2023 Senior Bowl: Three offensive standouts Bengals fans need to know about
Yesterday for the Bengals we covered the defensive side of the ball in Reese's Senior Bowl standouts. Today we need to cover the offensive side of the ball. The Bengals on the season were rather disappointing in terms of their rushing attack. They finished 4th worst in the league in yards with 1,528, and in […]
Yesterday for the Bengals we covered the defensive side of the ball in Reese's Senior Bowl standouts. Today we need to cover the offensive side of the ball.
The Bengals on the season were rather disappointing in terms of their rushing attack. They finished 4th worst in the league in yards with 1,528, and in the same spot for yards per carry with 3.8. They were 6th worst in explosive plays of 20+ yards or more with 7. Their passing offense tells a different story. They finished with the 6th most passing yards in the league with 4,520, the second-most touchdowns with 35.
Joe Mixon's future with the Bengals is very much in the air. He averaged a career-low 1.5 yards after contact (per rushing attempt) this season and he will be turning 27 before the season starts. Not only has his production gone down, but the Bengals can save money by moving on from him. A cut this off-season would save them 7.3 million dollars against the salary cap, while making him a post-June 1st cut would save them up to 10 million dollars in cap space.
So who are some offensive players the Bengals could have their eyes on come draft time? Let's take a look. The first player that stood out on the offensive side of the ball would be Tyjae Spears. Spears had a fantastic week in Mobile, and it started off at the weigh-ins. He measured in with 10-inch hands, which would be the biggest among running backs in Mobile. Spears shined as a pass catcher, and as a runner.
Spears weighed in at 204 pounds (19th percentile among all running backs) , which will bring up concerns about his ability to handle a workload in the NFL (especially with his injury history). If it does, there another name in Mobile that Bengals could have their eyes on. That name would be Eric Gray, RB, Oklahoma. Eric Gray weighed in at 210 pounds. Gray unlike Spears shined mostly in the receiving game, and he left some to be desired in pass protection.
Gray isn't that much bigger than Spears, so he brings some of the same concerns. However either could be viable complimentary pieces to Samaje Perine should they give him the main workload. The Bengals seem to be on the verge of creating an Oklahoma running back pipeline, they might consider adding one more to the fold in Gray.
The last name Bengals would be a tight end. That name would be Purdue tight end, Payne Durham. Now the Bengals love their big tight ends who can block, and Duke Tobin hasn't drafted a tight end that is sub 6'5 250 pounds since he has been drafting players for the Bengals. Durham fits that mold. He weighed in at 6'5 258 pounds and he showed he can block at a high level.
Not only did he show he can block, he proved he can be a reliable target over the middle of the field.
As well as being a red zone threat.
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