Bengals Big Play Tracker: Dalton to Green and Driskel to Whitfield

The Bengals had two massive completions yesterday. Dalton throwing to Green is expected, but Driskel to Whitfield is a new one.

The Bengals had a mock game yesterday during practice, which produced some excellent plays. For the most part, the offense didn’t actually play very well. John Ross notably had a bad drop in the end zone, and rookie center Billy Price struggled with the snap counts. There were definitely some highlights, though, that saved the offense.

The first big play of the day was a big throw from Andy Dalton to AJ Green. The offense had been struggling to that point, but Dalton lofted a deep ball to Green, who went up and high pointed the throw. Trayvon Henderson, a rookie UDFA out of Hawaii, was in coverage on the play. Henderson actually had decent coverage on Green, but Green’s ball skills won out as he made a miraculous grab. The catch was deemed a 50 yard play, but everyone in attendance agreed it would have gone for an 85 yards touchdown in a real game setting (top left photo).

The deep throws from Dalton to Green are hopefully something we will continue to see in the 2018 season. Green, as I noted earlier this year, is one of the elite deep ball receivers in the NFL. Over the last few years, only Julio Jones has a better catch percentage on throws over 20 yards. Dalton has not been elite throwing the deep ball, but has been capable in years past. So far, he looks pretty comfortable doing it in camp. Hopefully, that carries over into the regular season and the Bengals can have some offensive fireworks.

The other big play for the Bengals in camp today came from two deep reserves. Jeff Driskel completed a long touchdown to Kermit Whitfield over the Bengals’ starting secondary unit. Dre Kirkpatrick and George Iloka were in the area and William Jackson III was all over Whitfield, but Whitfield had a half-step on him. Driskel dropped the ball right over Jackson, leading Whitfield right to the end zone (top right photo).

So far, neither Whitfield nor Driskel have been particularly impressive in Bengals camp. Whitfield has flashed his speed, but he hasn’t proven he’s a better option than any of the other wide receivers on the team right now. Driskel has been particularly rough, missing several easy throws throughout camp. This play highlighted what makes both of these players special, though – Driskel’s accuracy all across the field and Whitfield’s blazing speed. Unfortunately, the Bengals will likely not keep either player on the final roster.