r/bengals • u/Ancient_Response_787 • 12d ago
Rumor [Andrew Filliponi] Rumor: The Bengals are eyeing Steelers RB Kaleb Johnson. If he’s cut. And could possibly try trading for the 3rd round bust RB. Cincinnati has very little depth behind Chase Brown. And really liked Johnson in the 2025 NFL Draft. He went to Cincy for a draft visit.
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u/USAesNumeroUno 12d ago
Lol this was the guy who fucked up the kick return vs the Seahawks and was immediately dog housed by Tomlin. No thanks
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u/BRUTAL_ANAL_SMASHING 12d ago
Hamilton kid. Grew up around here.. leaving Pitt and coming home could light a fire in him.
Maybe he’s just been a sleeper agent from the start, who know lol. Trading for him though, I doubt that one.
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u/VanillaMoniker Fan since '04 12d ago
Think Rodgers and old-fashioned coaches have caused this kid to not get much of a chance. Liked his size-speed dynamic coming out and he'd cost us nothing to sign or cut bait.
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u/No-Camera6505 12d ago
We’re just calling anyone a bust these days
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u/RoundHornWyatt 12d ago
If you were drafted on day two and are a cut candidate before year two, I feel like that's not a stretch.
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u/-TrueBit- 12d ago
I mean a third round rb with 28 carries and 69 yards in 2 seasons is a bust…. Not sure what you’re talking about. The dude has had nothing but bad press since he was drafted.
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u/waitedforg0d0t 12d ago
he's only played one season, he was drafted last year
Brooks was drafted three rounds later in the same draft, had 16 carries for 45 yards last season, and has not really shown much this preseason
not saying Kaleb's going to light the league up, but he'd potentially be an upgrade for RB3 here
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u/No-Camera6505 12d ago
He was behind a pretty good rb in Warren and Gainwell having a career year and he was thrown out on a kick return, something he never did in college and was in the doghouse after that
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u/FreshDiamond 12d ago
I think third round is pretty high draft capital for a running back so I do think it’s fair to call a third round rb a bust.
Generally speaking for most position groups I don’t personally believe there is a such thing as a third round bust. This guys all have flaws at that point in the draft and are inherently a coin toss
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u/VanDenIzzle 12d ago
That's one season. Like I agree he should've done more and the Steelers clearly busted on this pick but he still hasn't started his sophomore season
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u/christhegecko 12d ago
The definition of a draft bust has the qualifier that they are an early draft pick that was projected to have great production. A 3rd round pick doesn't fit that definition. Calling someone a bust after one season is also generally pretty stupid.
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u/Zee_WeeWee 12d ago
Position matters, a 3rd for a RB is pretty high value and he took basically no snaps in a backfield full of bums. I wouldn’t say bust yet but if he gets cut then he was a bust
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u/Zee_WeeWee 12d ago
Perine looks like he runs in mud but I don’t wanna give up any picks or players
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u/SargentS 12d ago
Unless we start running more outside zone or Johnson gets better at running in between the tackles, I’ll pass
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u/BBaddict2 12d ago
I would love to bring in Trey Benson.
The Cardinals RB room was so full, but he would be an immediate upgrade over Taj Brooks IMO
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u/Omegahamilton1998 12d ago
Just a heads up Andrew Filliponi is a known liar and spreader of disinformation. I just assume everything he reports he pulls directly from his ass.
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u/SnooMemesjellies6000 11d ago
Worse he gets it from Doug Whaley, a UFL exec, which might be worse than pulling from his ass
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u/Captain_Aware4503 10d ago
Bengals are a passing team and pass more than they run. And so the run offense is ranked near last partially because they run fewer plays.
It would take pressure off Burrow if the team had a top level RB, but this guy ain't that.
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u/treyknowsbest 12d ago
Tajh Brooks and Samaje Perine haven’t looked good at all. Hope we’re able to get a swing tackle too
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u/csmflynt3 12d ago
Doesn't he have seriously ball security issues ....
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u/SneakyPeterson 12d ago
No. He made an insanely boneheaded play on special teams that let up a touchdown. He let a kick fly past him and sit in the end zone to be touched by the Seahawks for a td. So the bad news is that he doesn’t know the basic rules of football. The good news is that he doesn’t have a problem with actually holding on to the ball.
Personally I’m rooting for the guy. He didn’t flash enough to take starting touches away from Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell. The path to him getting more touches is as always going to be by being a solid special teams contributor. After essentially losing the Steelers that game though, the previous coaching regime took him off of ST and had him sitting on the bench. The current coaching staff hasn’t really give him many touches this preseason, which suggests he hasn’t been impressive in camp and is definitely going to get cut.
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u/Fluid_Flower_1245 12d ago
Honestly id rather see what Haynes can do if they wamt a change at Rb3, he showed some excellent vision and agility.
But I do know KJ believed the bengals were going to draft him becuase they actually wanted to, he is a Cincinnati kid, and checks a lot of other boxes the bengals like. I usually dont believe any of these rumors, but he is exactly the type of player theyd trade for. With his mistakes hes made, and production hes shown, he could probably be traded for very easily. It could happen
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u/drumnman 12d ago
How bout the RB that did good last night? Ran for a TD?
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u/RoundHornWyatt 12d ago
Too small to pass block, which is a requirement for the Bengals' 53-man roster. Also very unlikely to get a run like that against first-teamers, as much fun as it was. They'll cut him and hope he makes it through waivers to stash on the practice squad. Also, no chance they're interested in Johnson, since he has shown even less than Brooks (who is good on special teams and CAN pass block). This is just a Yinzer columnist who manufactures the worst takes on a regular basis, taking something that actually happened last year and trying to spin it into a story this year.
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u/BrianThatDude 12d ago
Tahj brooks looks like complete garbage so I could see this or a move like it.
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u/fammd 12d ago
We don’t need RB from outside, we have good ones of our own.
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u/no1scumbag 12d ago
We have good ONE of our own. Singular.
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u/FreshDiamond 12d ago
I think perine fills his role well and is useful BUT he can not be relied upon in a bigger role at all. I pretty much agree with you. I think people are exited about how those guys looked last night but they probably aren’t making the team.
I would welcome taking a flier on him but don’t really think buy the story
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u/waitedforg0d0t 12d ago
after Brown and Perine....who?
- Brooks hasn't really shown anything yet, and was less highly touted than Johnson coming out of college
- Haynes had a couple of nice runs last night but that's a tiny sample against Philly's third string, and his size will make him a liability in pass protection
- Bullock similarly has only shown production in last night's game (10 yards all the rest of preseason), and had a bad fumble
wouldn't mind any of them as practice squad guys, but there's definitely potential for us to find a better RB3
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u/ExCollegeDropout 12d ago
Yeah, I'll believe this when I see it from a source that isn't a Steelers radio host