Cincinnati Bengals: What to watch, key players for Week 11 vs. Ravens

Players To Watch

Cincinnati: LB Jordan Evans

Regardless of which linebackers are healthy enough to play, Evans is one of the few who at least should have a chance in theory of putting up a fight in coverage with any consistency. His physical profile leaves him with enticing length and potential. He’s reactive, flexible, and has useful lateral explosion. Most of all, he brings a level of speed nobody else in the linebacking corps can hold a candle to.

The problems are what they’ve been for him since his college days: he is a bit too finesse, is somewhat lacking in strength, and has a bad habit of taking some dreadfully awful angles on his tackle attempts. Those issues are why he was drafted so late in the 2017 draft, and they haven’t come close to being put to rest.

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If he’s going to be part of the future here though, he must start to turn that around quickly — and this week is the perfect chance to begin that process. Depending on the injuries to the others at his position he may be the most experienced linebacker available to the Bengals this week, and while Baltimore’s assortment of runners all have useful skills, none are more than a decent piece of an offensive puzzle.

This is the time for Evans to prove whether or not he should be seen as a young building block for a unit in dire need of them, or if he’s just another example of wasted potential on a roster that lately has fallen laughably short at building up useful young talents far too often.

Baltimore: CB Jimmy Smith

Of all the cornerbacks on Baltimore’s roster, Smith is supposed to be the best. He’s midway through a four-year, $41 million contract that he earned due to his excellent measurements and potential to reach an elite level as a coverage man.

This year has not been a sterling example of those hopes being brought to life. He missed the first four games of the year due to a suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy, and hasn’t really managed to play all that well in the games he has suited up for. In five games, he hasn’t had a hand in a single turnover.

This week, with Cincinnati missing Green, he’s likely going to be the person tasked with keeping up with the speedy Ross on the outside; often, it’ll be him as the first (and sometimes only) line of defense for the areas where his unit is weakest. If he cannot stop him, it gives life to a Cincinnati offense which will need all the help they can get without Green in the lineup.