Georgetown, KY – Practice #4 was full of hitting for the Bengals today! If you watched HBO’s ”Hard Knocks” last year, then you probably remember one of my favorite segments – oklahoma drills. That’s what went down today. Here are my best and worst:
***BEST MATCH-UP***: Ray Maualuga vs Fui Vakapuna–From where I was standing, it looked as though this was a split decesion. The first round I gave to Malaluga, who was more aggressive and in the end made the tackle on the running back. However, the second went to Fui–who got his pads low, drove ray backwards, and finished the block with attitude. I’d watch this battle all day.
***WORST MATCH-UP***: Dezmond Briscoe vs Brandon Ghee–Not to take anything away from Ghee here, because he was solid, but this matchup was probably one of the most lopsided of the day. At the snap, Ghee put his chin down, ran full speed at Briscoe, and lit him up. I mean LIT HIM UP! Looked like Briscoe left his feet trying to absorb the hit. Without a doubt, this rep got the biggest reaction from the players and coaches.
***BEST INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE***: Chase Coffman– Although Chase is not known for his blocking prowess, he held his own today. He went against LB Dan Skuta and had a nice block. Then, later in the drill Marvin called him out with the 4th round draft pick from Texas, LB Roddrick Muckelroy. Muckelroy was the more aggressive of the two, getting down hill in a hurry. But Chase did enough, not allowing Muckelroy to get his hands on the RB. Not pretty, but it got the job done. So for that I gave the W to Chase.
***WORST INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE***: Jordan Shipley–Ok, not a big surprise here I know…but someone had to win it. Some WRs just can’t block. Jordan looks like that type. As impressive as he’s been catching the rock, he was equally as unimpressive stock-blocking today. It got so bad that at one point Adam Jones shouted out, “Come on man! This ain’t no hugging match!” (Dezmond briscoe could have also won this category with ease).
***THE HIGHLIGHT***: Ocho vs Maualuga: As you would expect, Ray ran at Ocho as fast as he could and initially knocked him back. However, Ocho’s no fool. So, instead of trying to match strength for strength with the stronger Maualuga, Ocho withstood the force of initial contact, wisely used Ray’s momentum against him, grabbed his shoulder pads, and hip-tossed him to the ground landing on top (like something you’d see watching the WWE). When I asked Ocho about it, he jokingly asked me, “Did u see me sting him?”. Naw, I didn’t see all that (lol), but I did see a competitor figuring out a way to win an undesirable match-up. Something he has done pretty successfully over the course of his career.
***HONORABLE MENTIONS***: Clinton McDonald–McDonald handled Nate Livings on one rep and made the tackle pretty comfortably…MLB Dhani Jones–Smacked FB Joe Tronzo and made the tackle on Cordera Eason.
That about wraps it up for this morning’s practice. Very exciting….and a great sign of things to come. Don’t you worry….I will keep you posted from the inside as we move forward through this momentous training camp, as long as you stay right here at www.artrellhawkins.com 
Great insight into camp. That is some cool inside info people would not get to hear about.