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Bengals Eye Next Phase As Practice Beckons (OTAs thread)


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Bengals Eye Next Phase As Practice Beckons

 

Hobson_Geoff

Geoff Hobson

SENIOR WRITER

 
 

Bengals coaches Robert Livingston (left) and Zac Taylor (right) look on at the voluntary minicamp.

Zac Taylor: lineup looks.

With the first practice of spring set for Monday, new Bengals head coach Zac Taylor’s installation on both sides of the ball has been on fast forward. Offensive coordinator Brian Callahan figures 85 percent of his scheme has been installed while seven-year safety Shawn Williams, the Generalissimo of the secondary now that George “General,” Iloka is gone, puts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo’s playbook at 90 percent complete.

But don’t go nuts if you see anything radically different on the offensive line in Monday’s drills, the first session of what is otherwise known as “Organized Team Activities,” (OTAs). Callahan warns what you see then doesn’t mean it is what you’ll see Opening Day in Seattle. All eyes are on first-round pick Jonah Williams and if he’ll play left tackle, left guard or elsewhere and if that would mean moving a guy like incumbent left tackle Cordy Glenn inside. Who knows? We won’t know Monday.

“We’ll play with a bunch of different lineups,” Callahan said Tuesday. “Anytime you’re talking about offensive linemen, they all have to swing inside and outside. Guards have to play center and centers have to play guard.

“We have the flexibility to give us the five best players where ever they fit. It’s going to be really hard to know that until we put pads on. The pads are always the great equalizer,” Callahan said of a day that won’t come until nearly August. “Monday is not a foreshadowing of week one in September. We’re going to mess with a bunch of different combinations. Where we start on Monday could very well be where we start come September. It could very well not. A lot of football between now and then.”

During the OTAs, team and special teams drills are allowed as long as there is no live contact. Helmets can be worn, but no other pads.

It sounds like Callahan gets to work with wide receiver John Ross for the first time after he missed last month’s veterans voluntary minicamp with tightness. And maybe we’ll see a bit of tight end Tyler Eifert. He said Tuesday that he’s doing nearly everything in his comeback from a dislocated ankle.

 

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Shawn Williams likes the look of his new defense.

But maybe not. You may not also see guys like wide receiver A.J. Green (toe), slot cornerback Darqueze Dennard (knee) and pass rusher Carl Lawson (knee) as the Bengals opt for caution on the rehab trail.

“It’s the calm before the storm. Before everything hits on Monday,” Williams said of this week. “It will be good to get back into football. Right now we’re just walking through with the coaches. It won’t be live bullets, but it will be good to go against an offense and compete.

“They’re trying to throw a lot on our plate,” Williams said. “Everything at once to see how we handle it. I think it’s going really well. I think (Anarumo) is going to put his best players in position to make plays.”

Ross also says that Callahan and Taylor, who is also the play-caller, is heaping on the learning as quickly as possible to get things squared up for training camp at the end of July.

“That’s the challenging part. There is so much in and it’s so early,” Ross said. “It puts a good strain on our brains when we come to camp and everybody is getting used to the different concepts.”

Callahan says there’s not much else to put in the playbook.

“Everything else is kind of situational,” Callahan said. “Maybe in the red zone on third down. But the core of everything we do is pretty much in.”

Monday, though, is only the start.

“We told them the first OTAs are a little bit like the first week of the season,” Callahan said. “It’s the first time you get to compete. It’s your first game.”

But not the first lineup.

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The Cincinnati Bengals start OTAs Monday and the practices will feature the 91-man roster auditioning for the first time under new head coach Zac Taylor.

Here’s a quick breakdown.

The Dates: May 20-21, 23: Phase Three, Organized Team Activities (OTA practices)

What it is, via Bengals.com

Phase 3: The final four weeks, during which teams may conduct 10 days of Organized Team Activities (OTAs). No live contact is permitted, but 7-on-7, 9-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills are allowed.

Injury Notes: Andy Dalton (thumb), A.J. Green (toe) and others are still on the mend. Notably, Tyler Eifert is slowly working his way back and Darqueze Dennard had a scope on his knee.

 

Note: The Bengals were one of four teams to delay the start of offseason activities, which means they don’t have to take a week break in the middle of them.

Two Left: Germaine Pratt and Ryan Finley are the only Bengals rookies left without a deal.

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The first OTAs of the Zac Taylor era for the Cincinnati Bengals start Monday.

There, Taylor and his staff will get to work with the full 91-man roster in team drills without live contact. Plenty of angles there should interest fans, so here are a few stories to keep an eye on as things progress.

 

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Who lines up where?
First-round pick Jonah Williams lined up at left tackle in rookie minicamp. With all 91 players…
 

© Syndication: Cincinnati

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Talking deals?
A.J. Green and Tyler Boyd are just two of the many names entering contract years. OTAs…
 

© Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

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The QBs
Behind Andy Dalton, Jeff Driskel is in a fight for a roster spot after the Bengals…
 

© Bengals Mini Camp

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Injuries
Key guys like Tyler Eifert are still on the mend. John Ross had some self-reported "tightness"…
 

© Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

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Drew Sample's role
Sample was the team's most polarizing pick out of the second round. But he emerged as…
 

© Albert Cesare/Cincinnati Enquirer-USA TODAY NETWORK

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The battle at LB
The Bengals didn't hit LB in the first round like some might have thought. But they…

© Albert Cesare/Cincinnati Enquirer-USA TODAY NETWORK

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Andy Dalton in the new offense
Dalton enters a prove-it year for the Bengals with a new offensive-minded head coach. Throws in…
 

© Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

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1 hour ago, sparky151 said:

Cordy Glenn has been moved but to LG apparently. RT would make more sense. 

Sooo much more. Hart must have received ownership of the compromising pictures. :lol:  

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2 hours ago, sparky151 said:

Cordy Glenn has been moved but to LG apparently. RT would make more sense. 

Yep, and Glenn himself verified the change. Just saw that on the NFL app. Makes very little sense to me unless you're just trying to isolate your weakest link to the RT position. So then the line would be Williams-Glenn-Price-Boling-Hart then? Could Boling play RT?

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6 minutes ago, Bunghole said:

Yep, and Glenn himself verified the change. Just saw that on the NFL app. Makes very little sense to me unless you're just trying to isolate your weakest link to the RT position. So then the line would be Williams-Glenn-Price-Boling-Hart then? Could Boling play RT?

Mehh,  its the first day of OTAs.   The line could be reshuffled after tomorrow. 

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4 hours ago, SF2 said:

Mehh,  its the first day of OTAs.   The line could be reshuffled after tomorrow. 

And that is exactly what Boy Wonder: Version Callahan said....not to take too much credence into who lines up where--anywhere? 

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4 hours ago, SF2 said:

Mehh,  its the first day of OTAs.   The line could be reshuffled after tomorrow. 

 

IDK if there are more than 5-6 guys on the entire roster with a guaranteed spot right now & even those could get traded.

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