Giovani Bernard – Running back

Gio is back! He’s finally being unleashed this week against the Redskins. Considering how well Jeremy Hill and Joe Mixon have played during the preseason, it’s going to be interesting to see how the Marvin Lewis handles the running back rotation. Don’t be surprised to see all three backs rotating in and out during the first half.

Seeing how well (and fast) Bernard has recovered from his ACL injury, it’s going to be extremely important to keep his workload low, at least for the first couple of weeks to keep him healthy. Don’t expect the coaches to throw Bernard out to the wolves; they’ll most likely ease him into his role. If he can continue making impressive runs and catches as he’s done his whole career, he should be the go-to guy on third downs.

Keep an eye on Bernard’s ability to cut and dice through the defense. Will he be able to do the things he’s done in the past? Well, if training camp is anything to go by, he certainly looks back to normal. But, a game situation is vastly different from practice, so we’ll just have to wait and see.