Training Camp Thread 2022

[AMPHAR]

Is it good news or bad news?   I got no idea but its the exact opposite of what I was hoping.  Carman sucked.  Now a 3rd guy has entered the LG competition which I take it as nobody is really winning it.

Then LC continues to not practice.    The O-line guru hired to figure all this out is being roasted on the socials.

PANIC.     Its hard not to pay attention to the social media mob but its probably best to ignore them. 

Eli Apple plays decent; social media always has something to say.   Chase couldn't catch at one point.   Then there is the cart. 

 

 

 

 

 

[AMPHAR]

Hobson headline says same line up vs. Giants.    He might have that wrong because I think ZT says same guys playing but I don't think that means same guys starting exactly.

How you gonna have 3 way LG derby and still start Carman?  Weird.    Carman was practice today,  have not heard if he ran with the 1s.

 

[Stripes]

Trey Hill at left guard makes me...

Ew.

Yuck.

Give Spain a few bucks if that's where we stand. It's probably not very meaningful though. Volson was drafted higher and played better, and doesn't already have a wealth of ugly tape in professional games weighing him down. If it isn't Carman, then it really has to be Volson. Right? Right?

[ArmyBengal]

Odd… it’s not hard to NOT pay attention to the social media clowns who are damn near always spouting off some nonsense without coming from a position of knowing what the coaches are truly trying to achieve.

Happens every year, there is a preseason axe to grind and people gnash teeth discussing. I simply don’t give it fuel.

Let’s see what happens Sunday. It’s a ways off still.

[membengal]

I’ll believe hill in mix at LG only if we see it on first half Sunday. Could be pollack just applying pressure to Volson . 

[AMPHAR]

I would think some beat reporter would have mentioned before now that Hill is lining up as Left guard.   Very odd.

Overall the Bengals were doomed when they started slow.   Reaction to preseason games are based on coming out fast because everyone discounts anything positive after half time.    So you never get to recover.

It would not shock at all if the coaching staff spends less than 10% of their time this week watching film of that game in order to dictate a depth chart. 

 

 

[AMPHAR]

2 hours ago, Stripes said:

Sucks to lose Ben Brown. He could have been the answer to the understated Trey Hill problem.

I saw some of that dialogue with Pollack getting roasted. He had Adeniji standing on top of what looked like bean bags in some kind of footwork drill, probably meant to add a degree of difficulty that renders the normal playing field more "comfortable". Geoff Schwartz et al were dragging it, and I can only shrug. Pollack hasn't exactly earned total trust here, but I also cannot pretend to know enough about how to coach linemen to throw in with the criticism.

Upon further review that probably wasn’t an o line drill at all.    It probably was an o lineman doing core/ankle  strength stuff.  

There is whole bunch of crap on you tube from physical therapists using what he was standing on trying to strengthen stuff.  
 

 
 

 

[membengal]

 

[ArmyBengal]

Again I just don’t understand the fuss at this point. Last preseason it was the starters didn’t play enough in the preseason and yet won 3 of their first 4 games, which should have been all 4. Then the whole camp narrative was how concerned people were that Chase couldn’t catch the ball and how that year off hurt him, then he had one of the greatest WR rookie seasons ever.

Breathe… in… out…

[membengal]

 

[membengal]

Quote

 

Monday was the turning point for the Bengals’ open position battle at left guard. From the first rep of OTAs in May until Monday’s practice, Carman had taken every single rep at left guard with the first team. That changed when Volson lined up on the left side of center Ted Karras for the entirety of Monday’s practice.

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said Carman had been dealing with a minor elbow injury, which has somewhat limited him this week. But Carman was healthy enough to participate in the most high-speed session of the Bengals training camp when they ran through red zone scenarios on Monday. Pollack said the way the reps were split was about “evaluating everybody, still seeing who’s the guy who’s going to take that job.”

 

 

[membengal]

Quote

"I think (Volson) does a good job anchoring in pass protection,” Taylor said. “When he locks up on somebody, he's a strong guy, he's got great grip, and they have a tough time getting around him. For any young lineman, it's assessing different looks and targeting the run game and not wasting any movements and being where you're supposed to be to help your teammates.”

 

[TJJackson]

Mr Spain, you have a call from a Mr Brown on the white courtesy phone. 

Paging Mr Spain

[membengal]

Quote

 

“He's a rookie,” Pollack said. “He's growing. He's learning. It's a big step to go from a smaller school to the NFL. I lived it myself and he's a much better player, much farther along. This is a man's game, a man's league. He's done a nice job.”

Volson outperformed Carman on Friday, but Pollack noted that Volson had to “be more of a technician (and) play faster with his hands and feet.”

Offensive lineman Cordell Volson (67) runs drills during the first day of Cincinnati Bengals rookie camp at the Paul Brown Stadium practice field in downtown Cincinnati on Friday, May 13, 2022. 
Volson’s motor was one of the most impressive aspects of the Bengals preseason opener. 

On his first series of the game, he had the two best blocks of the game. Twice, on dropback passes, he picked up post-snap rotations by the Arizona Cardinals’ defensive line and swooped in to pick up a free rusher. The Bengals ran right behind him later on a goal line play, and Volson finished his block in the back of the end-zone. 

Volson showed the coaches enough to earn first-team reps, and he’ll likely be awarded a greater opportunity this week against the New York Giants.

“He's a professional,” Pollack said. “He's shown he's got plenty of ability and strength to match with these guys at this level. It's just about sharpening that sword and fine-tuning his skill sets."

 

 

[membengal]

Just now, TJJackson said:

Mr Spain, you have a call from a Mr Brown on the white courtesy phone. 

Paging Mr Spain

No one in the entire league signed him. Just saying.

 

Volson was good Friday. really good. also just saying. 

[TJJackson]

The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain

[TJJackson]

Has Hopkins signed anywhere?

He could solve both the OLG and the backup OC problem

[membengal]

No. The entire league passed on Hopkins too. 

[membengal]

I would rather have Volson starting at LG by far than the corpse of Hopkins. that's a terrible idea. 

[TJJackson]

actually, given Hopkins' ratings for the games at the end of last year, it is actually a good idea

[membengal]

hopkins has never been an adequate guard. it's a bad idea. STOP. 

[AMPHAR]

I would pass on Spain unless there is an injury.   They have to develop some draft pick along that front.    Otherwise it’s going to cost them at another spot when some get off that rookie deal.  

[HoosierCat]

2 hours ago, ArmyBengal said:

Again I just don’t understand the fuss at this point. Last preseason it was the starters didn’t play enough in the preseason and yet won 3 of their first 4 games, which should have been all 4. Then the whole camp narrative was how concerned people were that Chase couldn’t catch the ball and how that year off hurt him, then he had one of the greatest WR rookie seasons ever.

Breathe… in… out…

It’s just frustration talking. The oline has been a train wreck for years, we all know it, they keep trying to fix it, it keeps being bad and now here we are again staring down yet another disappointing performance. Yeah, it’s just one preseason game, there’s still time, etc., but we’ve seen this movie before, so no surprise people are…irritable. It would be really nice if, just once, just for the novelty of it, they could look like they had their shit together.

[AMPHAR]

Preseason games are fools gold or fool’s errand.   They make money off them so they continue.

1st preseason games is always the same.  IF the team starts slow which it did (judging by highlights) in all 3 phases except Shooter then no matter what happens there is going to be disappointment.   There is never a chance for redemption because “its all back ups”.

But the results and what you see have no bearing on anything at all.    But there is excitement for the new season and a gigantic void to fill. 
 

Much like draft nerds there is now a budding industry of film study of worthless games.   I’m not even sure the Twitter coaches know what they are talking about but if you got all 22 you are given some amount of credibility.  Just a bunch of talking people wanting to be experts at something they aren’t. 

 

[AMPHAR]

10 hours ago, HoosierCat said:

It’s just frustration talking. The oline has been a train wreck for years, we all know it, they keep trying to fix it, it keeps being bad and now here we are again staring down yet another disappointing performance. Yeah, it’s just one preseason game, there’s still time, etc., but we’ve seen this movie before, so no surprise people are…irritable. It would be really nice if, just once, just for the novelty of it, they could look like they had their shit together.

Its devoid of reality.   4 of 5 starters didn't step on the field.     Left Guard simply isn't that important on this team with the rest of the projected starters playing at their typical levels.   Volson or Carman will survive next to Williams and Karras. 

Being solid at tackle is the key that way they can slide protect better.   That is the reason all hell broke loose once RR went down.   You simply could not lock Prince  1v1 without a higher rate of break downs and then the switches on twists etc.  declined. So that greatly effected their ability to slide protect to the left because that left the right side 1v1 with Adeniji (which I think was Pollack error) and Prince.

The biggest concern should be lack of reps for the entire starting unit.  The lack of Collins on the practice field.  Then hopefully Carman or Volson wins the job outright.    But lets say for example Volson gets hurt.  I have no problem with Carman in this situation.

If Left Guard is that critical of a failure point then this team isn't that good.   In reality they are loaded and its just about getting reps and making sure they can handle all of what the Steelers will throw at them week 1.

Tomlin knows he doesn't have a great team.   He will be gunning to steal a win in Cincy like last year to build momentum for a blah team.

People that go on and on about Carman have a screw loose.