Jump to content

John Thornton's Views from Bengals Training Camp

oldschooler

Recommended Posts

oldschooler Hall Of Fame

oldschooler

Posted
Posted
[b][size="5"]Views from Bengals Training Camp[/size][/b]
August 2nd, 2009 | [url="http://www.allproblogger.com/category/bengals/"]Bengals[/url], [url="http://www.allproblogger.com/category/nfl/"]NFL[/url]

[img]http://www.allproblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/IMG_0149-300x225.jpg[/img]

[b]View from Sidelines[/b]

Good to be back blogging. I have to admit, Twitter is a lot easier to use and quicker to update, but I can post more on [b]AllProBlogger.com.[/b]

I had a chance to go to Georgetown, KY to watch the Bengals practice on Saturday morning. It was nice to watch as a non Bengal. I will list a few observations later in this post but I want to get a few things out first. I want to thank the Bengals organization for six great years. The team has always treated me with respect and I gave the same respect back in return. I wish them well this year and beyond. Just about every member of the organization came up to me and shared kind words. [b]Mike Brown [/b]was the first to come over. He told me that I had on the wrong uniform because I was dressed in jeans and a t shirt. He said that with a smile, but it was cool for him to say. [b]Troy[/b] and [b]Katie Blackburn[/b] came over to talk as well. [b]Marvin Lewis[/b] even motioned over to me to come onto the field and talk to him. So all in all, it was a good trip. I'm sure that the love fest will soon stop, but it was cool. Training Camp is just starting so there aren't many negative things to harp on. That will come once the preseason starts and you get to see guys in live action.


[b]10 Early Observations[/b]

[b]1. With all the talk of Hard Knocks being at Bengals Camp, I didn't get the impression that the players were affected that much. There were cameras following Marvin Lewis about 90% of the time, but other than that it was pretty low key. Then again, the most interesting part of Hard Knocks to me is the off the field stuff. Fans see practice all the time during camp. The things that happen while the players are in meetings, down time, and coaches meetings are what I'm looking forward to seeing.[/b]

2. No heat. Training camp practices are usually hot and muggy. Saturday's practice was a very nice 85 degrees. Marvin, like most coaches, like it to be hot so players can get used to playing in the heat. It also gets the players in football shape quicker.

3. Quicker Tempo. One of the complaints form past and current players, is that Marvin Lewis practices are way too long. I don't know if it was just me or not, but the morning practice was crisp.

4. Safety battle will make the defense better. This is the first time in awhile that the safety position will be a strength on the defense. [b]SS Roy Williams [/b]and [b]SS Chinedum Ndukwe[/b] are going to battle for the SS spot. I think that [b]Roy Williams[/b] is the teams choice to be the starter because of his resume. He is a Pro Bowl SS, who will bring a physical presence to the team that has been lacking. Not that the team didn't have physical players, but Roy is "known" around the league as being physical. The knock against Roy is his pass D, but the knock against the Bengals is their run D. Should be a good match. Ndukwe makes too many good plays in practice not to make this a good competition. Plus I think Chinny will be used in the Bengals three Safety packages. [b]FS Chris Crocker[/b] is a lock to be a starter. He is very savvy and he is a gamer. Can also play the nickel corner if needed.

5. [b]Domata Peko[/b] has improved his footwork. I saw this during the 9 on 7 (inside run drill) period during practice. Peko used to false step when he was playing the NG position. Players do this when they are guessing which way the ball is going to go. Taking a false step can make a player play soft on double teams, and it can cause the defender to give up his gap on running plays, creating a seam in the defense. Peko is good enough and fast enough to overcome most of his false steps, but he will be much stronger inside if he continues to improve. Another reason you don't want to false step is because the OL can get up to the LBs a lot easier if you are behind on the block. I even saw [b]Dhani[/b][b] Jones[/b] thank Peko after they got done because he was clean to the ball carrier a few times.

6.[b] DE[/b] [b]Antwan Odom[/b] is a lot bigger. I know this is old news, but I'm interested in seeing if this will help Antwan. While he played for the Titans, and when I played for the Titans, weight was never an issue. We were free to weigh whatever we wanted as long as we could run fast and play hard. And the DE's were always lined up on outside the widest man on the line of scrimmage, DE's never had to square up and take a OL on head-up. In Cincy, DE's have to play head up on TE's and OT's sometimes. So that's why Antwan put on so much weight this off season. He couldn't hold up in this system if he played at his Titans weight. He still has his speed so he should be fine.

7. [b]C Kyle Cook [/b]should settle the Offensive Line. [b]Eric Ghiaciuc[/b] was a three year starter for the Bengals, but he was never able to fully replace [b]Rich Braham[/b]. In fact, Ghiaciuc only made the Bengals and their fans miss Richie that much more. All of that wasn't Eric's fault. I felt bad for him. Eric's make up was just different than Rich's. People say you never want to be the man that replaces the man, and that happened to Eric. He had a shot to be the long term guy at the center position, but it didn't pan out. Kyle Cook will get his shot. Kyle is a tough guy, with a lot of weight room strength. Coaches also think he is the smartest OL on the team. How he does in the preseason will tell if the teams OL problems will be solved. Kyle has been a great practice player over the past few years, but now he has to do it in games. I think having big [b]Bobbie Williams[/b] playing OG next to him will help.

8. Figure what to do with[b] DE/LB Michael Johnson(MJ93)[/b]. The Bengals can play MJ93 in a number of places on defense. When I watched him, he was working with the DL. In my opinion, they should play him in one place and let him master that position first, before making him the jack of all trades. As I wrote on my Twitter page, MJ93 reminds me of [b]Titans DE Jevon Kearse[/b] when he came out of Florida. Jevon was a LB at Florida, but the Titans decided to make him a full time DE. Jevon hated that at first. DL coach Jim Washburn knew that the only way Jevon was going to make the transition, was to have success in training camp. So Washburn made Jevon go up against OT Jon Runyan in every drill, everyday. Runyan is maybe the nastiest OT in football, he tried to make Jevon quit, but Jevon figured it out and became great early in his career. MJ93 has to find a role on 1st and 2nd downs. Is he a DE or a LB? Now on 3rd down, MJ93 will be the Bengals wild card. He can be used in a number of roles then. He will probably the most flexible player on defense. If the Bengals were playing a 3-4 defense, MJ93 would be an OLB and it would be easier to toy around with him. But being in a 4-3 D, the team needs to find out where he can play the best on early downs.

9. Team in shape? [b]LT Andrew Whitworth[/b] is a lot lighter. When I ran into Big Whit, I asked how much weight he was down. He said that he has dropped 25 lbs. He looks really thin. I saw him out eating breakfast a few months ago and he looked a lot heavier. My guess is that Whit wanted to be lighter the second time around a LT. In 2006, Whitworth played well replacing [b]Levi Jones [/b]at LT, but the one game that he struggled in was against the Colts on MNF. The Colts have small, fast DE's. Another player that has helped himself is [b]DE Frostee Rucker[/b]. Frostee was in the high 290's in mid May and left mini camp at 292 lbs. The team put a training camp reporting weight of 280 lbs on Rucker. He checked in at 275. This will give Frostee a better chance to make the team this year. He needs to stay healthy. When he plays, he helps the team. Frostee is also a client of mine, so I will take a little credit for his turnaround!! ( slightly joking).

10. [b]Bengals MUST go at least 10-6[/b]. I predicted the playoffs for this team back in February (google it if you want), but it is going to take a lot of work to get there. The reason I think that the team will do well, is that there are so many players with something to prove. When your best player, [b]QB Carson Palmer[/b], is coming off of a bad year, you know that he is going to come back and be twice as good. The rest of the team should follow his lead. I can name many players that are in the same boat. [b]Chad, OL, Robert Geathers, Antwan Odom, Keith Rivers, Johnathan Joseph, Roy Williams, Tank Johnson[/b], there are probably a few more guys that "need" to play big to bounce back, but that's quite an impressive list. So with all of these players working hard to have a better year, I see this team playing well. I think the Steelers are the top dog in the AFC North, and I see the Bengals and the Ravens fighting it out for 2nd place in the division. The Ravens had some big losses in the off season, but they have a great tradition of playing good football and replacing lost talent. I see the Browns finishing last again. No need to explain that. They seem to be doing all of the wrong things.






[url="http://www.allproblogger.com/2009/08/02/views-from-bengals-training-camp/#more-2394"]http://www.allproblogger.com/2009/08/02/views-from-bengals-training-camp/#more-2394[/url]
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...