Bengals trend report: Highlighting who positioned themselves best as pads come on (2024)

From the Cincinnati Bengals’ offseason program to the original training camp report date to the first five practices at the Kettering Health Practice Fields, there’s been a buildup growing louder with each passing milepost.

“Everything leads up to tomorrow,” coach Zac Taylor said.

Pads are here. So are the true evaluations.

Taylor overloaded install and repetition throughout the offseason and the first week of camp. He gave veterans intermittent days off. He did all this with the idea there would be no excuses when the pads come on. He wants everyone truly ready to go because he and his staff will be watching closely.

Tuesday, as the pads come on, the real football starts.

Who has put themselves in pole position to take advantage of the opportunity? There are more than a few spots where the arrow is pointing up.

DJ Turner and Dax Hill

The talk of camp on the defensive side of the ball has been second-year cornerback DJ Turner. Earning the nickname “Mr. PBU,” his rare athleticism has shown through getting his hands on passes and staying in the right position. That’s partially a shot at Turner for not getting interceptions on all those batted passes but still a solid sign about his play.

This isn’t a revelation. It’s a repeat. Turner was also the talk of camp last year leading to an abundance of snaps out of the gate as veteran Chidobe Awuzie worked his way back in from ACL recovery.

This time around it feels different. Mostly because of expectations and pressure. Former first-round pick (and teammate at Michigan) Dax Hill has moved over to corner and is in direct competition for the outside spot.

“He’s growing, man,” cornerback Mike Hilton said. “I feel like the competition between him and Dax is really bringing out the best in both of them. Seeing how much he has grown confidence-wise and communication-wise is a great thing to see.”

Great play by DJ Turner to jump with Tee Higgins and knock away a pass. #Bengals pic.twitter.com/ed2LJgIOGp

— Joe Danneman (@FOX19Joe) July 29, 2024

Meanwhile, the moments have been up and down for Hill. His physicality in moving from safety shows, but he acknowledges still taking gradual steps in feeling comfortable on the outside. It will come, he says, but he’s not there yet.

For every play where he breaks up a pass intended for Tee Higgins and offers a little confident trash talk for the star receiver, there have been plays where he gets beaten in the red zone by practice squad receiver Kendrick Pryor or gets caught grabbing his jersey running across the middle.

You can see how close Hill is to breaking through with the number of times he’s in the right position but can’t locate or make the play on the ball. He’s made life tough on receivers. He just hasn’t made enough plays.

“I’m not timid at all,” Hill said after the second day of practice. “I’m growing. It’s slowing down day by day. I will eventually get to where I can really play around with what I’m doing and doing the cat-and-mouse game. I feel like (comfort) will come. Once you’re comfortable, the confidence will come. You take baby steps.”

Baby steps are fine, but the Bengals will need leaps before too long. For now, though, Turner asserted himself as the early leader in the battle for the corner spot opposite Cam Taylor-Britt.

Amarius Mims and Trent Brown

Judging offensive linemen before the pads come on is like judging a meal before taking a bite.

At first glance, however, Mims is bringing the sizzle.

He’s far from perfect, as with most rookies, but Trent Brown’s missing the majority of OTAs and the first week of practice opened the door for Mims to prove himself capable despite a small sample from Georgia.

Ted Karras said he hasn’t seen the mental mistakes you often see from rookies and there’s just no better-looking offensive lineman in the league in terms of a pure blend of size, power and athleticism.

“He’s had moments where my cup is full, but on the good side, it’s not too big for him,” offensive line coach Frank Pollack said. “He wants to be perfect, he wants to be dead on every time the first time, and that’s just impossible. You haven’t seen some of this stuff — it’s a new concept, new technique, new adjustments, new verbiage and language. I really like where he’s at and looking forward to him taking that next step because he’s a big man and he needs to play big.”

Watching how Mims unleashes his athletic 6-foot-8, 345-pound frame in full pads could be the talk of camp. Brown will be out “a couple more days,” Taylor said. If Mims can keep the positive momentum going, that starting job could be his in Week 1.

He’s done about all he can do to this point.

“He’s getting a lot of tips, advice and feedback, some of it can be a little overwhelming,” Pollack said. “It’s just, ‘Hey, bud, you’ve played football before, just go play and keep sharpening that sword a little bit every day.'”

All arrows up for Joe Burrow

Taylor stayed proactive with Joe Burrow through the first week. He was a full go in three practices, essentially sat out one and went light for another. All of these decisions were baked into ramping him up to full speed and not pushing him too much too early.

The plan has worked to perfection thus far. Burrow has made every throw you’d want to see over five practices, snapped through progressions, dropped deep passes in the bucket and put extra velocity on throws to tight windows when necessary.

Hey @JoeyB & @trenton_4 this was nice!

📺: Back Together Weekend on @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/PVaAzBOg6J

— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) July 28, 2024

He says he’s still trying to get every pass to spin exactly right, but everyone charged with watching Burrow has liked what they’ve seen.

“He feels great,” Taylor said. “There’s nothing he’s communicating that’s otherwise. He feels outstanding.”

Joint practices and intense 11-on-11 periods in pads are on the horizon and serve as better barometers, but from a team perspective, it would be hard to look back on his path to this point and feel disappointed.

Andrei Iosivas hype train rolls

For all the hype of third-round pick Jermaine Burton and his potential to make an impact filling the role vacated by Tyler Boyd, there’s just no way to avoid the Andrei Iosivas hype.

He’s been the offensive star of camp, a trend that continued after his initial eye-popping debut playing in the slot for the first time in his life Wednesday.

Receivers coach Troy Walters called him their third-best receiver last week, and he’s looked like the best one on the field (when Higgins is given days off).

.@JoeyB ➡️ @AndreiIosivas 👀

Training Camp | @KetteringHealth pic.twitter.com/GCesx9S66K

— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) July 25, 2024

The path to Iosivas’ landing the vast majority of snaps early in the season has cleared. Last year’s fourth-round pick Charlie Jones has enjoyed moments — including hauling in an impressive jump ball in the corner of the end zone Monday — but still had humbling moments like a fumble on a jet sweep in 11-on-11. Plus, the size differential is tough to avoid.

If the 6-3, 205-pound Iosivas can move with as much burst and awareness as Jones at 6-0, 183 pounds, there’s no competition to be discussed. There are still multiple plays where Burrow signals to Burton that he needs to run a different route or took the wrong angle as the rookie tries to figure out the new scheme and build trust with Burrow. Trenton Irwin is also a factor and there’s a case to be made for multiple subpackages and a rotation of receivers highlighting versatility.

Yet, the more Iosivas stacks practices, the more you wonder whether he won’t just soak up nearly all of Boyd’s 824 vacated snaps from last season.

Tanner Hudson offers a reminder

Rookie tight end Erick All, a fourth-round pick, being cleared to practice was a slight surprise to him the other day as he thought it would be almost another month until he was all the way back from October’s ACL tear at Iowa.

He’s merely being eased back into practice and won’t be cleared for contact for a few weeks, but his presence reminds just how crowded the revamped tight ends group has become. As has the continued playmaking of Tanner Hudson.

The arrival of Mike Gesicki and the drafting of two tight ends shifted the attention away from Hudson, who made an impression in camp last season and then built trust with Burrow and Jake Browning during his breakout season.

“Tanner, all of a sudden he plays and I had all the confidence in the world throwing to him,” Browning said of Hudson, who caught 39 passes for 352 yards and a touchdown last year. “It’s just, I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I know Tanner is going to be open. He’s got really good body language and I always feel like I’m on the same page with him.”

If there was a thought Hudson would be the odd man out when the roster chops to four tight ends, he’s making that a decision they think twice about. He’s made multiple highlight catches and been a repeated safe target for all the quarterbacks in early 11-on-11.

We’ll see how the room plays out, including undrafted free agent Cam Grandy, whom Taylor lauded Monday, but if everyone stays healthy there will be a dilemma in front of a personnel department that despises cutting any draft picks.

“It’s fun to watch,” Taylor said. “There’s six guys in there that are intriguing for a lot of different reasons. They all have their strengths, they all complement each other very well.”

(Top photo of Andrei Iosivas: Albert Cesare / USA Today)

Paul Dehner Jr. is a senior writer and podcast host for The Athletic. He's been covering the Bengals and NFL since 2009, most notably, for six seasons with The Cincinnati Enquirer. He's born, raised and proudly Cincinnati. Follow Paul on Twitter @pauldehnerjr