The Bengals are taking an early look at the youthful talent from the draft. John Ross will be graduating and Joe Mixon states the facts.
Seems like the only thing John Ross is affiliated with lately is sprints and races. The Reds’ speedy outfielder, Billy Hamilton, is ready for a showdown. This comes after the Bengals’ speed demon said he could best Usain Bolt. With all the talk about running and 40-yard times under five seconds, the main attraction will be on the shelf for a minute.
It’s rookie minicamp time and Bengals coaches will be taking a look at the new faces. One mug (yes, I used a gangster term from the 1950s) that won’t be among those in the crowd is Ross. Like many of the players in the 2017 draft class, Ross is recovering from shoulder surgery he had during the offseason. Any thoughts of Bolt, Hamilton or anyone challenging the rookie will have to be after the OTAs.
When Ross is medically cleared for practice, it should be close to training camp. Rushing the top pick into action isn’t wise. There’s also the serious detail of his graduation. That takes place on June 10. Add to that the quarter academic program utilized by the University of Washington and the time frame is somewhere in the middle of June.
More from Bengals News
- 6 Bengals whose stock significantly rose in preseason game vs Cardinals
- 7 winners and 7 losers from Bengals preseason opener vs. Cardinals
- Jackson Carman winning LG job isn’t a given after Bengals preseason opener
- Denzel Ward wants to flex on Bengals WRs in 2022
- Scouting the enemy: Bengals preseason opener chat with Raising Zona
Along with that banged up shoulder, Ross is running on surgically repaired knees. Going under the knife to repair his legs may have made him faster.
"“I feel like after I tore my knee I got much faster,” said Ross, via Bengals.com. “I started to work on leg muscles that I didn’t get a chance to work on before and my trainers kept telling me, ‘You’re going to be faster.’ I kept looking at them like they had something on their face because that just didn’t sound right.”"
Shades of Steve Austin. We can rebuild him.
Good Luck To The Others
Finally, Bengals fans will get to see the talented Joe Mixon in action. Well, it won’t be full speed ahead just yet. But, he’s getting into the swing of the three-day rookie minicamp. Since teams wanted to get an idea of his character, Mixon was on the road visiting a number of teams. That left him virtually no time to workout or get adequate rest.
Lewis said Mixon needs to get back into shape after spending the offseason taking pre-draft visits. Said Mixon visited half the teams
— Katherine Terrell (@Kat_Terrell) May 5, 2017
Mixon is hyped about being in Orange and Black. His biggest thrill so far is being part of a backfield with Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard.
"“It’s definitely going to be special,” Mixon gushed, via Fox19 and Jeremy Rauch. “We’ve got homerun threats all around the field. Once we all get acclimated as one, good luck to the other teams. We’ll be putting in a lot of work and scoring a lot of points.”"
Next: Draft Winners And Losers
It’s good to hear Joe talk about a backfield tandem. But, it’s quite possible he gets the majority of the snaps during training camp.