Welcome back to the series — I know it’s been awhile. In case you are not familiar, this series is where I look at the RAS scores and athletic testing of the draft picks from each front office. For this one I am looking at the Cincinnati Bengals and their connection to RAS in regards to the draft. Now I know the Bengals do not have a de-facto GM. But upon research, around 2016 was when Duke Tobin was given more control and is seen as when he became more or less the GM. Although I didn’t feel it necessary to go back to 2016, so I went to 2017.
You can also find my most recent article about RAS and the Patriots. For anyone in the scouting community or who wants their mock drafts to be more accurate these articles will help you identify prospects who may or may not be on a teams draft board. Every team’s draft board varies from one to the other. So let’s get it started with the position the Bengals have had the most success with:
Quarterbacks:
Quarterback is one of the few positions that is more or less the same across the league as far as athletic testing. The Bengals are in line with the rest of the league.
They have drafted three quarterbacks since 2017. Logan Woodside, Ryan Finley, and, of course, Joe Burrow. They are between 6’1″-6’4″ and all at least 213 pounds. We do not have any testing on Burrow, but Finley and Woodside average out to a 6.94 RAS and would be considered slightly above average athletes for their position. Most teams want a guy who can get a first down if needed, but mostly can maneuver around the pocket.
Running backs:
Since 2017, the Bengals have drafted five running backs. Joe Mixon, Mark Walton, Trayveon Williams, Rodney Anderson, and Chris Evans. It seems there are two types of backs they draft. Bigger backs like Mixon, Anderson, and Evans all are 5’11”-6’0″ and 211-228 pounds. Walton and Williams would be smaller backs, both in the 5’8″-5’9″ range and both just over 200 pounds. The four Cincinnati Bengals have an average RAS score of 7.13.
From their explosion testing, you could say they like their backs to be explosive. All of them have a 9’10” broad jump or higher, and outside of Walton all had a vertical of 33″ or more. 40-yard dash times does not look to be too important to them since the times range from 4.45 to 4.6. It also seems they like their running backs to score at least average in agility drills.
Wide Receivers:
The Bengals have drafted five receivers since 2017. Starting with John Ross, Josh Malone, Auden Tate, Tee Higgins, and Ja’Marr Chase. They have an average RAS score of 6.47 which doesn’t sound particularly impressive. But if you take out Tate who had a epically low 1.84, you get an average score of 7.63. Tate’s selection seems to be more of an outlier. Looking at their size profiles, it seems the Bengals learned their lesson from Ross. After him every receiver was at least 6’0″ and 200 pounds.
Both the 40-yard dash and broad jump seem to be important to the Bengals. Outside of Tate, two of them jumped at least 11′ and the other two were over 10′. Again, outside of Tate, they all ran a 4.54 or faster, with three running 4.4 or faster. Interestingly, the vertical does not seem to be important to them. At least three of them had verticals of 31″ or lower. Agility scores also do not seem to be something the Bengals hold to. There is no agility testing on Ross, but three of them scored either average or poor times.
Tight ends:
The Bengals have only drafted two tight ends since 2017, Mason Schreck and Drew Sample. The Cincinnati Bengals draftees have an average RAS score of 8.44, so it seems when they do draft tight ends they like them to be highly athletic. Both are 6’4″ and over 250 pounds.
They do seem to prefer prospects to have at least average explosion testing. Both had verts between 33.5″ and 34.5″. Similar broad jumps as well, 9’7″ and 9’10”. Again, very similar 40 times 4.76 and 4.71. Short shuttle also looks to be important to them. 4.31 and 4.27 were both their times and those are considered solid for a tight end.
Offensive line:
The Bengals have drafted 10 offensive linemen since 2017. One of the interesting things is they have drafted three centers in that time and two of them were not able to workout. They have also drafted four guards, and three tackles. They are JJ Dielman, Billy Price, Roderick Taylor, Jonah Williams, Michael Jordan, Hakeem Adeniji, Jackson Carman, D’Ante Smith, Trey Hill, and Cordell Volson.
All the Cincinnati Bengals draftees RAS scores averaged out comes to a 5.97, which is not very impressive. Looking at the guys they have drafted, only two had RAS scores over 6.22. So it can be said that they do not prioritize athleticism in the offensive line.
Centers:
Since only one of the centers worked out we can’t find any common ground in testing. But we can look at size. All three are between 6’3″-6’5″ and 305-319 pounds. With arm length from 32″-33 5/8″. So what we can say from that is they tend to like their centers on the bigger side.
Guards:
As to their guards, they do seem to like them on the taller side. Two of the four are 6’6″, with Taylor being 6’3″ and Carman being 6’5″. The lightest guard was 312, with Taylor being the heaviest at 320 pounds. So it seems as with centers, they like their guards on the bigger side and with long arms with the shortest being 33 7/8″.
They do like their guards to be explosive; all three were good-to-elite in their testing. All three tested average in speed, with each running in the 5.2 range. As far as agility testing, this does not look like an area that they prioritize. Two of them tested poorly and the other, Jordan, was just ok.
Tackles:
The three tackles they drafted are 6’4″-6’5″. Weight wise, they are also all in the same range — between 302-305 pounds. Again, they all tested similar in the bench, between 23-26 reps. With arm length there was some variety, Williams was the shortest with 33 5/8″ and Smith as the longest 35 1/4″. You could surmise they don’t like tackles with short arms.
As to testing, it seems like they aren’t too particular with explosive testing as long as the tackle is average or better. As for speed, the 40 times were all over the place, but the 10 yard dashes were somewhat similar and were all at least solid. The slowest was a 1.83 and the fastest was 1.77, which is very good. Similar to the guards they do not prioritize agility testing with their tackles.
Stay tuned for the next part on the defense!
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