4 observations from the Bengals’ preseason loss to Washington
By Aaron Burd
Bengals Observations – Evans and Patrick give great depth at RB
Over the few years, the running back position has been one of the Bengals’ strongest on their roster. At the moment, their leading duo of running backs in Joe Mixon and Samaje Perine is one of the strongest in the league, assuming they both stay healthy. However, if either were to fall to injury, there appear to be two talented young running backs buried on the Bengals’ depth chart: Chris Evans and Jacques Patrick.
In the Bengals’ loss to WFT, Evans and Patrick combined for 15 carries with a total of 77 yards, averaging out to 5.0+ yards a carry. While Patrick had the stronger showing on paper, averaging 7.0 yards a carry to Evans’ 3.9, both players flashed and showed there would be no need to worry if they were forced to step up and play in the regular season.
Despite the lower yards per carry, Evans had the run of the night, ripping off a 17 yard run against the stout Washington defense. The rookie running back has earned great reviews throughout the offseason and looks primed to be the team’s next Giovani Bernard.
As for Patrick, the 24-year old running back ran like a train. Running through the Washington defensive line like he was shot out of a cannon on every chance he got, Patrick cleared the eye test looking like the hardest player to tackle out there on Friday.
The Bengals’ lead back Mixon is one of the best in the league, and his backup Perine is a solid No. 2, but with Evans and Patrick, the Bengals can feel comfortable giving carries to even their third and fourth running backs.