he has had over 5.5 sacks. So hell, maybe they did bring Lotulelei to play 3-technique, which would have Washington continuing to start at nose tackle.
Or, like I said before, maybe they didn’t. Either way I don’t think it makes much difference when it comes to Washington’s potential to break out this year.
Even if Washington doesn’t start this season, he has shown that he can play well at multiple positions on the defensive line.
As a backup he would be able to rotate in at both at 3-technique and nose tackle, which might actually allow him to more fully showcase all of his talents versus only playing nose tackle as a starter. I’m sure he would like to start, but if Washington gets more opportunities to pass rush as a backup this season, that wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for him or the team.
After watching how easily he adjusted to the scheme change last year, I have every reason to believe Washington will adjust well again this season to whatever rotation he finds himself in. We are likely to see him blow up one way or another in 2018.

[KillerGoose]

Really bummed to see Glasgow go out. I loved him in the rotation.

[clevelandsdad]

(09-25-2018, 01:28 PM)Lionel Hutz Wrote: Realize you probably didn't mean anything by it, but as big of an OSU fan I am, I wish this move wasn't coming at the expense of Glasgow's injury.  Glasgow plays hard every time he steps on the field.  Looking forward to Glasgow coming back healthy next year and also hoping that Washington plays well enough to earn a spot on the roster going forward.  Washington definitely should help out the interior run defense. 

Yeah I was totally joking, for sure it sucks for Glasgow and our team. He's one of the better rotational DTs we've had in a while.

Glasgow is probably the better player, but Washington is a solid player who will be motivated. Born and raised in Cincy, he'll have an even bigger chip on his shoulder than normal. Plus, he's back with Hubbard, who also happens to be a Cincy kid.

I think the move makes a lot of sense. Hope he gets a chance to play.

[Atomic Orange]

I dunno anything about him but that picture^ of him in the snow is really cool.

[*pally*]

We'll need to open up a spot for Burfict next week....so is this signing a one week wonder or will we see him stick?

[Fan_in_Kettering]

What a pleasantly forward thinking move by the Front Office. Adolphus Washington was well respected at Ohio State as a terrific 4-3 defensive tackle but in Buffalo he was definitely a fish out of water in Rex Ryan’s 3-4 defense at the time. He’ll be terrific in Teryl Austin’s 4-3.

In the meantime I’ll miss Ryan Glasgow. He plays with a lot of heart and without a lot of flash. I hope he heals completely in time for the playoffs.

[corpjet]

(09-25-2018, 02:16 PM)pally Wrote: We'll need to open up a spot for Burfict next week....so is this signing a one week wonder or will we see him stick?

I would bet we release Josh T with the hopes of him being signed back to the practice squad

[3wt]

Thanks to Sled for the information on Washington.

I share the disappointment for losing Glasgow.   I thought he was having a good year, and Hobson posted a nice article supporting that.  A shame his sophomore year was cut short.

We have a lot of young guys that will be growing this year and should have a nice complement next year, even if we don't take advantage of a bumper year for D-Linemen

Welcome Mr. Washington!

https://www.bengals.com/news/glasgow-s-break-out-year-takes-a-knee

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

Sucks about Glasgow for sure, but getting Adolphus who i think fits this D much more than anywhere else he has been
is a really nice move. I remember him at OSU and was for us drafting him, pretty cool to get him now, Glasgow is good
though. Sad to hear about the ACL tear.

[Sled21]

I had Ryan picked as my surprise breakout player in that thread. Hate to lose him, but glad to have another hometown kid on the team playing for Cincinnati.

[Yojimbo]

(09-25-2018, 03:31 PM)corpjet Wrote: I would bet we release Josh T with the hopes of him being signed back to the practice squad

Doubt Tupou goes anywhere. Marv said he made the 53 because they needed more beef at DT. Billings and Tupou are the only two linemen over 300lbs.

[grampahol]

(09-25-2018, 02:16 PM)pally Wrote: We'll need to open up a spot for Burfict next week....so is this signing a one week wonder or will we see him stick?

They could put someone on the PS.. Who knows?  Maybe Carrot Stick Ross will go although he wouldn't last there.. 

[*pally*]

(09-25-2018, 02:16 PM)pally Wrote: We'll need to open up a spot for Burfict next week....so is this signing a one week wonder or will we see him stick?

now that I've thought about it a bit the logical cut is Thomas Rawls.  He was only signed in an emergency with both Mixon and Carson out.  When Joe returns he will be expendable

[fredtoast]

(09-25-2018, 02:16 PM)pally Wrote: will we see him stick?

At least 3 weeks.

[SunsetBengal]

Nice pick up by the Bengals. I hope Washington views it as an opportunity for a reboot, as he does well in a 4-3.

[*ochocincos*]

(09-25-2018, 02:16 PM)pally Wrote: We'll need to open up a spot for Burfict next week....so is this signing a one week wonder or will we see him stick?

I’d think Nickerson gets the boot.


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[kalibengal]

if Mr washingting plays well....cut MJ and move on finally