Cincinnati Bengals 2023 Training Camp Preview
The Cincinnati Bengals have enjoyed a recent boom in success in the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Joe Burrow has led the franchise to a Super Bowl appearance and back-to-back AFC Championship games. The team has also been making big splashes in free agency over the past two years. Trey Hendrickson, La’el Collins, and Orlando Brown Jr. are just a few names that the Bengals have signed. With a top-three quarterback, the top WR trio in the NFL, and defensive guru Lou Anarumo returning, can the Bengals finally bring home the Lombardi this year? Let’s take a look.
Three Position Battles To Watch:
Running Back: Chris Evans vs. Chase Brown
The starting position is settled at running back with Joe Mixon leading the pack, but the interesting story here is RB2. The Bengals drafted the speedy Chase Brown in the fifth round out of Illinois as a direct result of Samaje Perine leaving for the Broncos in free agency. Perine was an elite RB2 that seemed to always get the hard yards for the Bengals when needed, and ran over a few people on the way. As a fan, I was extremely sad to see him go.
Brown has been named the next man up off the depth chart, according to ESPN, but realistically Chris Evans has a chance at the RB2 spot. Evans is a versatile back that really hasn’t been used to his full capabilities since coming onto the team in 2021. Bengals fans including myself have been begging the coaching staff to give Evans more opportunities. Hopefully, Zac Taylor and Brian Callahan see the opportunity to add to an already potent offense with receiving threats coming out of the backfield.
Right Tackle: La’el Collins vs. Jonah Williams vs. Jackson Carman
With the hopes of retooling the offensive line after a historic 2021 season, the Cincinnati Bengals signed former Cowboys tackle La’el Collins to a three-year, $21 million contract to play alongside left tackle Jonah Williams. Williams has started 42 games for the Bengals over the course of his three-year career, and over that time he has been shaky at best. Over the past two seasons, Williams has given up 20 sacks, including an NFL-worst 12 sacks in 2022.
Collins started to look like a disappointing signing at first, but turned things around towards the end of the season, giving up just five sacks in 15 games before going down with a massive knee injury in a Week 16 matchup vs. the Patriots. The Bengals would have to bite the bullet in terms of money if they want to keep Collins and Williams together, as they would put a combined $22 million on the cap. The question is, is it worth it when the team has Jackson Carman, a cheap young lineman that stepped up big time at left tackle in the 2022 playoffs and played really well.
Carman is just 23 and still has two years left on his rookie deal, only carrying a cap hit of $2 million going into 2023. As mentioned earlier, Carman was really solid in the playoffs. In 168 snaps, he only gave up one sack and was penalized just twice. La’el Collins is aiming to return in week one, so it’ll be interesting to see who’s going to win the starting role going into 2023.
Safety: Jordan Battle vs. Dax Hill
The Bengals drafted Dax Hill in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft and he played in 15 games with two starts as a rookie. Hill showed flashes of his potential but was very raw coming into the league. He only recorded 15 tackles and had zero interceptions in 2022. However, this is expected from a rookie who’s playing behind safeties like Jessie Bates III and Vonn Bell. Hill is blazing fast, running a 4.38 at the combine, and is in line to be a starter for now alongside new free-agent signing Nick Scott. He’ll need his top-notch ball skills and elite speed to match his uncanny versatility and football instincts for Lou Anarumo’s defense.
While Dax Hill is line to be the starter, Alabama safety Jordan Battle could potentially contend for the spot as Hill is still unproven at the position. The Bengals selected Battle with their third-round pick in 2022. Battle garnered third-team Associated Press All-American and first-team All-SEC accolades in 2021, recording 84 tackles, three interceptions, and tying for second in the FBS with two INTs returned for scores. He also added three pass breakups in 15 starts. In 2022, Battle was a third-team AP All-American and first-team all-conference pick after logging 71 tackles, one interception, and two pass breakups in 13 games.
Battle has proved that he can be an elite-level safety and offers the size, speed, and pedigree to become a starter early in his NFL career. We’ll see if Battle catches the eye of Anarumo in training camp and gets thrust into the starting role immediately.
Rookie To Watch: Myles Murphy
The Bengals’ first-round draft pick has excellent size/traits and has been consistently productive in impact categories for three straight years at Clemson. He plays with a plus motor, has good first-step quickness, and is extremely athletic. Murphy is looking to help a Bengals pass rush that was 28th in team sacks in 2022.
Trey Hendrickson had the fourth-highest pass rush win rate in the NFL in 2022, and was the number-one disrupter in the league. According to Next Gen Stats, Hendrickson had 79 quarterback pressures (QBP), a QBP rate of 19.4%, 45 hurries, and five turnovers caused by pressures. Sam Hubbard added 30 more pressures and 21 QB hits on his own, however, the team just couldn’t put the QB on the ground that often. This was apparent in their AFC Championship matchup against the Chiefs where Mahomes had time to sit back in the pocket and tear their secondary apart.
Murphy will look to change that narrative in 2023. The Clemson standout recorded 18.5 sacks, 36 TFLs, and six forced fumbles in his three-year career at Clemson. He was a first-team All-ACC defender in 2022, as well as a second-team All-ACC member in 2021. One of the quickest edge rushers in this draft, Murphy is quick off the snap and has impressive straight-line speed. His athleticism makes him a difficult defender to block on outside speed rushes. Murphy plays hard on a consistent basis, thus maximizing his athletic tools, and has a relentless approach toward getting into the backfield. Look for this Bengals front four to pressure the QB relentlessly, forcing turnovers and putting up much higher sack numbers.
Ready To Break Out: Cam Taylor-Britt
The Bengals selected Cam Taylor-Britt in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft. The rookie wasn’t afraid to jump into the CB1 position immediately when Chidobe Awuzie went down with an ACL tear on Halloween night against the Cleveland Browns. Taylor-Britt shined as a rookie, starting nine games in the regular season and three in the postseason. He posted 55 tackles (eighth on the team) despite playing in just 10 games, broke up six passes, and had one forced fumble in the regular season. He got his first career interception against Josh Allen in the divisional round and continuously went up against every team’s number-one receiver week after week.
Taylor-Britt plays hard, hits hard, is very technically sound, and blazing fast. With Awuzie coming back and Taylor-Britt moving to the CB2 position, look for teams to target the stud cornerback more and regret that decision. Taylor-Britt had a promising rookie year for the Bengals, and he will build on it and improve in year two. The expectation for him is to start and grow into more of a leadership role for this defense because after this year, he’ll be one of the more veteran players in the secondary.
Fantasy Sleeper: Irv Smith, Jr.
Joe Burrow seems to elevate his tight ends, no matter who’s on the roster. The modern Bengals are an oasis for tight ends looking to be more productive and put up bigger stats. Now, former Vikings tight end Irv Smith, Jr. is looking to do the same. Smith, Jr. adds a new dimension of speed to the tight end room, even faster than Hayden Hurst who had a very solid year for the Bengals in 2022.
Hurst was targeted 70 times in 14 games last season and accumulated 14.6% of the team’s total target share while averaging 8.1 yards per reception. Smith Jr. has never seen more than 50 targets in a single season, so this will assuredly be his best shot at succeeding for fantasy purposes. Smith, Jr. has never been a TE1 and has shown that he can be very productive at that spot, even if it was in college. At Alabama, Smith, Jr. posted 710 yards and 7 TDs on 44 receptions while averaging 16.1 yards per reception in 2018.
Check us out on Twitch!
Follow us on Instagram!
Check out our website!
