When we sit back in January and evaluate the Cincinnati Bengals’ season, whether in preparation for a playoff game or a rebuild, the conversation will be driven by one major theme.
Unlike most things with Cincinnati revolving around one scheme, it’s not Joe Burrow.
The season will be defined by the growth of a collection of young players the Bengals desperately needed to see develop into the future core around Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase.
Will these recent draft classes, yet to produce the desired and necessary results, see growth to start impacting games? Through the first five weeks, too often the impact was costing games. From big-picture concerns with defensive draft picks like Cam Taylor-Britt, Zach Carter and Jordan Battle to high-leverage miscues from rookies Daijahn Anthony and Ryan Rehkow, there were more than a few teachable moments for young players blazing the path to 1-4.
That changed a bit Sunday against the New York Giants. More young players contributed winning moments, and the signs of progress so important to this season started to emerge.
Here’s a look at three specific moments showcasing trends with young players who could eventually significantly impact the season.
Special teams LeBron and D-Wade?
Not every day do you see a gunner receive a game ball in the head coach’s postgame speech. It pretty much never happens.
That’s how impactful Zac Taylor deemed 2022 fifth-round pick Tycen Anderson to be against the Giants. On two separate Ryan Rehkow bombed punts, Anderson released off the line untouched, sped down the field and tossed the returner down immediately for a significant flip of field position.
The first came after a three-and-out in the first quarter as he threw down Ihmir Smith-Marsette for no gain on a 55-yarder. The next was a 1-yard return on another 55-yarder after a three-and-out. Anderson also made the tackle, allowing just a 2-yard return on a 63-yard punt, in Carolina.
“That’s a jolt of energy,” Taylor said. “Coming off three tough plays offensively, the first one he gets, we have a great punt there by Ryan, and Tycen’s in there to really flip the field. It turned into a 55-yard flip, and that’s so critical and brings a lot of life. You go from a situation where we went three-and-out, the juice level’s probably down a bit, to all of a sudden you’ve re-energized the team, and the defense can go out there and get a stop.”
Anderson was playing at an extremely high level on special teams last year before a midseason ACL tear against the San Francisco 49ers. He has excelled since asking special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons if he could move from personal protector to gunner, and he has ascended since being paired with Rehkow’s powerful leg.
“I’m still getting used to it,” Anderson said. “He is hanging it up there. I told him the first game, ‘If you hang it up there a little bit longer for me, then I got you every time.’ Ever since I told him that, he’s been hanging it up there so good he’s just been giving me layups.”
They’ve felt more like alley-oops for the team and even sparked an appropriate analogy for Anderson.
He called their connection the LeBron James and Dwyane Wade of punting.
It’s hard to argue with the elite numbers. Rehkow, an undrafted rookie out of BYU, is averaging a net of 52 yards on punts from inside his own 40-yard line this year. The league average is 44.2, and the second best is 48.7.
Finding momentum-swinging special teams play from the late rounds and undrafted free agents is a critical aspect of forming a well-rounded team, and the Bengals found a potent weapon in these two.
As for the game ball, Anderson said he’d never received one before — not counting the preseason game with two picks last year — and this one would have a display case in his man cave. If this trend continues, he might want to clear space next to it.
“I’m just proud of Tycen,” Taylor said. “Tycen’s a fan favorite in the locker room. He’s always worked the right way. He’s come through adversity and just put himself in a really good position to help this team win. I’m just really proud of him, and he was very deserving of it.”
Iosivas the closer?
Andrei Iosivas made headlines during training camp as he quickly seized control of the third receiver spot after an offseason of game-changing work with personal receivers coach Drew Lieberman.
What’s transpired this year looks like the blossoming of a seed planted in limited action as a rookie. Playing inside of Tee Higgins and Chase, the 2023 sixth-round pick out of Princeton needs to make his limited opportunities count.
Has he ever.
Eleven of his 14 receptions have gone for a first down or a touchdown. That includes two fourth-and-goal touchdowns at the Kansas City Chiefs, then the critical 29-yard, off-script catch along the sideline on third-and-12 Sunday night.
“He’s great at the scramble drill,” Burrow said. “Has been since he got here.”
Joe Burrow with a CLUTCH throw on 3rd and 12 to Andrei Iosivas!
📺: #CINvsNYG on NBC/Peacock
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/di5S7Kby1f— NFL (@NFL) October 14, 2024
His ability to transition from running a go route up the seam to snapping it off toward the sideline the moment he saw Burrow flush the pocket that way illustrated extreme awareness. That type of connection with the quarterback built trust (and touchdowns) for Chase, Higgins, Trenton Irwin and others before him.
With all the attention Chase and Higgins continue to demand, using Iosivas and his heptathlete endurance as a finisher as he has been in the red zone could prove a significant development.
“He has essentially a low-percentage chance of getting the ball in the normal part of the progression; it’s a clear out route,” Taylor said. “To realize ‘now I’m in the play’ and get back in phase and have the awareness to toe tap and keep it in, that’s high-level awareness, which he has shown us over the last year and a half. You’ve seen some big plays he has made. There have been one- and two-catch performances he’s had, but those one to two catches have been instrumental in us scoring and winning games.”
Brown’s fumble and rumble
When Chase Brown saw the ball hit the ground and squirt out onto the MetLife turf Sunday evening, a nightmare in the dream start to his season came to life.
Zack Moss had already lost a fumble that led to the Giants’ lone score as Brown garnered most of the snaps in this rotation for the first time all season.
When Giants safety Jason Pinnock failed to scoop the Brown fumble and it eventually kicked out of bounds, the 2023 fifth-round pick breathed a sigh of relief. That had all the chance for Brown to go home as the latest goat in a season too often filled with them from young players.
Instead, his 30-yard sprint and dive into the end zone proved to be the highlight that lives on from this one while adding a response to adversity to his list of NFL accomplishments.
That’s a 30-yard TD run by No. 30! @chasebrown____
📺: #CINvsNYG on NBC/Peacock
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/aubBTs5Ekh— NFL (@NFL) October 14, 2024
“You can imagine what was going through my head,” Brown said. “It’s just about how you respond. Glad we put the finishing touch on. End of the day, I got to play better. I got to hold on to the football and play a cleaner game.”
Fumbles were a blemish on his scouting report coming out of Illinois; he had five his senior year. He’s playing a role in replacing Joe Mixon, who has fumbled only six times in his entire career.
Last year, the Bengals led the NFL with only two fumbles lost. This year that number is already at four, including two responsible for the point deficit in the first two games (Tanner Hudson against the New England Patriots and Burrow at Kansas City).
Brown has earned a central role that’s only growing. He ranks in the top five of the NFL in yards per carry, success percentage, explosive percentage and EPA per rush. His combination of efficiency and explosiveness leaves him in an elite corner of the league through six weeks.
The only thing that could slow his role expansion would be fumbling becoming the same issue it was at Illinois.
“It’s hard to talk about it more than we do,” Taylor said. “Our guys know possessing the ball is critical.”
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(Top photo of Chase Brown: Robert Deutsch / Imagn Images)
