First Impressions of First Preseason Game

[SFmajor]

(08-13-2016, 01:31 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: I think it was Dawson's responsibility to fill the gap on that play that could have been a safety versus a 10 yard gain. He not only over committed, he flowed 3 yards deep into the backfield where he was not needed. If he steps up into the vacated area by the flow of Hunt inside, the RB probably does not reverses field. In my humble opinion, that play was all on Dawson and very little on Hunt.

That was certainly a play that showed an area that was a concern for Dawson last season.  At TCU, he wasn't asked to fill gaps. He was a hybrid LB/Rover.  Dawson continues to display (not in all plays) a tendency to leave his assignment and then puts himself out of position to make a play.  The opportunity for a safety was an example of this.  On Vigil, I thought he played well in his first game. But for me he played better at WLB than he did at MLB.  I was hoping to see Roach, but he was probably kept out because of his hammy tweak.  I'm sure we'll see him on Thursday night.  

[wolfkaosaun]

1. Nick Vigil. Seriously, was not happy with the pick but dude has shown he can play thus far. It's still early, but very positive for him.

2. Outside of Hunt, the D-line depth wasn't bad. Hardison and Williams made some plays. Clarke was up and down but showed improvement.

3. WR battle. Alford showed some return ability and yeah, Erickson scored, but Alford had some nice returns. Kumerow didn't see much and did beat his man for a deep ball, but missed it. Core looked good. Erickson looked good in the slot. Honestly, every WR has shown potential. It's game 1, so time to see who's consistent.

4. Little worried about Ogubehi. He was on skates a lot and although athletic enough to pull, I don't see him holding protection up for long.

5. Dawson was in the right place numerous times, but needs to hit the hole and attack rather than wait to react. He's shown good instincts on where to go, but needs to go for it.

6. Flowers just did not look good last night. Missed tackles and got beat in coverage. Not a solid showing by him.

7. Fisher hasn't been talked about much but he should be. Dude looked actually pretty decent, especially when pulling. Think he is actually gonna be good here.

8. Carson. We assumed our RB depth, but Carson is trying to make a name for himself and get on some team. Ran over people, blocked well, Carson did a lot of good things last night that is gonna cause coaches to take notice. Both here and around the league.

[Atomic Orange]

(08-13-2016, 12:10 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: Right

If Hunt doesn't get it by now - he's never going to.

Especially with the guy who wanted him standing right..freAking there on the other side of the field. You would think he would dig deep for a little extra something something on top of already digging deep for a little extra something something to keep his friggin job. I seriously think the guy is happy with his "bust money" and is ready to go home.  But yeah anyway, I walked away pretty high on our starters. They looked focused and fierce even with the injuries. CB (outside of Pac of coarse) probably scares me the most because Dennard can't stay healthy, and Dre is just "ok" (even though i'm expecting better this year). Losing WJ3 is gonna hurt on a few drives me thinks. 

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(08-13-2016, 12:08 PM)SHRacerX Wrote: I completely agree about Erickson. He only had one "drop" and the ref missed a bad PI call.  The defender was all over his back before the ball got there.  I thought he still caught it anyways, but the back judge said it came out when he hit the ground.  Erickson is a polished route runner and clearly knows where to be and how to make sure he gets there.

I thought Boyd looked good, but not great.  Only reason not great is he wasn't getting a lot of separation, but interestingly he was playing the outside WR spot the majority of the time he was in there.  Didn't see Lafell at all???  I think he will shine in the slot, and he can really track the ball well.  Duped his defender on the deep pass by keeping his arms down until the last possible second.  

Core looked good early, but Wenning's balls were late and underthrown.  He looked to have the DBs scared to death of his over the top speed, so comeback routes were easy yards for him.  If Boyd is to be the new Houshmanzadeh, maybe Core can be the new Henry?

Alford helped himself a great deal.  Looked good on returns and showed his speed on a dump pass. He was even in on kick coverage, trying to show himself as an all-around player.  

Right now, and it is early, I could see the WRs shaking out like this: 

AJ Green
Tyler Boyd
Brandon Lafell
Cody Core
Alex Erickson
Mario Alford

It sounds terrible to say, but I almost wish they hadn't signed Lafell and they could keep Kumerow.  I think the starting WRs could be Core and AJ, with Boyd in the slot.  Erickson backing up Boyd in the slot, Kumerow backing up AJ, and Alford backing up Core at X.  

Nice insight as i missed a lot of the game refreshing the stream over and over again.

I love that Core scares DB's with his speed and he looks to have good hands and was running good routes which
was his only weakness in college. Dude is a big, physical, fast Receiver. Don't forget about Simonise either who is
even bigger and goes up for the ball very well and has speed. Nice to see this out of the WR's for sure.

Lafell has the production at the NFL level which is why we brought him in, but if we aren't getting him accustomed
to Dalton this Preseason it could hurt us big time. I still have not heard a reason why he did not play.

Need to start either Boyd, Core or Lafell opposite of Green next game cause Tate is just not consistent at Wideout
when the regular season comes around. He will make a nice player here and there but we need more consistency
opposite Green. Simonise could also be a nightmare on the outside and in the Redzone for opposing Defenses.

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(08-13-2016, 12:16 PM)yellowxdiscipline Wrote: I didn't see much of the game, but I hear Jeff Luc was wrecking people. Is there any truth to that?

He definitely rang a few bells.....you know I loved watching that smashmouth ball.  Gio looked good behind him.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(08-13-2016, 03:33 PM)Wyche Wrote: He definitely rang a few bells.....you know I loved watching that smashmouth ball.  Gio looked good behind him.

Man, i wish i could re-watch the whole game. A LB playing FB is always pretty cool, i still remember Skuta doing that for us.

[Atomic Orange]

^Having a fullback is going to help our running game immensely. I am excited about that but keep forgetting to mention it.

And let's not forget Vigil can do a little bit of that himself. So three potential FB's. Has me buzzing. Imagine game planning for that.

Use them all Marvin/Zamp

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(08-13-2016, 03:50 PM)Atomic Orange Wrote: ^Having a fullback is going to help our running game immensely.  I am excited about that but keep forgetting to mention it.

And let's not forget Vigil can do a little bit of that himself. So three potential FB's. Has me buzzing. Imagine game planning for that.

Use them all Marvin/Zamp

Vigil can play RB at times too. Pretty cool to have a player with that much versatility.

[BoomerFan]

My big concern at this moment is our lack of depth at CB. Once the first stringers went out it got...kinda bad. Maybe we'll pick up someone else on cut downs?

[*SHRacerX*]

(08-13-2016, 12:12 PM)BengalsRocker Wrote: He does look like Wes Welker out there...  doesn't he?!?

You have to stay in the Bengal's wheelhouse...Kevin Walter, or Jeff Query

[*SHRacerX*]

(08-13-2016, 03:40 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Man, i wish i could re-watch the whole game. A LB playing FB is always pretty cool, i still remember Skuta doing that for us.

I believe NFL network is replaying it several times....

[Joelist]

Remember...Nick Vigil can play EVERY position on both sides of the ball and at an All Pro level too!

[*jason*]

Iiked the way Dansby was all over Rudolph (I think) in coverage on 3rd down. He is gonna be a big addition.

[Beaker]

(08-13-2016, 06:58 PM)BoomerFan Wrote: My big concern at this moment is our lack of depth at CB. Once the first stringers went out it got...kinda bad. Maybe we'll pick up someone else on cut downs?

Remember though, we still have Dennard and I'm sure Shaw will get more reps. I think they were simply trying to get a long look at the unknown quantity guys last night.

[NATI BENGALS]

We should be giving Westerman snaps at C.

I was willing to be patient with Bodine. I figured he still had room for growth going in to year three. I sure didnt see any improvement. The obvious weak link needs some real competition.

[phil413]

(08-14-2016, 04:03 AM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: We should be giving Westerman snaps at C.

I was willing to be patient with Bodine. I figured he still had room for growth going in to year three. I sure didnt see any improvement. The obvious weak link needs some real competition.

Agreed.  He was a steal but he's already developed into what looks like a quality backup at all 3 positions at least.  If I had to put money on it I think Zeitler hits the market and gets top guard money and Westerman is his replacement.  Maybe the FO is worried they will mess with his development or Bodine's with a switch, but they're trying to win games.  They should give him looks, and if by the end of the preseason he looks like the better option then you gotta consider it.  Center is still a tricky position, because even if he looks better than Bodine, Andy is already used to him for better or worse.  Hard to build that with Westerman overnight.  

[djam]

(08-13-2016, 03:00 PM)wolfkaosaun Wrote: 1. Nick Vigil. Seriously, was not happy with the pick but dude has shown he can play thus far. It's still early, but very positive for him.

2. Outside of Hunt, the D-line depth wasn't bad. Hardison and Williams made some plays. Clarke was up and down but showed improvement.

3. WR battle. Alford showed some return ability and yeah, Erickson scored, but Alford had some nice returns. Kumerow didn't see much and did beat his man for a deep ball, but missed it. Core looked good. Erickson looked good in the slot. Honestly, every WR has shown potential. It's game 1, so time to see who's consistent.

4. Little worried about Ogubehi. He was on skates a lot and although athletic enough to pull, I don't see him holding protection up for long.

5. Dawson was in the right place numerous times, but needs to hit the hole and attack rather than wait to react. He's shown good instincts on where to go, but needs to go for it.

6. Flowers just did not look good last night. Missed tackles and got beat in coverage. Not a solid showing by him.

7. Fisher hasn't been talked about much but he should be. Dude looked actually pretty decent, especially when pulling. Think he is actually gonna be good here.

8. Carson. We assumed our RB depth, but Carson is trying to make a name for himself and get on some team. Ran over people, blocked well, Carson did a lot of good things last night that is gonna cause coaches to take notice. Both here and around the league.

I pretty much agree with everything. I'm excited to see more of Alford for sure. I heard he got a small injury last night or we would've seen more of him. Dude used to blow my mind in college. 

As far as the Simonise kid that a lot of previous posters have mentioned. I need to see way more. His catch came on a play against nobody DB's who ran into each other and left him completely wide open to be hit in stride on a slant. Seriously Erickson or Alford may have taken that one to the house. Too early on him.

[LebanonFan]

(08-13-2016, 03:32 AM)treee Wrote: I am surprised that people are saying they were disappointed with Dawson's play because I saw him make a few good place and never saw him an exceptionally bad play either.

Agreed, thought Dawson looked more than capable out there.  Good nose for the ball

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(08-14-2016, 04:03 AM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: We should be giving Westerman snaps at C.

I was willing to be patient with Bodine. I figured he still had room for growth going in to year three. I sure didnt see any improvement. The obvious weak link needs some real competition.

(08-14-2016, 04:55 AM)phil413 Wrote: Agreed.  He was a steal but he's already developed into what looks like a quality backup at all 3 positions at least.  If I had to put money on it I think Zeitler hits the market and gets top guard money and Westerman is his replacement.  Maybe the FO is worried they will mess with his development or Bodine's with a switch, but they're trying to win games.  They should give him looks, and if by the end of the preseason he looks like the better option then you gotta consider it.  Center is still a tricky position, because even if he looks better than Bodine, Andy is already used to him for better or worse.  Hard to build that with Westerman overnight.  

Completely agree, Westerman looked great at Guard.

Need to see some of him at Center in case Bodine just does not improve. Just for insurance purposes for God sake PA.

(08-14-2016, 08:32 AM)djam Wrote: I pretty much agree with everything. I'm excited to see more of Alford for sure. I heard he got a small injury last night or we would've seen more of him. Dude used to blow my mind in college. 

As far as the Simonise kid that a lot of previous posters have mentioned. I need to see way more. His catch came on a play against nobody DB's who ran into each other and left him completely wide open to be hit in stride on a slant. Seriously Erickson or Alford may have taken that one to the house. Too early on him.

Alford reminded me of Tavon Austin at WV no doubt Djam and you are correct on Simonise, need to see more of him.

Still, with that size, speed and ability to go up for the ball he is very intriguing.

(08-14-2016, 12:33 PM)LebanonFan Wrote: Agreed, thought Dawson looked more than capable out there.  Good nose for the ball

On the Ham TD that was on Dawson. Dude didn't fill the gap.

I loved Dawson in college but he has been disappointing to say the least as a Bengal so far.

Flowers looks much better right now IMHO. Better speed, better tackler, much better athleticism and tries to fill the hole.

[*Synric*]

Vigil looked very good in the run fits but let couple plays get behind him in pass defense.

Only thing I have to say about Hunt is all the snaps up and down the line he's getting should go to Clarke this week. I would like to see him play strong side and inside rusher.

Cody Core is going to take Lafells job mid season. From day one all we've heard is that he loves to compete well..he showed it. Everyone is mentioning his speed receiving height etc...I loved watching him maul DBs blocking.

Westerman had a nice game held his own in pass pro and had a couple nice blocks would like to see h against better competition.


All in all I was impressed by most of the young guys especially the WRs. Only thing that popped to me as something I'd like to see improved next week is the pass rush from the younger guys....especially the tackles and inside rushers.