Wednesday, May 05, 1999
BENGALS NOTEBOOK
Linemen learning to fall into the gap
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Bengals' defensive line is battered but not bowed. The guys who finished last in the NFL at stopping the run in 1998 are pumped up by a new, “one-gap” scheme.
Last year the line played “two-gap,” in which the linemen were asked to read and react to a play, with responsibilities on each side of their men.
But in the one-gap, the players are responsible for only the hole in front of them and can charge up-field instead of reading. The Bengals figure their speedy linebackers can clean up.
“I think the coaches are trying to cut down on the responsibilities and letting the guys just go out and play,” defensive end John Copeland said.
“Just take care of your gap and let the linebackers run. We seem to be more suited to that, and it's looked good so far in shorts. But who knows? It all comes down to how the linemen penetrate, and you still have to be fundamentally sound.”
LETTER OF SUPPORT: Free safety Greg Myers sent out a letter on Bengals stationery Tuesday to Columbine High School, telling the Littleton, Colo., school that students and faculty are in thoughts and prayers all around the country.
Myers spent much of his youth in Fort Collins, Colo., played at Colorado State and now lives in Steamboat Springs, about two hours away from Littleton.
“Just to let them know that people out there care,” Myers said.
HOT CORNER: The agent for Cris Dishman said his client didn't have any plans to sign in Kansas City after visiting the Chiefs on Tuesday. Ed Sewell said he wants Dishman to visit the Bengals on Monday before making a decision.
The Bengals might have a nickel cornerback in rookie free safety Cory Hall.
Hall is 205 pounds but impressed this past weekend with his footwork when he worked at corner.
Hall thinks he can play corner and said he was told by some teams before the draft that they would take him exclusively at that spot.
“Corners are a premium in this league,” secondary coach Ray Horton said. “If you can get a big, physical corner, play him at corner to see if he can handle that, and if not, move him back inside at his natural position.
“But this is all drawing-board stuff, what you would want in a perfect world. You can't tell much after three days. It's all down the road.”
With Hall at free safety, the Bengals could slide him to corner when the opposing offense brought out three wide receivers. The club still is trying to sign veteran corners such as Dishman, Corey Sawyer, Ashley Ambrose and Ryan McNeil.
DEALINGS: Right guard Ken Blackman signed the Bengals' $429,000 one-year tender offer for restricted free agents.
Blackman was drafted by the Bengals in the third round of the 1996 draft.
He has started 31 games for Cincinnati, including the first eight of the 1998 season before suffering a knee injury Nov. 1 against Denver.
• The Bengals, who rarely sign a draft pick before June, think they've got a deal already with seventh-round choice Tony Coats, a guard from Washington.
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