Bengals’ Early Draft Picks Starting to Pay Dividends

With their first three draft picks this season, it looks like the Bengals may have found three high-level contributors for this season.

The Bengals are finally seeing some strong performances from their rookies in the preseason. While som of the late round guys have been the topics of conversation throughout camp – Auden Tate, Darius Phillips – the earlier selections haven’t been discussed as much. Billy Price, Jessie Bates, and Sam Hubbard were the Bengals’ first three picks this year, and they have started to prove their value to this roster.

Price is the most interesting case, because he had a lot of negative press to start camp. When the Bengals drafted him in the first round, he was still recovering from a shoulder injury he suffered during the combine. Once he got on the field, though, Price then had issues with his snaps. He struggled with the timing and was often responsible for bungled snaps, including five in the Bengals’ mock game.

In the preseason games, though, Price has been excellent. His blocking particular has been stellar. Maybe most impressive has been his performance in the pass game, where he has yet to give up a pressure in 29 opportunities. Price is known as a run blocking specialist, especially in a zone system like the Bengals have. The growth he has shown in the pass game is really encouraging for him as he locks down the starting center spot.

Second round pick Jessie Bates has been thrust into the spotlight recently with the release of George Iloka. It looks like Bates will be the starter at free safety in place of Iloka. Fortunately for the Bengals, Bates has been very impressive in practice and in the preseason. His coverage instincts are as advertised, and they have flashed against Chicago and Dallas as well. Bates may be a better coverage safety than Iloka was, which would mean the Bengals’ gamble of cutting Iloka could pay off nicely.

Lastly, third round pick Sam Hubbard finally flashed his pass rushing acumen against Dallas. Hubbard was a fairly polished product coming out of Ohio St., so he has been solid but quiet in practice so far. He had a mini-breakout last Saturday, racking up five pressures on the quarterback. Hubbard also had the highest PFF grade of any one Bengals player against the Cowboys. He’s stuck at a deep position, but Hubbard could make an impact in the pass game when he gets reps this year.

The growth these rookies have shown in a short time is really encouraging. If the Bengals are going to get production from many of their early round picks, the arrow is pointing up for this season.