The Cincinnati Bengals have made it clear they will add to the punter position this offseason.
Last year’s switch from Kevin Huber to Drue Chrisman was a necessary one. But while the latter provided an upgrade, there were drawbacks to the switch beyond simply disrupting the chemistry of the unit.
One punt, in particular, hurt the Bengals at the worst possible time in the AFC title game against the Kansas City Chiefs as the unit coughed up a huge return that helped seal the game.
Bengals special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons touched on that topic with reporters at the scouting combine.
“We didn’t get off the line of scrimmage great, we had a couple guys that were out of their field lanes, frankly,” Simmons said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “I don’t think the punt was exactly the punt we were looking for. It was more down the middle of the field and it was lower than what we really wanted. We just didn’t do a good job of covering it up. We didn’t stay in our lanes. It’s difficult with the height of the punt that’s difficult to defeat blocks fast enough to get back over the top and get back in the proper leverage positions. We did a poor job of that, and it cost us big time.”
The hang time on Chrisman’s punts was an issue that popped up often during the regular season and like in the final game, it gave Bengals defenders problems in properly getting to assignments and getting off blocks.
Like with Joe Mixon, Bengals coaches aren’t outright saying something will change, but the read-between-the-lines material is right there.
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