Bengals head coach Zac Taylor opens training camp Wednesday morning on an illustrious list with Bengals founder Paul Brown and fellow Super Bowl coach Sam Wyche with eight camps each. Only Marvin Lewis, the club's all-time wins leader, is ahead of them with 16.
Bengals.com heads into its 27th training camp and the 15th on-site at Paycor Stadium, so we've been to a few, too. With apologies to Bengals golden radio voice Dan Hoard, here's our five observations of things to observe at the dawn of Camp Taylor-Made.
Dex vs. Ted
You probably don't have to start observing this until next week when the pads come on.
Ted Karras is the fiery center and captain. Dexter Lawrence II looks like he's headed to a "C,' on his No. 97 in his first year in a Bengals' jersey as one of the league's most dominant defensive tackles. When he came to town, he was Elvis.
Two ultimate pros. Karras plays with a fierce intensity that has been known to surface at camp. Lawrence is the immovable three-time Pro Bowler. Good, clean fun on the way.
Another thing about these two guys. They serve as bookends to the Bengals' bid to return to the Super Bowl. It hasn't been just an overnight sensation in this lightning offseason. It will be recalled that the first player the Bengals added after Aaron Donald threw Joe Burrow to the turf in the last minute of Super Bowl LVI was Karras.
And Karras has been everything they needed as a stabilizing and steady force in the middle of it all, the first piece of what is now the Bengals' best offensive line of the Burrow Era.
Defensive Leadership
There's a shot that when the defense votes for their captains on Sept. 7, two of them will be newcomers: Lawrence and safety Bryan Cook.
Ever since the trade with the Giants was finalized, Lawrence, unlike Elvis, never left the building. He appeared to be at every voluntary practice and meeting, and then went beyond when he made sure to spend time off the field with guys on offense, like Burrow.
"He's worked his tail off this summer. He's in great condition, and he's ready to go," said defensive coordinator Al Golden this week. "And he leads by example. He brings energy. He's a positive person. Can't say enough good things about him."
Cook, a no-nonsense sort who never takes his eye off the field when he's on the sidelines during practice, plays a position that oozes with leadership. Just talk to his old Chiefs teammate, Bengals running back Samaje Perine. He thinks Cook is wired just the right way.
Plus, Cook has combat ribbons from two winning Super Bowls, and the gravitas of a guy who helped Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo implement his acclaimed Xs and Os.
When he met the media a few days after last season, director of player personnel Duke Tobin was adamant about finding leaders on that side of the ball. After watching guys like Lawrence and Cook this spring, Tobin sounded satisfied this week at the training camp media luncheon.
"I think the guys we've brought in have come in and earned respect from the people that we've had here, and they've shown the leadership characteristics, and they're willing to help others," Tobin said. "They're willing to bring others along. Obviously, they're highly respected based on their body of work elsewhere. When they walk in, it's not a forced thing. This offseason, the camaraderie that we've had, the roles that people have gravitated towards, it's all been really good.
"There's mutual respect from all of our players towards each other, and the bigger piece is that there's mutual belief in the ability levels that they have, and it's hard to respect somebody if you don't believe in their ability levels to help you win a championship. We have guys who are good to be around, guys that can provide leadership and mentorship."
As for returning defenders in the running for captain, incumbent B.J. Hill is always a good candidate. Cornerback DJ Turner II could also be a contender. He carried guys with him last year during his break-out season of 24 passes defensed. Plus, safety Jordan Battle and linebackers Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight Jr. play positions of leadership while cornerback Dax Hill leads with his indispensability and interchangeability.
Corner Depth
The conventional wisdom is they should add a veteran cornerback with Turner, Hill, and third-round pick Tacario Davis.
Maybe they will. They did, after all, add two regulars last year in training camp in Noah Fant and Dalton Risner.
But keep an eye on their young guys, like Bralyn Lux, a first-year undrafted free agent who was called up from the practice squad for the last three games last season.
If they're looking for anything there, it's probably an outside guy since they're teeming with vets in the slot in Jalen Davis, Ja'Sir Taylor, and Josh Newton. And DJ Ivey has a lot of snaps in situational matchups.
The 5-10, 180-pound Lux had an active preseason last year with eight tackles and two passes defensed. The man played a lot of college ball with 21 games at Texas Tech and 22 starts at Fresno State, where he had rock-ribbed NFL coaching from old friend Kevin Coyle.
There is always the pursuit of The Camp Upgrade. But they're also jammed up in the salary cap.
"I'm hoping to not have to do a bunch of replacements. That that's not the plan," Tobin said this week. "We're always looking to improve our team, whether it's improving the 90th man on our team, or the 84th man on our team, or the 26th man on our team. They're all different price points, but we're always looking to improve our team.
"And if there's a guy that we believe in that's out there that we think is a little better than somebody that maybe not getting it done for us, we'll go and with the restrictions that we have in place. There are financial restrictions in this league. That's why there's a salary cap, and they exist this year, next year; you've got to be cognizant of all of it."
Think young.
Punt Protector
Really? A roster battle to be the guy calling signals for long-snapper William Wagner and protecting punter Ryan Rehkow? That's one of your five?
But wouldn't you ask about a quarterback competition? And isn't that what the PP is? The quarterback of the punt team? And special teams has been their most consistent phase the last two seasons. The Bengals followed up winning the 2024 Pro Football Focus special teams rankings with a tie for fourth.
The Bengals need to replace last year's PP, safety Tycen Anderson, and special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons says he'll start by looking at a trio of possibilities: running back Tahj Brooks, and safeties Kyle Dugger and P.J. Jules.
"I think it will be an evaluation that goes all the way through camp between a variety of guys. Hopefully we can get somebody I feel comfortable with out of those three guys," Simmons said.
It's an interesting brew. Jules, who had as many special teams tackles as Anderson did last year with 16, had been the talk of the spring among the coaches with the improvement he showed as he heads into his second season. And you know he's been here every day during the summer break.
Brooks, Texas Tech's all-time leading rusher, did a variety of jobs for Simmons last year, including making seven tackles and returning ten kicks.
Dugger is a second-rounder heading into his seventh season who is expected to get snaps in certain defensive packages. The PP can be a challenging spot for young players, and Dugger brings 90 NFL games and years of sure tackling.
How big of a job is it? Nobody asks about it until something goes wrong. And, it's so big that last year Simmons moved the reliable Anderson to PP even though he was one of the league's top gunners.
As for replacing the versatile Anderson, Simmons says it's going to come from a variety of safeties. All of which impacts the final 53.
Rocket Man
Still think it should be one of Joe Burrow's nicknames. In pop culture, the name is supposed to be an insult. But here it's pure complimentary.
His passes are rockets. In clutch situations, he's got the cool of an astronaut. From time to time, he's openly wondered about aliens. When it comes to processing defenses, they say no one in the NFL is faster than him. (Remember, in high school, they thought he had the brains to be an astrophysicist?)
Rocket Man.
And Burrow showed in the spring his willingness to expand his horizons and adjust his leadership style.
"This offseason I really focused on trying to bring urgency to the room and try to just get everybody to understand the level of urgency that we have this year," said Burrow before he left for the summer.
"The level of play that's going to be required from every individual who steps on that field. I've tried to communicate that. I've tried be a little more vocal in a mean way. I think that's a little out of my comfort zone, but that's somewhere that I'm improving. Maybe it's go and maybe it's bad, but we'll find out."
In a lot of ways, this is Burrow's camp. He was outspoken about the need to improve the team and was a cheerleader as the Bengals front office went to work with their most expensive offseason ever.
And, maybe the biggest reason Lawrence is lining up against Karras is because Bengals vice president Katie Backburn made the numbers work when Burrow re-negotiated his deal. Then, when the spring came, he embraced the moves and the players and got out of his orbit and comfort zone. Now the Bengals are lining up their moon shot.
Rocket Man
