CINCINNATI – One of the biggest questions heading into the season for the Cincinnati Bengals is how the time share at running back is going to work.
Zack Moss, whom the Bengals signed in free agency, and Chase Brown, last year’s fifth-round pick, are both going to get snaps.
They’re both going to get carries.
And they’re both going to catch passes.
But who gets more of each is the question Bengals fans are asking, not to mention fantasy owners across the country.
The Bengals Question Everyone Wants To Know Can’t Be Answered
It’s not as though the Cincinnati coaches are keeping the answer locked in a vault.
They don’t know themselves.
Both backs have impressed in camp, and which one gets more carries in Week 1 against the New England Patriots might be different from the way things shake out in Week 2 at Kansas City.
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“Super pleased with both,” Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said. “Zack’s been the consummate pro. I mean, he’s where he needs to be every single play, regardless of what we ask him to do. He’s caught every ball we’ve thrown to him, like a lot of contested, hard catches off his body. So I mean, can’t be happier with Zack.
“And Chase is the young budding talent that we all expected him to be, who adds an explosive element to our rushing attack and catching the ball out of the backfield. So I feel really, really good about that spot.”
Moss did not play in the preseason. He was sick the night before the opener against Tampa Bay, which was the only game in which head coach Zac Taylor played his starters.
Brown got five carries for just 10 yards.
And though he’s looked decisive and explosive in training camp, Brown appeared a little more unsure against the Buccaneers.
But that shouldn’t be surprising, as he logged just 44 carries as a rookie.
Moss, on the other hand, has 484 career carries.
Because of that, look for Moss to get a bigger share early in the season, especially in goal-line and short-yardage situations.
As explosive as Brown is, he’s still young and learning his way. He drew raves from coaches and teammates this summer with his route running after working with a receiver coach along with teammate Andrei Iosivas this offseason.
Brown showed surprising power when running up the middle in his limited attempts last year, but the likelihood is that he will get more action in the passing game – on screens, designed routes out of the backfield, and, possibly, lined up in the slot.
What their snap/carry/target share looks like come December is anyone’s guess.
It’s the question everyone is asking, but the answer no one has.
But both backs have the sort of explosiveness the Bengals have been craving the last couple of years, which is why they traded Joe Mixon.
The hot hand could win out in some games. In others, it could be gameplan specific where Taylor and Pitcher stick with it.
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Asked for his realistic expectations for the run game, Pitcher didn’t offer any hints.
“I tend to view it holistically,” he said. “That may be a cop-out answer. It needs to play its part in the overall attack.
“There are games where we’re going to have to hand it off and run for 150 yards to win the game. That’s gonna happen. I can’t sit here and put a number on, ‘We have to run for this many yards per carry, or we have to this efficiency.’ We have to be good running the football to win a world championship. We can’t be one-dimensional. Everyone understands that. We’re going to commit to that. Just what that looks like, I can’t paint that picture exactly.”
