The Cincinnati Bengals saved their playoff wins alive with a win over the Cleveland Browns this weekend. Over the previous few weeks, accidents have begun to mount, which has created alternatives for teenagers and newcomers to emerge, significantly on the defensive facet of the ball.
This week, two rookies began on protection, and 4 rookies, or second-year gamers, contributed. Probably the most attention-grabbing place on the sphere needs to be the line of defense.
Within the absence of Sam Hubbard, Joseph Ossai has totally stepped into the beginning position reverse Trey Hendrickson. This week, Hendrickson took 52 snaps, and Ossai performed just one much less. Ossai didn’t squander this chance, notching 5 tackles and a sack on the day.
2023 first-round choose Myles Murphy performed a major position, taking 34 snaps, however clearly, the choice was for Ossai in that position. Rookie Cedric Johnson additionally made an look, enjoying six defensive snaps.
It’s no shock that on the inside of the line of defense, BJ Hill took essentially the most snaps with 49. Kris Jenkins trailed with 31, whereas fellow rookie McKinnley Jackson and veteran Jay Tufele had a couple of fewer, totaling 21 and 18 snaps, respectively. Hill had 5 tackles on the day. Jenkins had two. Jackson and Tufele every had one.
In fact, what actually stands out on the stat line is that each of Jenkins’s tackles had been sacks, as was Jackson’s. Not a foul day for the Day 2 picks. The Bengals want an inside go rush, and these two are exhibiting promise.
It stands out that Jackson’s snap rely stays fairly low primarily based on the manufacturing we’ve seen from him in current weeks. I’m not suggesting that he take Hill or Jenkins off the sphere, however does Tufele actually need to get 18 snaps? Maybe Lou Anarumo sees it as a much less is extra kind of scenario.
Jackson ideas the scales at simply over 330, however you wouldn’t understand it from the trouble and athleticism you see on the sphere. I’d like to see how he would carry out in the event that they doubled his snap rely. Till we see what he can do with a bigger workload, it’s laborious to challenge him as something greater than a rotational participant.
One other attention-grabbing word is that regardless of the harm to Logan Wilson and a few struggles from Germaine Pratt and Akeem Davis-Gaither, no different linebackers are getting a critical look. Rookie Maema Njongmeta took a mere six snaps, and Shaka Heyward performed just one.
Bengals vs. Browns Snap Counts