32 Weeks/32 Teams: An analysis for r/nfl. Week 5: Cincinnati Bengals
32 Team Analysis
Week 5: Cincinnati Bengals
Division: AFC North
Record: 9-7 (2-4 Div.)
PF: 344
PA: 323
Net: 21
YPG: 319.9 (20th)
YAPG: 316.2 (7th)
Draft Picks: 17(Oakland), 21, 53, 85, 117, 149, 159(New England), 181, 213
UFAs
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RB – Cedric Benson
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WR – Andre Caldwell
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WR – Jerome Simpson
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TE – Donald Lee
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TE – Bo Scaife
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K – Mike Nugent
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OT – Anthony Collins
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OT – Nate Livings
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OT – Dennis Roland
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OG – Mike McGlynn
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OG – Bobbie Williams
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DL – Victor Adeyanju
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DL – Jonathon Fanene
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DL – Frostee(really?) Rucker
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DL – Pat Sims
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LB – Brandon Johnson
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LB – Manny Lawson
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CB – Fred Bennett
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CB – Kelly Jennings
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CB – Adam Jones
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CB - Jonathon Wade
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FS – Reggie Nelson
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FS – Gibril Wilson
Analysis
Highs:
No better place to start than with the QB. Andy Dalton was the 35th player, and the 5th QB, taken in the 2011 draft. Needless to say, his expectations weren’t exorbitantly high. Expectations exceeded. He took a team without a great run game(despite decent play by the OL) and with very little veteran leadership among its WRs, and put together one of the better rookie QB seasons we’ve seen in years. In terms of QB rating, it was the 4th(including only QBs who played least 8 games) best season of the last decade for a rookie, behind Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Ryan, and Cam Newton. It should also be noted that those players all had solid run games and veteran WRs to work with, where Dalton had neither. In terms of difficulty, Dalton faced off against 6 of the top 8 pass defenses in the league this year, including 3 of them twice, for a total of 9 games. In that light, and with the importance of having a franchise QB in the modern NFL, it's easy to see why the Bengals are feeling optimistic.
It’s almost hard to believe that Dalton was their 2nd round pick. Their 1st round pick was a kid named Adriel Jeremiah Green, and he’s not too shabby either. It’s obvious that he is a rare talent, who is likely to become one of the elite receivers of his generation. His first NFL reception was a 41 yard TD haul, and it didn’t stop there. Just for the sake of tantalizing Bengals fans, he had just 1 fewer reception than Andre Johnson in his rookie year, 1 fewer TD than both Marvin Harrison and Larry Fitzgerald in their rookie years, and is 10th all time in yards by a rookie receiver. This is a tandem to watch for a long time.
When you play in the AFC North, your defense better be up to par, and they were. After losing Dhani Jones, Keith Rivers, Chinedum Ndukwe, and Jonathon Joseph, the Bengals were supposed to suffer. They didn’t. Under a talented DC, Mike Zimmer, the Bengals finished 7th overall in total yards allowed, 9th in passing yards, and 10th in rushing yards. They were 5th in sacks, 6th in forced fumbles, and 9th in total points allowed.
In his 2nd season, Geno Atkins lead the team and the league in sacks for DT with 7.5(tied with DT Tommy Kelly, Oakland), and the DL as a whole produced a whopping 34.5 sacks. The amazing thing is that they did it as a unit, unlike the Giants, Eagles, and Vikings who relied on a premier pass rusher. If the Bengals are able to develop one of their young DEs into one of those players or can find one through the draft or FA, they could easily lead the lead in sacks for many years.
Lows:
In a contract year Cedric Benson looked lifeless for most of the season. The Bengals boast some talent on their OL, and while it may not be the best in the league, there are backs producing a lot more with a lot less. He was the only RB with over 1,000 yards to produce lower than 4.0 yards per carry, he only had 4 rushes of 20+ yards, and tied for the highest number of rushing fumbles, at 5, with Ryan Matthews. He’s never been known for his abilities in the receiving game, and yet he finished with the lowest yards per reception he’s had since his rookie year. It should be clear he no longer has the skills to be a feature running back, and it is unlikely he will be willing to take a major pay cut and share carries as much as the Bengals would demand if he were to stay.
Aside from Green and Jermaine Gresham, there is a serious lack of consistency and leadership in the receivers. Jerome Simpson is unreliable both on and off the field, contributing 8 drops on the year and is now facing drug chargers that could seriously affect his playing carrier, Andre Caldwell has never put up numbers worthy of being even a #3 receiver, and they clearly don’t have a pass catching threat out of the backfield. Green was a good start, but with a talented young QB, they Bengals absolutely need to bring in more offensive weapons.
The Bengals secondary was hit the hardest this year by players leaving for one reason or another. As much as they managed to hold the defense together, losing Jonathon Joseph before the season and Leon Hall in week 10 really shook them. In the 1st half of the year they didn’t allow opposing QBs over 60% completion in all but 2 games, but in the 2nd half they gave up 5 games with 60% completion rate. Similarly, in the 1st half of the season they only gave up 8 passing TDs, but in the 2nd half of the year they gave up 13. They will be looking to upgrade at both SS and CB this offseason.
Free Agency/Draft Concerns:
The Bengals are sitting pretty this offseason with the lowest current amount money devoted toward their salary cap and an extra draft pick in the 1st round from the Carson Palmer trade with Oakland, who ended up 17th overall(they also got an extra 5th round pick from New England for the Ocho).
As far as their two 1st round picks are concerned, they could go several directions but it’s foreseeable that they might grab a CB, either Janoris Jenkins or Dre Kickpatrick, with their 1st pick and if he’s still there, OG, Cordy Glenn, with their 2nd. Were there more 1st round RB prospects it’s possible they’d go that route, but it’s just not in the cards and they could easily use both their 2nd and 3rd round picks addressing that issue.
Even though they have a lot of players hitting free agency, they will be able to pick and choose which ones they’d like to hang on to and offer them better deals than they are likely to get elsewhere. On top of that, they will probably have enough money left over to do at least one big time deal. There has been speculation that they are looking at trying to steal RFA WR, Mike Wallace, from the deeply cash strapped Steelers. It would be a huge inner division coup and could set them up with the best WR corp in the division. Among the fan base, there has been a lot of buzz surrounding New Orleans’s OG, Carl Nicks. It would immediately give them a boost in both the pass and run blocking game. Lastly, just to tempt you, there are a certain couple of DBs out in San Francisco, one of whom they might be able to pull away for the right deal.
Final Thoughts:
No one really expected much out of the Bengals in 2011, but they showed up to play anyway and took us by surprise. Right now they have everything headed in the right direction and if Mike Brown can avoid a mistake and repeat his drafting success from the past couple years, they will be in very good shape. The coaching staff is above average, although some would prefer to see Zimmer take over as HC, and with a potential franchise QB in the making, this could be a turning point for the Bengals and the AFC North as a whole. By the end of the offseason, the Bengals might be the team everyone is talking about as the next big thing.
Did I make any mistakes? Let me know.
Previous Teams
Upcoming Teams (subject to change)
Week 6: Green Bay Packers
Week 7: Houston Texans
Week 8: San Francisco 49ers
Week 9: Buffalo Bills
Posted Feb 23, 2012, 5:38 PM UTC · edited