The Cincinnati Bengals signed undrafted free agent Quinton Flowers following the 2018 NFL Draft and he could be a great weapon on offense.
The Cincinnati Bengals signed South Florida quarterback Quinton Flowers as an undrafted free agent following the 2018 NFL Draft. Flowers has one of the most heartbreaking and inspirational stories in this year’s draft class. After all that he has overcome in his short lifetime, he finally makes it and gets the opportunity to play for an NFL team.
Cincinnati switched Flowers to running back during the rookie minicamps. The move was not a surprise as Flowers was explosive running the ball as a quarterback in college. His measurables make coaches worry when it comes to the quarterback position, but he can still be a productive player in the NFL.
During his time at South Florida, Flowers ran mostly zone reads and spread offensive looks which gave him the ability to take off into the open field. While there is no reason to wonder about Flowers unseating veteran quarterback Andy Dalton, he could be used in the backfield. During his college career, he ran the ball for 3,672 yards and 41 touchdowns. Obviously, there will be some transition as running as a quarterback is different than as a running back.
What if Flowers could do some of both? Remember that formation called the wildcat? Imagine if the Bengals wanted to get creative especially in goal line stances. Deploying Flowers in the wildcat with second-year running back Joe Mixon would be a great dual threat. Offensive coordinator Bill Lazor could run plays that could go four or five different ways depending on how the play breaks down if Flowers can pick up the speed of the NFL and make the right reads.
We saw some of these types of plays from the Kansas City Chiefs early in the 2017 season which was replicated by teams across the league. The triple read option also comes into effect when you look at Flowers near the goal line. While Dalton can be mobile, he has nowhere near the athleticism as Flowers. Defenses would have to take Flowers running abilities seriously giving the offense more chances to sneak one in.
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I think that Flowers should remain on the roster as the fourth running back for these types of plays. While he won’t see many snaps, it would be great to have in case the Bengals were in a goal line stance and needed to get creative. Flowers was extremely explosive with the ball in his hands during his time at South Florida and while he is transitioning positions, I think he could be used as a versatile weapon in the future.