On Thursday our very own Jason Garrison found time between finals, "unproportionate" pirate babes and Stone Golems to post a quote by the team's new wide receivers coach James Urban that read "I'm excited what Jay (Gruden) has planned" for wide receiver Jerome Simpson. Along with the plans that Gruden has for Simpson, it only adds to the general feeling that Simpson is finally coming around.
During his first three seasons, Simpson has missed 35 of 48 games (32 as game-day inactive and three as active-DNP). And through 45 games in his career (32 in which he didn't play), Simpson's career was summarized with one reception for two yards receiving (trivia: how long was Simpson's longest reception during that span).
Then things changed.
Thanks to injuries to Terrell Owens, Jerome Simpson started the final three games of the season, recording 20 receptions for 277 yards receiving and three touchdowns. Against San Diego, his coming out party, Simpson recorded 124 yards receiving and two touchdowns. The following week, he caught 12 passes for 123 yards receiving, adding another touchdown.
Posting two games with Simpson's level impact shouldn't outweigh the 45 games previous to his final three starts. Fact is, we've seen Simpson left off the roster more times than he's played in regular season games. But he is coming around.
And it adds perspective. Along with Urban "excited" about what Gruden has in store for Simpson, and along with Simpson's performance at the end of the season, do the Bengals really have a need to add another wide receiver with their fourth overall pick? Granted, it would be nice to add a beastly wide receiver that many claim A.J. Green is. But then you look at the roster with the weighted question, who is our quarterback? Mice scamper to their holes in the wall, crack open a two-liter of Mountain Dew and play Dragon Age 2 with red unsleeping eyes.