After two preseason games, the Cincinnati Bengals seem to be left with more questions than answers. How will the starting offense fare in the red zone? Will the offensive line get their act together? However, one question has been answered. If anyone asked “who the heck is this guy?” when the Bengals signed defensive end Chris Smith, they sure know him now.

The highest graded defensive player on the team the last two games (per Pro Football Focus), Smith has been a godsend as a pass rusher, posting 11 quarterback hurries and one sack against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs. During this time, starting right defensive end Michael Johnson has done next to nothing, prompting many fans to ask a very serious question: Should Smith be starting over Johnson this coming season?

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There are two ways we can look at this situation: Either Smith is performing well because he’s playing against subpar talent, or he’s going to be a stud for the Bengals in the upcoming season. Let’s say that Smith is posting these numbers strictly because he’s playing against backups and third stringers. That’s a valid argument, as many pass rushers in Bengals’ past have dominated in the preseason, but have gone on to have meaningless careers. The names Dontay Moch and Margus Hunt come to mind. But the difference is that Smith has shown that he can do the same things against starters during practice and a few times during the past two preseason games.

I think the latter is more likely. He’s looking more and more like a stud each time he hits the field. He can speed rush, he can power through blockers, he just destroys whatever gets between him and the quarterback. When Cincinnati first signed him, he was advertised as a speed rusher, but watch the clip below, you’ll see he converts his speed into pure power.

#Bengals Chris Smith has been living in the Chiefs backfield all night. Bulldozing OL pic.twitter.com/dzCLlZGHAT — Steve Frederick (@SportsGuyTweets) August 20, 2017

The way he just bullrushes through the left tackle is mind blowing. Johnson hasn’t done anything like this in years. If the coaches are serious about improving their pass rush, it seems Smith will have to play a large role this upcoming season. Be it as a starter or a rotational piece, it would be stupid to keep him off the roster, let alone the field. Just watch the clip in the tweet below. Four plays, four hurries. It’s nuts.

Four pass rushes, four hurries in a row for Chris Smith. pic.twitter.com/YLzJ6s4PPP — Joe (@JoeGoodberry) August 21, 2017

Again, we have to remember this was mostly against the backups, but respect is due here. Smith has had flashes against the starters as well, while Johnson has looked like a shell of his former self.

If Smith keeps performing the way he does, the coaches will have no choice but to start him over Johnson. We’ll have to pay attention as to how the coaches divide the snaps on Sunday against the Washington Redskins. If the coaches rotate the two players during the first half, whoever performs better should be the starter. As of right now, I’m torn, as the preseason is never a great indicator of how a player will perform during the regular season. Still, it feels good when you see a player dominate the way Smith has.

Who do you think should start at right defensive end? Let us know in the poll below!