Bengals welcome back defensive tackle Orien Harris

by Josh Kirkendall on Oct 20, 2009 12:53 PM EDT in Contracts

Back in May, the Bengals did something rare in the National Football League. They traded a player for a player when they acquired Brian Leonard for the backup of backup defensive tackle Orien Harris. At this point, Leonard has already been more than worth the cost. After Harris was traded to St. Louis, he was traded to Detroit and then waived after the first game of the season.

Last Sunday against the Houston Texans, Antwan Odom suffered a season-ending injury and was placed on Injured Reserve on Monday, opening a spot on the 53-man roster.

Harris available. Open spot available. Why not sign him? Joe Reedy writes that the Bengals signed defensive tackle Harris to the 53-man roster on Tuesday. Our guess? The Bengals are rebuilding depth at defensive tackle so Jonathan Fanene can work more as a defensive end, rather than rotating with the tackles, as he was when Tank Johnson was recovering. Largely depending on Peko, Fanene could still be rotating with the defensive tackles, but with Harris, the Bengals could be back to a four-man rotation -- again, depending on Peko.

Tweet Comment 9 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

i think this makes a lot of sense. Orien Harris spent all of last year learning Zimmer’s 4-3 system. With the signing, the Bengals get a run-stopper that will transition smoothly and quickly onto the playing field.

Pound for pound, the Lions lose a wideout to the Rams, and the Bengals gain Nike Air Leonard. I’ll take that trade.

3 yards and a pile of dust

by Hudepohl Dey on Oct 20, 2009 1:06 PM EDT reply actions

Hooray

A Lions castoff how exciting. But, maybe he’ll play well, only time will tell.

by St. Esiason on Oct 20, 2009 1:34 PM EDT reply actions

thats right a guy that couldnt make the Lions squad

CB85......Collaros for Heisman

by TennBengalfan on Oct 20, 2009 4:37 PM EDT up reply actions

I doubt Harris starts

If he was waived by Detroit at the beginning of the year, and the Bengals knew who he was, he would’ve already been back on the team. He will probably be at the bottom of the depth chart for the DL.

So, you still expect to see a lot of Michael Johnson and Frostee Rucker.

by cokane on Oct 20, 2009 2:54 PM EDT reply actions

Harris is trash

If we where taking this season serious we would of tried to make a trade.

by vottoholic on Oct 20, 2009 3:18 PM EDT up reply actions

Why?

To make a trade would involve giving up a pick. You really want to give up a second rounder (think of giving up maualuga) for someone we don’t really need after the season. Odom will be back next year, so will geathers. Fanane and Johnson will be servicable and will be even better next year.

I’m not saying I’m perfect but I seriously think half of our fans would be worse than MB at being a gm.

by brandone on Oct 20, 2009 4:06 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

if we're going to make a trade

trade the pick on a te, we have ok depth at dt.

by palewook on Oct 20, 2009 5:13 PM EDT up reply actions

your post assumes a lot

a. that theres a team out there willing to give up a top DLman
b. that we could make the deal work for us

neither of those are necessarily true. Our backups should play decent enough to keep this a top 10 defense.

by cokane on Oct 20, 2009 9:36 PM EDT up reply actions

Harris played in 14 games last year. He started one. He began the year as a back up but with injuries got more playing time. If I recall the last quarter of the year the defense really came together and I believe that was the time that Harris got most of his playing time. I’m not saying he’s all pro but I don’t think he’s trash. Besides at 26, there might be some upside.

by redberkey on Oct 20, 2009 5:21 PM EDT reply actions