CINCINNATI — Football is a results-driven business. But the character and decision-making of every player is also critical. And when it comes to intelligence, Zac Taylor is all in on this 2025 rookie class from what he and his staff have seen so far.
There are the six draft picks who are all turning heads in a positive way so far in camp, led by Shemar Stewart, who clearly was worth the wait. Then there’s linebackers Demetrius Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter, offensive guard Dylan Fairchild (who projects as the starting left guard), offensive tackle/guard Jalen Rivers and running back Tahj Brooks.
And then there are the 12 undrafted rookie free agents.
This class of 18 players has impressed Taylor and his staff on the field and in the classroom.
“Football, IQ, football IQ. I think the football IQ and the leadership in this group is outstanding, top to bottom,” Taylor said. “We’re talking about undrafted guys, too. Like this, undrafted group is really good. There’s been some guys that really caught our attention in this group. So I really pleased with the job the scouts did, the work the coaches have put in to bring in this group, because I think it’s really made us a better football team.”
How rare is that football IQ for rookies to be a thing that you start with. I mean, it seems that’s not necessarily common?
“So that’s that’s guys that a lot of them were captains at their schools. A lot of them stuck it out for the three or four or five years they were in college, consistency in the same program, which is one of the challenges when you bounce around. I’ve been there. I went to three colleges. When you bounce around, you start over in a lot of ways, and so you miss some ground level stuff that that coach assumes you learned at that school and you didn’t. I always tell the story: I went through dissected my senior year in stretch the DB coach Nebraska, come talk to me, does this team fire zone a lot? And I was like, ‘Ah, it’ll be a little bit like 15, 20 (times).’
“I didn’t know what fire zone meant, because everyone just assumed I knew what it meant. So I just had to BS my way through stretch every week for 12 weeks with (Nebraska cornerbacks coach) Phil Elmassian, while he asked me about fire zone, that was what he loved to talk about, and I didn’t know the definition of fire zone, and so I was just trying… I always tell that story to quarterbacks of coach like, don’t assume any question you’re asking is a dumb question. We might say the word cloud over and over again. They don’t know that means cover two. So sometimes you have to define that, and you have to make sure your players are open to asking that question and they don’t feel dumb for asking a question that maybe they just didn’t learn at their high school or their college, where they transferred so many times, and assume they knew it. So I don’t even know what got me on this team right now, but whatever you said just just got me going here a little bit, but I’ll just end it awkwardly, because I don’t even know why I got here.”
On Thursday, all 18 figure to be ready to play. On that list is sixth round pick Tahj Brooks, the dynamic running back out of Texas Tech who had 1,500 yards rushing in each of his last two seasons in college.
“I think he’s got really good vision,” Taylor said of Brooks. “He’s got a good understanding of our protections, which is going to come at any young running back, especially in these preseason games. That part can really expose you. So he’s done a good job understanding the technique we want, what his assignments are. He’s had some really good runs for us. He’s got really good vision once he gets past the line of scrimmage and it requires him to make that second-level read. I’ve seen really good things from Tajh, and we’re excited about him.”
Showing off his focus and strong hands for a running back, Brooks made a terrific catch Tuesday from Joe Burrow on a sideline pattern in drills with linebacker Craig Young draped all over him.
What will be intriguing to watch is how comfortable Brooks looks in a Zac Taylor offense compared to the Jerry McGuire offense at Texas Tech.
“Just being at Texas Tech, I will say McGuire runs a pro oriented program there, and I just can’t wait to see what those guys do,” Brooks said. And going from college, I stayed in the playbook, just recovery, recovery, recovery, and just treat my body so because when that time presents itself, I’m make the most of my opportunity.”
The Bengals seem very happy with just how much work Brooks has put in with the playbook, studying the similarities and differences between the “Air Raid” components of the Texas Tech and the Bengals.
“I want to say the two guys (Chase Brown, Samaje Perine) that are in my room been very tremendous, helping them, my coach, my running backs coach, and then just the whole offense as a staff,” Brooks told me. “They put a great plan in place for us just to be successful on the field. I feel like it’s going to be, especially what I came from, kind of similar, because we were kind of “Air Raid” a little bit. It’s gonna be a lot of change, catching the ball more out the backfield, which I love doing different ways, getting getting in game, each way, just knowing my responsibility and know what I have to do.
“They want to get the ball out, especially the running backs the ball out the backfield, which I love, breaking linebackers off in pass protection. And then, not afraid to pass and whenever that time is presented for itself but just but I love it. I love that it’s all-around offense.”
Taylor said the Bengals weren’t set on taking a particular type of running back when Brooks’s name was still on the board in the sixth.
“Tahj was just a guy that we really liked where we were at in the draft,” Taylor said. “I wouldn’t say we’re trying to get two like bodies there. I think Tajh can excel in all three phases of offense and can be a special teams contributor for us. So he can excel in the run gam, he’s got good hands in the pass game and he’s a good enough protector to help us out there. That’s really what we look at. It’s not a similarity to Chase, it’s more just we think he can play all three of those roles for us.”
“I’m very, very excited, very blessed that I’m healthy as well,” Brooks said. “I’m just very excited because I haven’t played football since our last game, which was West Virginia in college. I just can’t wait to play a football game, even this is preseason, just to go in special teams and offense and just dominate.”
Other takeaways from Taylor on Tuesday:
“Right now on defense, Dax Hill and Cam Taylor-Britt, we’ll hold those guys out. They’re progressing really well – Dax coming off the injury. Cam’s been day-to-day, so there’s no reason to put him out there for this game. Them along with Trey Hendrickson and BJ Hill up front, Cedric Johnson as well up front. Those guys and Marco Wilson, another corner, will be out this week. Defensively they pretty well covers it. Offensively, who will be out? Matt Lee, you’ve seen him slowly work his way back into practice, so we’ll keep him out for this game.”
“We don’t have this targeted as the biggest play time for our guys. We really picked Washington to be more of that. Another thing I hate to put in a stone – a couple of series, several series is what we’ll give those starters.”
“Game atmosphere. Going on the road like we are Week 1. We do have a road prime time game early in the season, so the lights are on, you’re in a road environment, that’s great. As much as we practice it and do it it’s not the same feel. Just those 11 guys being in the huddle on both sides of the ball and all the communication that’s got to occur, so it’s just a good opportunity to get those guys some additional reps.”
“(Gesicki) would be out this week. I think he would questionable if we were playing a game on Sunday, a real football game. He’d be working back to play in that game. I think that’s the best way to phrase his status right now. He was optimistic that if we were playing a real game this weekend that he would be able to go. We’ll continue to manage him, whether that means we’ll hear him back up next week. We’ll be really protective with Mike and it also coincides with Noah getting in the mix here. It’s a great opportunity for Noah to get some reps in there and integrate him in the offense and also give Mike a chance to fully recover.”
“I’m not 100 percent firm on that has to happen. I think Dax has had a really good camp with things that we’ve asked him to do. We’re going to continue to make sure that we’re putting him in the best environment to be fully healthy for Cleveland Week 1. I’d love to get to the point where maybe we get him that opportunity, but I don’t think that’s set in stone that that has to happen.”
“A lot of flexibility. He’s been majoring in the slot a little more, but he’s got that outside flex, because we saw him play that a lot last year. I think Dax is a really good chess piece for us where he can major in a lot of different areas, but he’s been playing mostly in the slot in team periods.”
“I think he’s done a good job picking it up with James (Casey). And so now, the goal was to get him through this game. Noah’s a guy who is not going to play in this game. Noah won’t play in this game and then once we get back, he’s fully integrated. Now let’s see how we can utilize him and continue to let him grow in our system. Part of it was because just not seeing him in football pads and running around, we didn’t want to make sure we were putting him in a bad spot physically. So now, once we get through this game, he’ll be full go and has a couple extra days, so learning the installs and stuff, I’m really excited about him. He’s embraced everything we’ve put at him from a mental standpoint. Excited to see the physical stuff he has done on the field in routes on air and group install. Some of the walkthrough stuff we did yesterday, he did a good job comprehending. So now the next step is just fully integrating him with the offense.”
Bengals Camp Day 10:
* Light practice in full pads 1 hour, 40 minutes
* Light scout team work on what Philadelphia will present on Thursday.
* Sam Hubbard, now retired, visited his former teammates on the field and in locker room. On hand for a marketing project with team.
* Jimmy Burrow attended practice in the VIP tent then spent several minutes with owner Mike Brown next to the golf cart.
* Team worked on a lot of individual drills and very light 11s work.
* Cedric Johnson walked through locker room with boot on his left foot.
* Cam Taylor-Britt and Marco Wilson did not dress.
* Team travels to Philadelphia Wednesday for game Thursday night.
* On defense, CTB, Dax Hill, Marco Wilson, Cedric Johnson, BJ Hill, Trey Hendrickson will not play. On offense, Mike Gesicki, Noah Fant, Matt Lee are out.
How much will Joe Burrow and starting offense play? ZT: “We don’t have this targeted as the biggest play time for our guys. We really picked Washington to be more of that. Another thing I hate to put in a stone – a couple of series, several series is what we’ll give those starters… It could be a long possession that eats up most of the first quarter. Do you want them to get another one? I’ve always been in these preseason situations, you’re careful to say what I just said because it could go into the second quarter because of reps that we’ve gotten. But right now, that’s about the target period that we’ve got.”
* High praise from Zac Taylor on Shemar Stewart and what he’s brought: “Physical. Physical and disruptive. Those are the two biggest things. That’s a tremendous starting point for a young player to come in there and not be tentative. I’d use the opposite word for him, whatever the opposite of ‘tentative’ is. I’ll let you go ahead with whatever term you want to use there. Disruptive, aggressive, violent. I’ve seen all that stuff from Shemar.”
