Photo of Rookie Jermaine Burton running a route at Bengals’ Minicamp, Courtesy of the Bengals on X.

by Chris Ball

Loveland, Ohio – As fall approaches the inevitable excitement for the return of Bengals football grows to a fever pitch. The start of that excitement usually begins with the commencement of training camp, which begins this week. There are plenty of interesting storylines to track as the Bengals ramp up for their season opener on September 8th against the New England Patriots. Here are just a few:

Joe Burrow’s Health

Any conversation about the Bengals understandably begins and ends with Joe Burrow. His preseason injury disrupted the beginning of the team’s 2023 campaign and his injury against Baltimore in week 11 nearly spelled the end of it.

All of that is thankfully in the past and the Bengals franchise quarterback has looked smooth and focused in the limited preseason action that we’ve seen so far. Physically his hand appears strong and Burrow’s throwing motion is solid. Keeping him in good health is a top priority not only during the season but also throughout camp and during Cincinnati’s preseason games. The trick is that those concerns are also balanced against the need to get Burrow on the field as much as necessary to build the cohesion of the offense.

No, he does not have to, nor should he, play large chunks of the preseason. But this camp will be important because the more he can connect with Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins and sharpen their timing and communication now, the faster the Bengals can hopefully find success once the season starts. Early injuries have hurt this team in the past and that’s been evident in their record over the early part of the season. Last year they started 1-3, in 2022 it was 2-2. But with both Burrow and Higgins completely healthy, watching them get in sync during camp will be a great thing to watch for.

Dax Hill’s Position Switch

When the Bengals drafted Dax Hill with the 31st overall pick in 2022 it was as a safety. There was a lot of hope that the promising young man out of the University of Michigan could eventually step into the shoes of Jessie Bates. However, the plan hasn’t necessarily come to fruition in the way that we all thought.

Part of the need to switch Hill from safety to corner has been his struggles there, but also because of the emergence of Jordan Battle and the signing of Geno Stone from the Baltimore Ravens. With two solid players in the back of their secondary it allows more flexibility to get Dax Hill meaningful reps on the field, albeit at a different position. Moving positions doesn’t come without risks, though.

Playing cornerback requires physicality at the line of scrimmage and with less space to operate it really puts a player’s speed and flexibility to the test. It’s a tough transition but if there is anyone who has the versatility to pull it off it is Dax Hill. But training camp is the place where fans and coaches will be able to see his progress at his new position and evaluate what he might bring either as a nickel or slot corner or to backup Cam Taylor-Britt or DJ Turner. In today’s NFL a team cannot have enough experienced defensive backs and however the Bengals can get their former first round pick on the field they should absolutely embrace those options.

A Major Offensive Line Battle

As discussed above, Joe Burrow’s health is the team’s paramount priority. Burrow has played behind patchwork offensive lines since he entered this league, and the world has seen the results. Bengals fans have suffered through the lowlight reels time and again, of their only hope for a Super Bowl running for his life or being crushed by pass rushers so gargantuan that it seems almost criminal to witness. Burrow has been sacked 148 times in his first 52 games played, which simply cannot be allowed to continue.

This year 4 out of the 5 starting positions are likely set, but this week revealed some interesting news. On Tuesday the Bengals placed OT Trent Brown on the Active/Non-Football Injury list. Brown signed a one-year, $4.75 million contract with the Bengals in March of 2024 after his tenure with the New England Patriots and many had him pegged as the starter at right tackle given his prior experience. However, the future at the position almost surely rests with Amarius Mims, who the Bengals drafted with the 18th overall pick this season out of Georgia.

With Brown’s absence, Mims will receive critical first-team reps during training camp. Fans and coaches alike will be able to see and evaluate his ability to play right away at a position that is critical for this team and to protect its most valuable asset in Joe Burrow. There was always a chance the right tackle position would turn into a heated battle between the veteran and the up-and-coming young rookie, but it looks like that battle will happen much earlier than we all expected, adding yet another layer of excitement in this year’s camp.

The reason for Brown’s placement on the non-injury list hasn’t been made clear yet. Though Brown has his own significant injury history, this list is for issues that arise while players are away from their teams. Brown will not be able to practice until he’s activated from the list, but that activation can happen at any point this summer. So as of now, it’s a waiting game for Brown’s return, but until then, many eyes will be watching the progress of Amarius Mims.

There were more than a few analysis that believed that Mims was a “project” when he was selected, given the lower amount of snaps that he played while at Georgia. Though Mims’ size and talent have the potential to make him into an all-pro type player, there are questions as to just how much time it would take to get there. Now, he has the chance to prove that he is ready now to start in this league, and show that the “project” is well ahead of schedule.

A New Era At Running Back

Joe Mixon had over 6,400 yards and 62 touchdowns during his 97 games with the Bengals in a career that included many great moments for the Orange and Black. He’s now with the Houston Texans and the man signed to replace him is Zach Moss. He played last year for the Indianapolis Colts and had 794 yards on 183 carries and reached the end zone 7 times. He will also be sharing at least some measure of his carries with Chase Brown, the Bengals’ 5th round draft pick in 2023. Brown had just 179 yards on the ground but showed an electric ability to catch the ball out of the backfield where he had 15 catches for 156 yards (an 11.1 average).

Moss and Brown might not have the carry volume of Joe Mixon, but for his part Moss graded better in a key area that the Bengals need (just as they need with the offensive line): pass protection. Brown is also a much more significant threat to catch the ball out of the backfield and that aspect of his game will only get better as his time on the field increases. Their workload and fit into the Bengals offense will also be very interesting to watch as camp, and the preseason, get ramped up.

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Christopher Ball is a longtime Loveland resident and an attorney. He graduated from Loveland High School in 2003 and was a member of the football team before going on to become a coach’s assistant at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. He has been following and rooting for the Reds and Bengals since the early 1990s and has been through the many ups and downs that fandom has wrought over the years.

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