Cincinnati Bengals: Players to watch vs Ravens in Week 1

A few important players to watch during the Week 1 contest between the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens.

Week 1 of the 2017 NFL regular season is here at last, Cincinnati fans. To begin their 16-game slate, the Cincinnati Bengals welcome the rival Baltimore Ravens to town. A win here can be the first step to a possible playoff run for these Bengals, putting them back in the postseason for the sixth time in the past seven seasons. A loss immediately puts the team in a tough position with a distinct chance of beginning the year 0-3.

Recent history would point to a victory in Cincinnati’s favor. In their past 10 meetings with Baltimore, the Bengals are 7-3. A clearly limited Ravens team did manage a season split with Cincinnati in 2016, however, so there no guarantees.

To figure out how this game will turn out for Cincinnati, there are a few players we should keep our eyes on. If these players handle their duties well, the Bengals should be victorious. If they fall short in their tasks, it’ll be difficult for a positive outcome to commence for the team.

We start on the offensive line with one of the new starters.

Trey Hopkins

The main discussion around the Cincinnati offensive like this summer has centered around their young tackles, but they also are working with a new starter on the interior.

When right guard Kevin Zeitler was allowed to leave for a record-setting contract in free agency, the plan wasn’t quite clear at first what the team would do. Eventually, it turned out the team would bring back their former right tackle Andre Smith and try converting him to guard to hold down that spot.

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With an impressive summer, Hopkins made them change their plans. He pushed his way into the competition and owned it throughout the preseason. By the end, there was no question as to whether he’d take over — the only thing to determine was how soon. Turns out, it is game one of the year.

Training camp drills and preseason plays are one thing, however. Regular season competition is another beast entirely, and Hopkins brings just 10 prior regular season snaps into the fold with him to face what will be a powerful challenge.

Per Football Outsiders’ defensive line metrics, Baltimore’s defensive line was top 10 in most measurements for 2016. Their effectiveness was influential in Baltimore’s defense ranking No. 6 in Defensive DVOA, No. 4 in Run Defense DVOA, and No. 10 in Pass Defense DVOA for the season.

Much of this game should find Hopkins lined up opposite of Brandon Williams, who just earned himself a hefty new contract (five years, $52.5 million) this offseason due to his run defense prowess.

If Hopkins gets consistently swallowed up by Williams, Cincinnati won’t have any shot at running the ball between the tackles. It’s unlikely they’ll manage to dominate in that regard under any circumstances, but being able to do so enough to keep the defense honest could be a deciding factor if things are close throughout.

Giovani Bernard

Though Joe Mixon is the future at running back, for the early stages of this season the run game should still heavily lean on the Jeremy Hill/Giovani Bernard duo. While Hill will be the power player in the middle, Bernard will get to be the elusive second option who not only runs the ball outside the tackles, but is a weapon in the passing game.

The latter will be his most important value against Baltimore’s particular defense. Baltimore’s defense was excellent in just about every aspect last year, but one spot they were vulnerable was against running backs catching passes. Their defense ranked No. 24 in Defensive DVOA vs RBs last season, and it could still be a problem for Baltimore in 2017.

Nick Vigil

With longtime starter Rey Maualuga let go in the offseason, Cincinnati was guaranteed to have a new starter in their linebacking corps. Nothing really pointed to that man being Vigil. Kevin Minter was added through free agency, and it seemed he would join Vontaze Burfict and Vincent Rey in the starting lineup. Minter will be a starter, but if not for Burfict’s suspension Rey would not be. That’s because for whatever reason, Cincinnati chose Vigil as their strongside starter.

His career so far doesn’t show a player ready for that responsibility. He managed a meager 110 snaps in his rookie season. In them, Pro Football Focus Edge graded him an abysmal 45.7 overall (0-100 scale). They must see something in him they like though. They took him in the third round of the 2016 draft — multiple rounds before he was projected to go — so seeing the team willing to move him into a larger role despite little outside evidence that he’s ready for it is par for the course.

If there’s a decent time to get a new, unproven starter into the mix, a game against a marginal offense like what Baltimore should be is a good time to do that.

Last year, the Ravens were in the bottom third of the league in all major Offensive DVOA metrics, and the additions they’ve made to try improving that this offseason have been undermined by free agent losses and injuries.

They do have some quality pieces for Joe Flacco to work with though, and the one Vigil will need to help with is Danny Woodhead. The former Patriot and Charger has been the epitome of injury-prone throughout his career, but when he plays there are few more dependable dumpoff options.

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It’s a tough ask for Vigil to shut down the elusive Woodhead, but the more he disrupts his ability to connect with Flacco, the longer Baltimore’s quarterback will need to hold onto the ball, giving Cincinnati’s defensive line more time to break through and force Flacco into mistakes. In a close game, helping force a couple of those may give the Bengals the edge.

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