One of the biggest reasons the Cincinnati Bengals went back to Al Golden, this time as a defensive coordinator, is due to the hope his proximity to college players and past work in the NFL equates to rapid player development.
But that doesn’t mean Golden won’t leave his mark with a playbook of his own, either.
While there will be some similarities to Lou Anarumo’s playbook, such as the base nickel 4-2, he told Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com that other parts of the playbook will be ripped up and redone.
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“Certain parts will,” Golden told Hobson. “There are some things I’m really familiar with and there are certain things that we want to go in a different direction.
“At the end of the day, I have to be comfortable with it and the defensive staff has to be comfortable with it. We’ll build that together … If there’s no reason to change the way the kids can understand it, there’s no ego. There’s no reason to change it just to change it.”
From the sounds of it, in traditional running situations, the Bengals will still have four down linemen. But the 4-2 nickel will still be the most common look due to the sheer volume of passing around the league now.
No matter the formation, the Bengals will need to acquire more talent for Golden while hoping that he, in turn, can quickly develop names like Myles Murphy.