New Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher isn’t fully buying into the chatter that the offense will look wildly different next season.
While speculation based on roster moves and Joe Burrow’s availability this spring and summer have suggested as much, Pitcher says the level of changes might be overstated.
In a sitdown with Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com, Pitcher waved off the idea that this is the biggest playbook change of the Burrow era and simply stressed the offense’s versatility on a per-opponent basis.
Even the reshaping of the tight end room isn’t guaranteed to produce major changes:
Does that mean we’ll play more 12 than we’ve played in the past? Maybe. It may depend a lot on how the receiver room comes along. We’re also very excited about the guys in that room. Even the guys not named Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. It’s going to be a great camp. Guys are going to get opportunities to show what they can do. We’ll compete and we’ll mix and match and we’ll find roles for everybody that deserves to have a role. How that shakes out, remains to be seen.
Coach-speak? Blunt honesty? The answer probably rests somewhere in the middle. It’s not a secret the Bengals wanted to install more under-center looks last summer before Burrow’s injury.
It’s also not a secret that Joe Mixon and Tyler Boyd are gone, with the latter especially notable because it opens up the slot for guys like rookie wideout Jermaine Burton, tight end Mike Gesicki and a few others.
Right now, though, the Bengals don’t have any reason to reveal more and preseason games won’t, either.
