What I Want to See from the Bengals in Preseason

[BoomerFan]

(08-14-2021, 01:44 AM)tms Wrote: Rookies are always my prime focus, just to see how they look and fit based on the rumors we've heard.

Chris Evans, specifically, is a compelling add. He looked like a shell of himself last year but... small sample size. It would be super if we saw the dynamic, confident Evans of 2017/8. Also curious to see how creatively he'll be deployed.

The TEs are my fav position group on the team this year. If we could blend O'Grady, Moss, Wells, Sample and Uzo into one, we'd have the greatest tight end in history. Unfortunately it doesn't work like that (yet?). But it should be fun to see them chase their dreams under the bright lights. And maybe we'll even get some answers as to why we have so many of them lol

Can't wait.

I'm definitely intrigued to see our depth TEs battle for a spot behind Uzo and Sample. But then there are depth position battles all over the team that will be worth watching. Will we see anything between Price, Hill, and Gaillard at Center that changes things? Who is worth keeping as our #5 and #6 WR? 

Like you said, we'll get our first look at Chris Evans at RB, not to mention Pooka and throw in another chance to see Trayveon Williams who was always touted as a possibly big upside guy. Of course, without great run blocking there will only be so much we can see. 

On defense I'm hoping our starting LB corps have something to show for another year under their belt. Pratt, Gaithers-Davis, and Logan Wilson impressing for the quarter(s) they are in would go a long way towards allaying my concerns for the defense. Then you have to be looking at the defensive line. Is Hendrickson and the rest generating pressure? There are about 12 guys on the defensive line who you could make a legitimate argument for keeping, so who impresses for that 9th and maybe even 10th spot?

And that leaves the overall evaluation stuff: Will play be clean or are we sloppy/undisciplined and rack up a lot of penalties? Will there be good team chemistry especially on defense where you have a couple position groups that are pretty different from a year ago (looking at you corners)? Will we see evidence of good coaching -- yes it is pre-season which means a vanilla gameplan but how about holding guys accountable when they miss a tackle or are out of position? You can see that  much on the sidelines in realtime. How is the clock management?