The conversation unfolded innocently enough. In the exhausting blur of exit meetings following a disappointing conclusion of last season, Cincinnati Bengals coach Zac Taylor made a passing comment to running back Chase Brown.
He’d like him to get better as a receiver.
Brown, coming off a rookie season where the fifth-round pick flashed tantalizing examples of his explosiveness, specifically in the screen game, there were still whispers of disappointment in his technique as a receiver out of the backfield. They saw a chance to grow.
Advertisement
The same passing comments were made to receiver Andrei Iosivas. The sixth-round pick out of Princeton played above his draft stock and proved not nearly as raw as the staff expected given the background of the Ivy Leaguer with shelves of heptathlon trophies. Yet, his path also required significant polish.
The question that came next from Iosivas to Brown changed the trajectory of their offseason — and they hope their careers.
Why don’t you train with me in Atlanta? I hired a personal receiver coach. His name is Drew Lieberman.
Four months later, the comments and whispers around Paycor Stadium have changed.
“(Brown’s) looked great catching the ball out of the backfield,” Joe Burrow said.
“It’s noticeable,” Taylor said.
“I’ve been watching Chase Brown run routes,” receiver Kwamie Lassiter II said. “I’m like, ‘Man, you kind of look like a receiver. For real.'”
As Brown and Iosivas return to Atlanta this week to begin more training in preparation to make a critical year two jump for Burrow and the Bengals, their progress has grown from a good idea to a new precedent.
“I would say Andrei and Chase made the fastest improvement of any players I’ve ever had in the program of 15 years doing this, this is year seven at the NFL level,” Lieberman said. “I’ve never had two players improve faster.”
Iosivas has never had a personal receiver coach. He’d had position coaches, but as a converted track and field athlete still learning the NFL nuances, he’d never hired someone to focus on him specifically from release to reception.
He came across Instagram videos of Lieberman and contacted a former teammate Lieberman had coached to make contact and express interest. Lieberman got away from the social media realm in recent years and focused his business on a small group of core clients.
Lieberman got his start living with Mohamed Sanu while the former Bengals receiver saw his career rise in Atlanta and promptly be cut off after a devastating ankle injury in New England. Lieberman honed his system and enjoyed notable success as career numbers were posted by clients Evan Engram, Darius Slayton, Jakobi Meyers and Brandon Aiyuk.
“I just loved what he did,” Iosivas said of being drawn to Lieberman’s program.
When Brown was discussing his need to add an element as a receiver — also never having worked specifically with a receiver coach — Iosivas asked if Lieberman could add one more player to the 2024 client list.
Lieberman had his doubts.
Advertisement
“My first reaction was these running backs are a f—ing project,” he said. “But bring him, we’ll see how he fits.”
They arrived in Atlanta in February with plans for about two months of focused training. Five days a week they would do workouts in the morning and specific receiver work in the afternoon, with an easier day on Wednesday to stay fresh. They never missed. They always showed up begging for more, willing to push beyond their limits to find an inch of improvement. Lieberman recalled carrying Brown off the field in one workout after he pleaded to push until hitting the perfect rep. Iosivas and Brown even flew to Las Vegas during two weekends of OTAs to get in more work because Lieberman was there training with Meyers.
“We both think similarly about our athletic prowess and how to approach football and life,” Iosivas said.
They were relentless.
And rough around the edges.
“I got really lucky,” Lieberman said. “It was mostly them. It was their coachability, their willingness to commit to this. They are the most on-point, dedicated, nice, incredible kids. Not to mention, neither of them knew a goddamn thing, so I had no bad habits to break.”
Lieberman laughs at the side-by-side video now. The differences in speed, stride length, hands and breaks looked almost comical.
“The main thing is the technique of it, just running full stride,” Brown said. “Route running is an art. You see a lot of guys, the top-tier guys make it look easy, but there is a lot that goes into it, full stride, break points, hip shifts. There’s a ton of things that break down a good route runner.”
There are a ton of things Brown had never focused on and why Taylor emphasized the skill set. Brown led Bengals running backs in yards per reception (11.1) last year on 14 receptions, and getting him open in space and on the field more could open up the entire offense.
That all started at the most basic element: Catching the ball. One of Lieberman’s core principles he often sees as overlooked is failure to properly work on actual receiving technique.
Advertisement
He developed a system that helped Engram cut his drop rate in half the last two years while posting a tight end-record 114 receptions in 2023. Slayton went from dropping 14 passes the previous two seasons combined to just three last year. Packers fifth-round pick Dontayvion Wicks finished top 10 among rookie wideouts in yards and catch percentage.
“The whole first month of February all we did was work on being ball stoppers,” Lieberman said. “Chase became confident catching the ball. When he first came to me, every time he would catch the ball, his head would snap back first, he would flinch away from the ball. There’s no consistency with the way you shoot your hands, you are just praying you catch it.”
What followed were days upon days of catching through lunges, squats, on one leg, laying down and constantly simulating every contortion, break type and adverse condition for a catch. They rebuilt the basics.
Spending hours on the field with a receiver coach repeating these specific motions isn’t possible with the limited practice time allowed in the NFL. Every rep is valuable for learning scheme and functionality with the offense. You can talk it and emphasize it, but development can often fall by the wayside in the NFL churn.
It's Chase scoring TDs in Cincy! Chase Brown, that is.
📺: #INDvsCIN on CBS
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/pWMED8S30C pic.twitter.com/2iiHGyBWOX— NFL (@NFL) December 10, 2023
Truly dedicating to the repetition of catching for somebody who never really did so is the gap in the market Lieberman preys upon.
“Make him fearless, make him confident, keep his head steady,” Lieberman said. “Then create consistent catching mechanics once you stabilize everything. As soon as the ball started slowing down, the game started slowing down. Chase looked like a running back when I started with him, like an uncoordinated route runner. Now this guy looks like a starting slot receiver in the NFL.”
Iosivas wasn’t starting from the same spot as Brown. After all, he caught 15 passes last season, four for touchdowns. He opened eyes during the summer program and preseason with a team-leading 12 receptions for 129 yards and a touchdown in three games. Even plays that were incomplete were making impressions.
Advertisement
While Iosivas arrived more advanced so the results weren’t as dramatic, he felt the dividends similarly.
“I’m attacking the ball with a lot more confidence,” Iosivas said.
The catch stems from all the steps leading up to it. Iosivas glided through OTAs with the athleticism the Bengals bet on selecting him last year but finally exhibited the confidence and fundamentals to lift him from raw to refined.
Running routes at full speed and understanding the physics of his breaks allowed him to take advantage of his primary athletic weapons better.
“My curls, all my cuts are really, really fundamentally sound now,” Iosivas said. “If you learn to drop your hips consistently and do it over and over and over again — everyone says, ‘Drop your hips, drop your hips,’ but you need to work on it in the correct way and not shorten your stride when you get into the break. We are just hammering all those details.”
Without Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins in the offseason program, he often looked like the best receiver on the field for Cincinnati.
“(Lieberman) just taught me how to be a better receiver,” Iosivas said, “and that’s what I needed.”
Brown and Iosivas viewed the offseason with Lieberman as investing in themselves. Putting their money where their motivation is was part of the reason the Bengals invested in these two in the first place.
Drafting somebody with a mindset of improvement fits the late-round success model. Sure, Brown’s ability to post the second-fastest speed by an NFL ball carrier last season played a role. As did his vision and patience to produce 18 touchdowns for Illinois.
GO DEEPER
Bengals DC Lou Anarumo 'feeling good' about spring secondary reorganization
As Taylor watched Brown show off his receiver skills this spring, he tied it directly back to why they valued him as a running back target in the first place.
“He took coaching and worked on it hard, and that’s exciting to see a guy that you can just make a small comment to and four months later it comes back and you can tell he’s really emphasized it,” Taylor said. “And so I think that’s everything we knew about Chase. That’s everything we thought we had with Chase. A guy that’s going to continue to grow and understand what that role entails as a running back in this league and the more downs you can put yourself on the field, the better.”
That Burrow took notice and built trust during the offseason program is worth its weight in gold in Cincinnati.
“He worked really hard at that,” Burrow said, “and it’s paying off.”
Iosivas, who watched Burrow chase down the ball after his first touchdown reception, understands firsthand what happens when trust grows. Put simply: Dudes get paid. Just ask C.J. Uzomah, Hayden Hurst, Tanner Hudson, Samaje Perine, Trenton Irwin, Chase and Higgins.
GO DEEPER
Why leverage between Ja’Marr Chase and Bengals shifted with Justin Jefferson deal
The Bengals now broach a new era of weaponry for Burrow, with Joe Mixon and Tyler Boyd off to Houston and Tennessee and Higgins entering his franchise tag year, the deck has cleared to grow from Day 3 pick to Game 1 starter.
“I knew I could make a name for myself and take over that role,” Brown said. “Just something I want to keep growing on. For me, it’s making the most of the opportunity. I’ve seen a lot of growth.”
Advertisement
These two love it, Lieberman says. Operating from love of the process instead of fear makes a massive difference in his system.
“It’s more sustainable,” he said.
Brown and Iosivas spent the final minutes in the locker room at mandatory minicamp going over their schedules and when they expected to land in Atlanta to rejoin Lieberman.
After a brief respite, they began Monday. Another layer of repetition and adding on awaits before the real test.
Free, daily NFL updates direct to your inbox. Sign up
Free, daily NFL updates direct to your inbox. Sign up
Buy
What happens next amid crowded position battles and jockeying for snaps is yet to be determined. Progress still must translate when the lights come on.
Undeniably, though, the foundation of an improved season has been built.
“I’ve never seen a transformation like it,” Lieberman said.
(Top photo of Chase Brown and Andrei Iosivas: Jeff Dean / Associated Press and Dylan Buell / Getty Images)
