At one point, the Cincinnati Bengals were down to their third line of defensive tackles due to injuries. They had players who came in from the street to play, but one of their starters ended up being cut. It wasn’t a very pretty sight.
Right now, they are healthy and have the expected rotation.
And that’s great.
BJ Hill had the best game I remember seeing him play. He was making plays left and right, but this clip stood out from the rest.
Hill is a defensive tackle on the right side of the screen. He lines up in the B gap. When the right tackle reached out, Hill slumped his shoulders and slipped through the gap. The running back will be set back quite a bit, but Hill can cut back with him.
With a little help from Jermaine Pratt, Hill takes him down.
This team hasn’t had a legitimate inside pass rusher in years, but the wait is over.
Sheldon Rankins made his presence felt all night, but this spin move was just nasty.
He sold a rush to the B gap, then spun to the A gap, jumped over the guard, and found his way to the quarterback.
This is a Trey Hendrickson sack, but you can’t help but look at Kris Jenkins Jr. This clip shows off his athleticism and strength.
Jenkins lines up with 0 techniques over the center. On the snap, he stunts to the outside and pancakes the left guard, but the center actually stays with him. Jenkins occupied two blockers on this play, creating a one-on-one opportunity for teammates Rankins and Hendrickson.
The long wait is over. McKinley Jackson was injured shortly after camp started. He was a third-round contest pick who probably wasn’t expected to fill that spot, but he’s the closest thing to DJ Reader they got. He’s a 330-pound run stuffer who can eat up blocks like so many Royale cheeses.
Here, he lines up with the nose and drives the center into the backfield, causing some serious confusion and causing the running back to bounce wide.
Jackson is a destroyer.
One of the reasons people didn’t like drafting Jackson was that he’s not the type of player you want on the field on passing downs, but that doesn’t mean he can’t collapse the pocket. It’s his fault that Daniel Jones can’t get into the pocket in this clip.
There are no flashy pass rush moves. He just bull rushes the middle, but it’s effective.
The Bengals’ defensive interior has been an issue this season, but they’ve been smashed. Now back at full strength, with starters Hill and Rankins healthy and Jenkins and Jackson developing behind them, this group could be a force right away.
