Chris Evans

[PatternMaster]

There seems to be this weird bias against Chris Evans from some media and fans, I see many of the 53-man projections with him not on it but random guys like Tanner Hudson or Jaxson Kirkland or Jalen Davis.

 

Evans could easily be the top backup behind Mixon as Williams is hurt and Brown is a rookie. Evans has proven he can make plays in the NFL as he's the only RB on the roster besides Mixon to score a TD in the NFL.

 

I just don't understand why almost every roster projection has him getting cut when there's a clear path to him being the #2 back and getting significant snaps this year. I expect him to get the start tonight and show what he can do behind the starting offensive line. 

[|BlackJesus|]

1 hour ago, PatternMaster said:

I expect him to get the start tonight and show what he can do behind the starting offensive line. 

 

... The starting OL will not be playing tonight though?

[A Rock]

46 minutes ago, PatternMaster said:

There seems to be this weird bias against Chris Evans from some media and fans, I see many of the 53-man projections with him not on it but random guys like Tanner Hudson or Jaxson Kirkland or Jalen Davis.

 

Evans could easily be the top backup behind Mixon as Williams is hurt and Brown is a rookie. Evans has proven he can make plays in the NFL as he's the only RB on the roster besides Mixon to score a TD in the NFL.

 

I just don't understand why almost every roster projection has him getting cut when there's a clear path to him being the #2 back and getting significant snaps this year. I expect him to get the start tonight and show what he can do behind the starting offensive line. 

I'd say there's a weird bias from the coaches too. He barely gets on the field, but when he does he's highly productive. He's had 18 catches his entire career here. To the tune of 189 yards and 3 touchdowns! He had exactly zero rushing attempts last year, but averaged 4.5 yards a tote on 17 carries his first year. I've posted (and wondered) before about why this guy hasn't been involved more. People have said he was in the doghouse with someone in the Bengal hierarchy, but I've never heard anything more specific. 

[|BlackJesus|]

1 minute ago, A Rock said:

I'd say there's a weird bias from the coaches too. 

 

At Michigan there was also a "coaches bias" despite his talent and productivity ...

 

Which begs the question, is there something about his personality off the field that makes coaches not trust him? Not like him? I've heard nothing in that regard. 

[PatternMaster]

I still think he will perform well enough to solidify a place on the 53-man roster and be a better option as the 3rd down back than anyone else on the roster. 

[PatternMaster]

15 minutes ago, A Rock said:

I'd say there's a weird bias from the coaches too. He barely gets on the field, but when he does he's highly productive. He's had 18 catches his entire career here. To the tune of 189 yards and 3 touchdowns! He had exactly zero rushing attempts last year, but averaged 4.5 yards a tote on 17 carries his first year. I've posted (and wondered) before about why this guy hasn't been involved more. People have said he was in the doghouse with someone in the Bengal hierarchy, but I've never heard anything more specific. 

 

He had some maturity issues in college but at 25 years old I don't think that is an issue. I think he might have made a mistake or two last year but nothing crazy enough to be in the doghouse. 

 

He's definitely talented but they seem to not want to play him for whatever reason but keep him around...it's weird. Maybe they don't like his haircut...lol

[A Rock]

12 minutes ago, BlackJesus said:

 

At Michigan there was also a "coaches bias" despite his talent and productivity ...

 

Which begs the question, is there something about his personality off the field that makes coaches not trust him? Not like him? I've heard nothing in that regard. 

I knew he missed significant playing time at Michigan, but I was led to believe it was strictly due to scholastic issues which he rectified. I remember being happy about this when we drafted him because I thought it only meant more tread on the tires, and he looked great on the field. There's never been big noise about him being trouble off the field, so I'm mystified.

[esjbh2]

10 minutes ago, PatternMaster said:

I still think he will perform well enough to solidify a place on the 53-man roster and be a better option as the 3rd down back than anyone else on the roster. 

I thought one of the knocks on him was his blocking?  Not a good look for blitz pickup for a 3rd down RB.  Didn't a recent training camp report seemed to confirm that in RB blocking drills?

 

[PatternMaster]

25 minutes ago, esjbh2 said:

I thought one of the knocks on him was his blocking?  Not a good look for blitz pickup for a 3rd down RB.  Didn't a recent training camp report seemed to confirm that in RB blocking drills?

 

 

That's the thing, I couldn't find any reliable source that said but it's being parroted by clueless hacks that call themselves journalists. I'm sure every back has struggled at some point during camp, I listen to the Locked on Bengals podcast because it's the best way to get daily Bengals news from an actual journalist, if you want to call Jimmy Rapien that. On one of their podcast, they mentioned that Brown struggled in pass pro one day, but I don't see the cut Chase Brown talk...it just seems like the moment Brown was drafted some people decided that Evans was immediately going to be cut and Brown was going to be Mixon's backup. 

 

Evans is the biggest of the backup RBs and has the best shot of being the best blocking back on the roster from a purely physical standpoint. I'm sure there is some room for improvement but he's not a lost cause. 

[Jungletiger]

I think he will shine, on another team.  He has talented guns behind him pushing, and unless things have changed, doesn't have the trust of the coaches.  Unless he has stellar games this preseason I think they will let him go.  Not a desire of mine just how I see things going.

[dex]

42 minutes ago, PatternMaster said:

 

That's the thing, I couldn't find any reliable source that said but it's being parroted by clueless hacks that call themselves journalists. I'm sure every back has struggled at some point during camp, I listen to the Locked on Bengals podcast because it's the best way to get daily Bengals news from an actual journalist, if you want to call Jimmy Rapien that. On one of their podcast, they mentioned that Brown struggled in pass pro one day, but I don't see the cut Chase Brown talk...it just seems like the moment Brown was drafted some people decided that Evans was immediately going to be cut and Brown was going to be Mixon's backup. 

 

Evans is the biggest of the backup RBs and has the best shot of being the best blocking back on the roster from a purely physical standpoint. I'm sure there is some room for improvement but he's not a lost cause. 

The biggest knock on Evans hasn't been his pass protection, it is the fact that he likes to bounce too many runs outside if a hole isn't there and getting negative yardage plays. They want him to put his head down and move the pile sometimes. Evans was drafted when the Bengals were still an outside zone team. He seems like a better fit for that style rather than the downhill gap scheme that demands the back hit the hole quickly. They drafted Brown with the new blocking scheme in mind, because while he is small he can still run downhill out of the shotgun. It was a strength in college.

 

The Bengals want their backs to do 3 things well: (A) run the ball effectively between the tackles (B) Catch the ball effectively out of the backfield (C) Pass protect to keep their franchise QB from being knocked down too often. None of their backs do all 3 things well, but Evans only does one of them effectively. He is a great receiver out of the backfield, true, but there is no reason to keep 4 RBs on the 53 man roster when they are so easy to find one if injuries pop up suddenly.

[sparky151]

2 hours ago, Jungletiger said:

I think he will shine, on another team.  He has talented guns behind him pushing, and unless things have changed, doesn't have the trust of the coaches.  Unless he has stellar games this preseason I think they will let him go.  Not a desire of mine just how I see things going.

 

Cosign this. Evans got very little playing time last year even though he's a good kickoff returner and pass receiver. Williams was ahead of him last season and Brown is ahead of him now. If they keep 4 RBs, then he'll make the 53. If they only keep 3, he won't. 

[|High School Harry|]

Williams to IR and Chris Evans on the 53?

Not impossible.

However, Williams obviously being the the dog house is an enigma and mystery to me (as if, who am I?)

I liked him as a kick returner.

Thought it was full speed ahead and ran with power.

Dunno but an IR tag would not be impossible.

[dex]

11 minutes ago, High School Harry said:

Williams to IR and Chris Evans on the 53?

Not impossible.

However, Williams obviously being the the dog house is an enigma and mystery to me (as if, who am I?)

I liked him as a kick returner.

Thought it was full speed ahead and ran with power.

Dunno but an IR tag would not be impossible.

Where did you get the idea Williams was in the dog house? He just hurt his ankle. Expected to be back to work soon and probably the current favorite to be the 3rd down back. 

[IKOTA]

8 hours ago, PatternMaster said:

There seems to be this weird bias against Chris Evans from some media and fans, I see many of the 53-man projections with him not on it but random guys like Tanner Hudson or Jaxson Kirkland or Jalen Davis.

 

Evans could easily be the top backup behind Mixon as Williams is hurt and Brown is a rookie. Evans has proven he can make plays in the NFL as he's the only RB on the roster besides Mixon to score a TD in the NFL.

 

I just don't understand why almost every roster projection has him getting cut when there's a clear path to him being the #2 back and getting significant snaps this year. I expect him to get the start tonight and show what he can do behind the starting offensive line. 

Coaches play the players they trust to execute the assignment the play calls for. Evans hasn't earned their trust because he misses too many assignments, he’s not where he’s supposed to be. If he can fix that, he’s a player on this team. 

[|High School Harry|]

5 hours ago, dex said:

Where did you get the idea Williams was in the dog house? He just hurt his ankle. Expected to be back to work soon and probably the current favorite to be the 3rd down back. 

Oops... wrong name... Evans in the dog house.

[Shebengal]

I thought you couldn’t challenge inside of 2 minutes?

[UncleEarl]

Dog house for talented players usually means they can’t trust him to do what he is supposed to do.  
 

The “front office and coaches don’t like him” stuff sounds like a bunch of youth sports parents, and those parents never get it anyway. 

[Griever]

 

[PatternMaster]

So Chase Brown looked awful.. 

 

1.5/ypc....yikes

 

Evans clearly is the better player between the two. Also, when you consider the lack of availability for Williams then Evans should be the #2 back.

 

 

[dex]

1 hour ago, PatternMaster said:

So Chase Brown looked awful.. 

 

1.5/ypc....yikes

 

Evans clearly is the better player between the two. Also, when you consider the lack of availability for Williams then Evans should be the #2 back.

 

 

Brown never once got the open seam that Evans got on his one nice run. Brown was smart enough to do what the coaches want their backs to do when nothing is there. Take it up the gut and try to move the pile a bit. That has been a problem for Evans in his short career as he tends to want to bounce everything outside and gets tackled for losses too many times. Even Friday night Evans wasn't always as disciplined in the rushing game as the coaches want.

 

 

[PatternMaster]

So 1.5 ypc is a good thing...got it. Brown is smart because he ran into a pile of defenders...that makes sense. 

 

I've never seen a fan base and try to diminish the accomplishments of one their own players...Joe Goodberry on Twitter calling out holding penalties to talk shit about Evans is a clown move. 

 

12 minutes ago, dex said:

Brown never once got the open seam that Evans got on his one nice run. Brown was smart enough to do what the coaches want their backs to do when nothing is there. Take it up the gut and try to move the pile a bit. That has been a problem for Evans in his short career as he tends to want to bounce everything outside and gets tackled for losses too many times. Even Friday night Evans wasn't always as disciplined in the rushing game as the coaches want.

 

 

 

How do you know that to be a fact, are you in the meeting rooms with the RBs? Of course not, everyone acting like they are a RB coach to diagnose Evan's play and criticize him is laughable. 

 

[dex]

I listen to podcasts with coaches like Brian Callahan and Darrin Simmons, and they haven't made it a secret that this is a very big year for Evans. Simmons said that the 3rd year is a year where a guy either steps up or simply disappears. So they are saying it is time for Evans to step up. You don't even need to listen to the comments of the coaches, all you've got to do is look at the way the RB depth chart evolved last season. Evans came into last season as RB3 but ended up losing the kickoff return job to Treyveon Williams and became a healthy inactive on game day for almost every game the rest of the way. Williams was the one who gobbled up the scrimmage snap scraps that Mixon/Perine didn't get. What does that tell you?

 

I'm not picking on Evans. I hope he plays well enough this training camp to make the 53 man decisions very difficult for the coaches. But because of the devaluing of the RB position and how easy it is to pick up a decent one elsewhere as a result, there is no guarantee that the Bengals will carry 4 RBs on their 53 man opening day roster. Will be interesting to see if that is a trend around the league...carrying only 3 RBs on the roster while stashing one or two on the practice squad.

 

 

[membengal]

Not sure why anyone is slagging Brown. The burst and elusiveness here was noteworthy. 
 

https://x.com/joegoodberry/status/1690170692690444289?s=46&t=rKRo5ildsXjOFWkYH7wDlg

[membengal]

Also - agree with this 

 

https://x.com/charlieg__/status/1690424201126039552?s=46&t=rKRo5ildsXjOFWkYH7wDlg