:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/46341750/GettyImages-53381507.0.jpg)
- Clif Marshall, Performance Director at Ignition AGP, asked one of the Bengals scouts to check out John Peters.
- Former Bengals offensive guard Bobbie Williams is working with Peters and teaching him how to block.
Bengals.com beat writer Geoff Hobson has an interesting look at the recruitment for college free agent Jason Peters, who accepted an invitation during rookie minicamp and made the offseason squad when Cincinnati signed him to a contract. As most of these "heart warming stories" go, it began as a kid interacting with Clif Marshall, the Performance Director of Ignition APG, who had begun working with Peters during the predraft process. Marshall approached Greg Seamon, the Bengals East Coast scout, and asked him to give Peters a workout during the team's local pro day.
Seamon gave it the go-ahead and after they got a look at him, they planned to bring Peters to the rookie minicamp to see if he would stick. Even after drafting Kroft and Uzomah and signing Eastern Kentucky’s
Matt Lengel as a free agent."He’s got NFL traits" says Bengals position coach Jon Hayes, an NFL tight end for 12 seasons. "The two big things are his speed and size. You have to look at that. But it’s going to take time since he’s never played the position. He’s a project. This is a long road."
Former Bengals guard Bobbie Williams, who tutored the offensive linemen for Marshall, spent some one-on-one time with Peters teaching him blocking fundamentals. The man who blocked for Palmer and Chad was teaching him. "To be able to be mentored by Bobbie, I was star-struck for a little bit," Peters says. "I not only knew him from those teams I followed, but I remember when he went to the Ravens and got a Super Bowl ring. He helped me so much."
Cincinnati's situation at tight end is insanely unpredictable -- and this is something that could offer some enthusiasm. It's like moving into a new neighborhood -- you know that it's an upgrade but you really don't know what to expect.
Jermaine Gresham's exit became a Nostradamus-sized eventuality, especially with the knowledge that anonymous coaches were finished with Gresham -- originally reported by the Cincinnati Enquirer. It seemed especially evident after factoring in Gresham's questionable maturity when responding to Dave Lapham's comments that he let his teammates down because he couldn't play through an injured toe during a blowout win late last year. With Gresham undergoing surgery to repair a herniated disc, and the team acquiring four tight ends through the draft and college free agency, you have to believe that his chapter with the Bengals has closed.
Then you have Tyler Eifert, who is recovering from a dislocated elbow and shoulder injury, suffered during Week 1 of 2014. Sure he'll be ready for training camp but how effective will he be? We think he'll be fine, but that is a variable that must be factored. Now the Bengals have Tyler Kroft, C.J. Uzomah and Matt Lengel on their roster, along with John Peters who is learning how to block.
Unpredictable.