CINCINNATI – With the Joe Mixon era finished and the Zack Moss one on deck, Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher offered a glimpse of what he likes about the team’s new running back and what his role can look like.
Within seconds of agreeing to a two-year, $8 million deal with Moss, the Bengals informed Mixon they were releasing him.
The Houston Texans stepped in the next day and offered the Bengals something rather than nothing, agreeing to send Cincinnati a seventh-round pick in a trade for Mixon rather than having to negotiate for his services with other teams who were interested.
It was an emotional, topsy-turvy 24 hours for Mixon. But for Moss, the path remained uncluttered as the intention always was to pair him with Chase Brown in an effort to make the backfield younger and more explosive.
Bengals Coaches Praise New Spark Zack Moss Will Provide
Both Brown and Moss have the ability to rip off big runs. With Brown, it’s mostly about pure speed. With Moss, it’s more subtle and crafty.
“He’s a guy that really does a great job of churning out more than what’s initially there,” Pitcher said. “He has exceptional contact balance. He is decisive. He will hit small creases with decisiveness and carry acceleration through that. And that’s what allows him to rip through some of these tackles.
“He’s very natural spinning off the first defender, keeping his balance, staying north-south,” Pitcher said. “When you really dive into the tape, you see that over and over again. It’s like, ‘Man, these runs do not look like they should be 12-, 13-, 16-yard runs.’ And at the end of it, you’re like ‘Man, he squeezed out an extra eight there.'”
Zack Moss gets the #Bills offense going early 🏃♂️pic.twitter.com/zzVEwFYh6h
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) August 13, 2022
When Moss spoke with the Cincinnati media following his signing last week, head coach Zac Taylor kicked off the news conference by praising a couple of other traits that drew the Bengals to the 26-year-old.
“I love his patience. I love his eye discipline. I love all the things he brings as a runner, as a guy in the backfield that the quarterback can trust,” Taylor said. “And so I think he’s a tremendous addition not only to our football team but to our offense and to our community.”
If there’s one question about Moss’ game, it’s his role as a receiver.
It wasn’t something he was asked to do a lot of in Indianapolis last year, and yet he still had five drops on 37 targets. That drop rate of one per 7.4 targets was the third-worst among the 40 running backs targeted at least 30 times in 20223.
Mixon had four drops on nearly twice as many targets (64), and his drop rate of one in 16 was the 18th-highest.
Drops are a sure way to lose trust with quarterback Joe Burrow, but Pitcher said he not only doesn’t have concerns about Moss in the passing game, either as a receiver or blocker, but he thinks he’s going to be a significant asset.
“I think he’ll be really good in the screen game because he’s the kind of guy you get in space and he’s got lateral quickness to make the first miss,” Pitcher said. “He’s got great block setup. Part of getting pass-catching production at the running back position is having the trust of the coaching staff to put you in there in those spots that you’re going to execute the protection element of it.
“With Zack, you have that guy, that No. 1, you trust to protect, and that is smart and can see when he can get out and get out quickly so that he becomes available,” Pitcher continued. “And when we do free-release him from the backfield, obviously he can do it. He has a really well-rounded skillset in a number of areas.”
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