Cincinnati Bengals: Big takeaways from Preseason Week 2
By Kenn Korb
Major Changes Coming On Special Teams?
The special teams unit seemed like the area which, while having room for improvement, at least seemed relatively stable. Their punter was top ten in average punt yardage and was top five in punts inside the 20 for 2017. Their long snapper just went to the Pro Bowl. They seemed to have found a stable answer at kicker after a terrible year of kicking in 2016 (including six missed PATs by former Bengal Mike Nugent). Their kick and punt returner was top-10 in both kick and punt return total yardage. By all accounts, it seemed like we may not see many (if any) noteworthy changes coming to the unit this year.
That may not be the case, however. While punter Kevin Huber and long snapper Clark Harris remain unchallenged, the other positions may not be as cemented as first believed.
At kicker, Randy Bullock came in towards the end of 2016 (making 5-of-6 field goal attempts in the process) and easily held onto the position throughout all of last season (making 18 of his 20 field goal attempts). It seemed he would easily move forward to be the kicker this year again, but he seemed to have a tougher road this time around.
Jonathan Brown has been a camp leg for multiple years with the team to this point, but never put forth much of a challenge before; now, that seems to be changing. Brown and Bullock traded kicks throughout camp and the first preseason game, but this game against Dallas gave him more of a spotlight. This may have been due to happenstance (it appears the plan was to give Bullock all first-half action, and Brown all second-half action), but while Bullock only had one kickoff attempt to add to his statistical tallies, Brown got plenty more: four kickoffs, two field goals, and two PATs.
In those chances, Brown gave himself plenty of positives to build a case to unseat Bullock with –including a 55-yard field goal make. Bullock may still have a comfortable lead (exactly why he got the first half reps, and why the team didn’t feel it necessary to force him into action in the second half as Brown got much more work than him), but this game could be the first step in Brown making a legitimate case for unseating the incumbent kicker.
The other area to keep an eye on is the returner roles. It was basically all handled by Alex Erickson last season, and while he wasn’t terrible, he wasn’t all that impactful on a per-play basis. He ranked 11th (out of 12 qualified* players) in kickoff return average, and 20th (out of 25 qualified) for punt return average. Some dynamism would be welcomed, and the player challenging Erickson may just bring some to the table.
Next. NFL Preseason: Winners and losers from Week 2. dark
Darius Phillips is a fifth-round 2018 draftee at cornerback for the team, and while he may have his work cut out for him making his way up the defensive back depth chart, the return duties could give him an easier way onto the roster. Through two preseason games, he’s certainly making a strong case for himself. Against Dallas he put up a 44 yard kick return and a 24 yard punt return (each team highs through two games), and he leads Erickson in all areas of note regarding returning across the preseason so far. Nothing is decided yet, but Darius should be considered to be leading the competition as we enter the third preseason game.