Bengals Beat: What We Learned About Decisions Facing Bengals, And Where They Go From Combine, A Promise From Lou Anarumo

INDIANAPOLIS — The Bengals made their coaching staff readily accessible this past week at the 2024 NFL Combine, and many of them shed some interesting light on the decisions facing the Bengals going forward with 2024 roster building.

Without showing their hand – or more specifically how they plan to play their hand with the cards they already hold – the Bengals did what every team does: Assess from the inside, take inventory and then chart a course to add to the foundational pieces already in place.

The Bengals know they’ll have needs at right tackle, defensive tackle, tight end and perhaps safety. It’s expected that the first two mentioned here will be addressed in both free agency and the draft. If they bring in a safety, expect that to happen through free agency.

The Bengals think they might like to add a veteran running back if they don’t pay out the $3 million roster bonus to Joe Mixon. They might want to draft another wide receiver because you simply can’t have enough playmakers, even if Charlie Jones is the leading candidate to take over for Tyler Boyd.

There might be a desire to bring in a veteran punter to challenge Brad Robbins in an effort to sharpen the focus of the second-year punter.

From Director of Player Personnel Duke Tobin to head coach Zac Taylor, down through all three coordinators, offensive line coach Frank Pollack, new quarterback coach Brad Kragthorpe, passing game coordinator Justin Rascati and new safeties coach Jordan Kovacs, the Bengals staff broke down what they feel is ahead of them in the next two months, a critical time for the Bengals to recalibrate a machine that went off the tracks in 2023.

There are a boatload of takeaways. At the top of the list for me comes was what defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo said on Thursday. In short, he knows the Bengals defense was substandard in 2023. Some of that was due to injuries to Sam Hubbard and DJ Reader. Some of it was the loss of Jessie Bates and Vonn Bell in one fell swoop, replacing them with Dax Hill and Jordan Battle (both in their first year at their positions) and some of it was just poor execution.

Sam Hubbard’s right ankle will be healed:

“I just think he can do so many different things,” Anarumo said. “I think you’ll see a healthy, re-energized, not that he ever lost his energy, a rejuvenated Sam Hubbard. He’s a true warrior. Old-school, all those terms that you want to throw out there, basically playing on one leg last year. And he never wanted to come off the field. He’ll be back with a vengeance this year, like we all will be.

What were the details that went wrong last year?

“It’s definitely not play-calling,” Anarumo deadpanned in classic Staten Island fashion before turning reflective and responsible. “It’s a combination. On every defense we have and put out there, as I’ve said to you guys a million times, there’s not a defensive scheme that we have that says right leave that guy open or don’t cover that gap. So we’ve always got our T’s crossed I’s dotted, all that stuff. So I think when things break down the way they did last year, a lot of it was the second half of the play where we kind of just lost. We were covering and had a missed tackle at the point of attack.

“A lot of our rushing yards (allowed), I want to say we faced 30 more runs than we did in ’22 and in three less games than ’22. So we got more at-bats against the run and I want to say there was over, I don’t know the exact numbers, like 296 yards after first contact. So you’re you’re talking about almost three more games of rushing yards, just on a missed tackle or we hit the guy and he falls forward for three, four or five. Too many of those things last year. They’re all fixable for sure. So I think there’s a lot of elements to it. And we got our arms wrapped around it to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Communication has to improve on the back end:

“The communication part of it is something (where) I’m not the only coach standing up here saying we have to have great communication on defense. And it has to, has to improve. It’s got to sound like the locker room when we’re out there on defense. It’s got to be loud. It can’t be like these guys are these days where they just take their phones out. Nobody’s talking to each other. It’s got to be the bus in the locker room. Loud. That’s what I want.”

How confident is Anarumo in Jordan Kovacs to replace Rob Livingston and coach lead the safety group?
“I’m super confident. Love Jordan been with him (in Miami). I was screaming at him as a player. You guys interview him today? Okay, ask him about specifically about the Dolphins against the Titans. It’s the end of the game. We’re beating the Titans pretty good that day and Jordan went out there at safety and just ask him what happened at the end of the game (in) 2015. Just ask.”

We asked and Kovacs didn’t disappoint.

“First of all, it was a blowout,” Kovacs said of the 38-10 Dolphins win. “So, I was actually in the game because I think this was Lou’s first game coordinating. And we’re up big, late in the game, and Lou was probably getting a little stingy and hoping to continue to shut out. And I think he called Cover-2. But the signal from the sideline looked a lot like our Cover-0. So, I’m getting ready to blitz and I realized late that it’s supposed to be Cover-2. So I hauled ass back and Lou from the sideline, I can just see it, ‘What the F^&* are you doing?!?’ just in true Lou fashion. So, I got back to my deep post. They didn’t hit a big completion on it. So I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. Lou’s still is holding on to it, obviously. Yeah, I don’t think it was a shout out but it was it was a lot too little and he did not want to give up any more points.”

Anarumo expects more from young core, starting with Dax Hill:

This doesn’t just apply to rookies DJ Turner, DJ Ivey (off ACL injury), Myles Murphy and Jordan Battle. It means Dax Hill has to obviously become more vocal if he’s going to remain a safety.

“We’re still looking at everything,” Anarumo said. “We look at not just Dax, but everybody last year when you have a year that wasn’t quite up to the standard. I think it’s just something you evaluate. ‘Hey, is this guy gonna be better here or there?’ But nothing in particular there. Just keep working on it.

“Again, let’s go back a little bit. He’s still a young player in a lot of regards. It was only his second year. Played a handful of snaps his first year. So I think his development and his upside is huge. Nobody is down on the guy at all. We just have to make sure that he’s honed in and making sure that he’s being able to do the things we’re asking him to do. Wherever that may be.”

Mike Hilton won’t be a safety:

Anarumo made it clear this week that he doesn’t expect Hill and Mike Hilton to swap spots. Expect Hilton to remain the nickel corner for the Bengals.

“He’s such a dominant player,” Anarumo said of Hilton. “He does some safety jobs for us on different down and distances. To say he’s a full time safety… Mike’s one of the best nickels, if not the best nickel in the league so I don’t wanna tinker with that too much.”

Cam Taylor-Britt needs to continue his ascent as one of the best young corners in the game with consistency. The Bengals need a breakout season from a healthy Joseph Ossai, with some help from Trey Hendrickson.

“He’s been great,” Anarumo said of Hendrickson. “Myles and Joseph will go to him. Matter of fact, Trey is in there every day. Joseph, they sit right next to each other, talking about things. He talks to Myles all the time. He has his own way of going about his business. And his business is about being the best player he can be, making sure we’re the best team we can be and helping those younger players develop, because he knows that can only help us when him and Sam are getting a rest (with) these guys that we put out there. He does so many things that people don’t see. Did I read right that he wasn’t a first or second-team All-Pro? I was just wondering if anybody that’s ever had 15-plus sacks, I wonder if that’s ever happened? That’s crazy. He’s a great player.

“It’s like all the great players, he’s going to impact the game somehow, some way. And it’s like all those great rushers where it could be a holding call, it could be a false start that he causes. The way the protection’s going to go, it frees up some things for other people. When you have guys like that, it really affects the opposing team.”

Offensive line:

Offensive line coach Frank Pollack knows the tackle position can be a revolving door in the NFL. It’s not preferable but with all the movement in the NFL now, it’s a reality that a coach like Pollack has to deal with. The Bengals are likely to draft a right tackle of the future (either in ’24 or ’25) or sign one in free agency. There’s also the possibility they bring back Jonah Williams. Whatever the path there are qualities that are non-negotiable.

“Well, if they’re going to be on the edge, it’s going to start with their feet,” Pollack said. “They got to have range, gotta have very quick feet. Length helps. Length will help you overcome some of your deficiencies in your feet and your athleticism. Balance is a big one. Being able to bend is a big one. Out there on the edge in space, you’re going to face the cream of the crop as far as what this league has to offer. Left side, right side is irrelevant these days. I’m sure all the guys that face the Watt kid in Pittsburgh, think that they’re facing the elite just as much as everyone faces the other guy in Cleveland on the left side. So, either side is going to be important. It’s not like it what it used to be back in the day. Left side was kind of the premier (tackle) and it’s not that way anymore.”

Punting has to be better:

Darrin Simmons isn’t giving up on 2023 sixth-round punter Brad Robbins out of Michigan, despite a gross punting average of 44.3 yards (tied for 30th) and net average of 40.3). He delivered just 20 punts inside the 20.

“I think there’s certainly a lot of room for improvement for sure,” Simmons said. “He got up to about as rough as start as you could possibly get into. We play in the opener in Cleveland and he punts 11 times. It’s in the rain and it’s in a difficult place to punt in the first place. So I mean he got off to historically about the the worst start you possibly could. I think he evolved some. I certainly think there’s still a lot of meat left on the bone for him. If you go back and look statistically where his rookie year was and comparison like what Kevin Huber’s was, it’s still better. And so I think I don’t want to overreact here.

“I think that’s part of my job is to help develop him and make him better. And so I think you can do that. I think he is the right mindset. He’s very open to him, you know things that we bring up in techniques. We might want to change a little bit the to help that production, but it’s certainly an area we got to get better at quick.”

Certainly, punt statistics are important but Simmons views Robbins’ work as a holder for Evan McPherson nearly equally critical.

“The operation I thought was good, too,” Simmons told me. “I thought Brad did a very good job. That’s one thing where it’s kind of seamless or sometimes forgotten about. You know Evan’s had a lot of change at those two positions over the last two years. His first two years, he’s got the same cast. And all of a sudden, we lose Clark (Harris) in the opener a year ago. Then we have to make a switch midway through with punter and holder, from Kevin (Huber), going to Drue Chrisman. And so we finished the year with Drue and then all of a sudden we flip that out again to start the year this year. He’s had several guys, three new guys in there and yet he’s remained steadfast. He has great trust in Cal and Brad (Robbins) and again, I thought both of those guys are a big part of his success, too.”

“You’ve got to remember he held for a drafted (kicker) that just played in the Super Bowl in Jake Moody for several years there at Michigan so he’s been required to be a very effective holder. I mean really in my mind half of his job is punting and half of it’s holding because you’ve got to score points to win games and if you can’t execute on a field goal, you don’t score points you don’t win the game. So I think half of his job is to hold. I think he’s done a good job. I feel very comfortable with him doing that.”

Could a punter be brought in for competition?

‘I would like to think that yeah, I mean, anytime you have competition there, it brings out the best that’s a little cliche thing. But yeah, I would think so,” Simmons said.

What kind of year did Evan McPherson have?

One thing is for sure, Simmons is still 100 percent behind his kicker, Evan McPherson.

“I think it was solid. When you look at the overall field goal percentages of him compared to the rest of the league, sometimes it may be a little lower than what you would expect it to be but we ask a lot of him. I think he’s either first or second maybe in the league in most attempts over 50 yards over the last two years. So the difficulty of the kicks that he has to attempt is a little bit more than most. But yet we still feel very good about that. It’s been such a mindset change from me since you’ve gotten him that you know anytime we get the ball around the 40, I’m thinking we got a field goal coming, at least a field goal attempt, right? I don’t even hesitate to put him out there in those situations. I think it’s kind of the evolution of way this league is now these kickers have such range.

“Anywhere from 55 to 60 yards, that’s not anything that’s out of the realm anymore. I thought his kickoffs for improved this year. I think as a rookie, I thought his kickoffs were okay, then it developed a little bit more in the second year than I thought he kicked off really well for what I asked him to do this past year. When I asked him to put the ball in the end zone, he did for the most part. So I think he’s improved this kickoff play. But like I said again I’m still very, very comfortable with him. I feel as confident with him in critical spots, in clutch field goals gamewinners, you know field goals in the fourth quarter as I have of anybody I’ve been around. Like the Jacksonville game, you know he had a couple of huge field goals, one towards the end of regulation and then obviously the game winner, in the Minnesota game too. He’s as good in the clutch as anybody I’ve ever been around.”