How We've Stacked Up: Offensive Skill Players

by raclark11986 on Jan 3, 2012 1:40 AM EST

As we all know the Bengals took some enormous steps forward as an organization this year. Expectations for 2011 were blown away by mid-season and we benefited from a couple of one-sided trades. I thought it could be interesting to take a look at the individual efforts by our players and how they stack up against others in the league and their own previous years. (career highs are in bold-italic; ex. 7 TDs)

RUNNING BACKS...

C. Benson 2011 (2nd best): 15 games, 273 atts, 1,067 yds, 3.9 avg, 6 TDs, 15 recs, 82 rec-yds, 5 fumbles

best year: (2009) 13 games, 301 atts, 1,251 yds, 4.2 avg, 6 TDs, 17 recs, 111 rec-yds, 1 fumble

B. Scott 2011 (best year): 16 games, 112 atts, 380 yds, 3.4 avg, 3 TDs, 13 recs, 38 rec-yds, no fumbles

2nd best year: (2009) 13 games, 74 atts, 321 yds, 4.3 avg, no TDs, 5 recs, 67 rec-yds, 1 fumble

B. Leonard 2011 (3rd best): 13 games, 17 atts, 85 yds, 5.0 avg, no TDs, 22 recs, 210 rec-yds, no fumbles

best year: (2007) 16 games, 86 atts, 303 yds, 3.5 avg, no TDs, 30 recs, 183 rec-yds, no fumbles

Thoughts: Scott had his best year ever, in my opinion ,after last year's sophomore slump (which was likely just Bratkowski's scarce use of him). Benson and Leonard didn't set any significant statistical career highs but Benson likely had his 2nd best year in the league. Benson's year most closely resembles Oakland's Michael Bush in 2011, though Bush was much more of a receiving threat with 37 catches for 418 yards and a TD. Scott this season was on par with Indy's Delone Carter (minus Carter's 3 fumbles). Leonard played similarly to Chester Taylor in Arizona.

WIDE RECEIVERS...

A. Green 2011 (rookie): 15 games, 65 recs, 1,057 yds, 16.3 avg, 7 TDs, 5 rsh-atts, 53 rsh-yds

J. Simpson 2011 (best year): 16 games, 50 recs, 725 yds, 14.5 avg, 4 TDs, no rsh-atts

2nd best year: (2010) 5 games, 20 recs, 277 yards, 13.9 avg, 3 TDs, 1 rsh-att, 2 rsh-yds

A. Caldwell 2011 (2nd best): 13 games, 37 recs, 317 yds, 8.6 avg, 3 TDs, no rsh-atts

best year: (2009) 16 games, 51 recs, 432 yds, 8.5 avg, 3 TDs, 3 rsh-atts, 22 rsh-yds

Thoughts: A.J.'s rookie season was spectacular of course. If Simpson gets a few drops taken care of his numbers are respectable and we should resign him to be our #2 on the perimeter. Caldwell will likely continue his fall down the depth chart if he's resigned at all. Green had a season much like fellow rookie Julio Jones in Atlanta and also like Darrius Heyward-Bey's season in Oakland (though Heyward-Bey didn't find the endzone quite as often as the rookies did). Simpson's year was a lot like Deion Branch's 2011 campaign with the Pats. Caldwell finds himself in the company of Seattle's Golden Tate (but didn't utilize the deep plays Tate did). On a side note, guess who's reception and yardage numbers were similar to Caldwell's but, unlike him, played the full season and hauled in 6 TDs... former Bengal draft pick and current Buccaneer Dezmon Briscoe.

TIGHT ENDS...

J. Gresham 2011 (best year): 14 games, 56 recs, 596 yds, 10.6 avg, 6 TDs

only other year: (2010) 15 games, 52 recs, 471 yds, 9.1 avg, 4 TDs

D. Lee 2011 (9th best year): 9 games, 11 recs, 115 yds, 10.5 avg, no TDs

best year: (2007) 15 games, 48 recs, 575 yds, 12.0 avg, 6 TDs

C. Cochart 2011 (rookie): 10 games, 5 recs, 44 yds, 8.8 avg, 1 TD

Thoughts: Gresham improved over his rookie season enough to continue convincing Bengals fans he'll be a superstar at some point soon. Its hard to argue that Donald Lee has ever had a worse season after struggling to find a job this year and being shown up at times by Cochart, our undrafted rookie, once he was on the roster. One good thing about Lee this year is that five of his measly 11 catches were successful first downs (three of Cochart's five catches earned first downs). Ed Dickson, Baltimore's second year tight end, had a season very close to Gresham's and was chosen 49 spots later in the same draft. Dickson didn't miss any games like our guy, but his numbers are impressive when paired with Dennis Pitta's, whom the Raven's drafted with their very next selection.

THE RED RIFLE...

A. Dalton 2011 (rookie): 16 games, 300/516 comp/att, 58.1 comp%, 3,398 yds, 6.6 yds/comp, 20 TDs, 13 Ints, 80.4 QB rating, 37 rsh-atts, 152 rsh-yds, 1 rsh-TD

Thoughts: Dalton's statistics this year were nearly identical to none other than... Joe Flacco. Andy Dalton barely fell short of Ugly Joe by 212 yards, one touchdown, and half a point in QB rating. Andy was slightly better than Flacco in completion percentage, but did throw one more pick. Of course Dalton's rushing average was significantly better. For the record, Roethlisberger threw one more pick than Dalton but led the AFC North in almost every other passing category.

If I have a chance I'll check out the defensive side of the ball next.

Poll

Which veteran player made the most progress since last year?

Bernard Scott, RB

9 votes

Jerome Simpson, WR

68 votes

Jermaine Gresham, TE

28 votes

105 votes | Poll has closed

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Cincy Jungle's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Cincy Jungle's writers or editors.

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Comments

TE's are the path to post season success

Good job gathering the #s, Raclark.

We need our crew to have great games and make the clutch catches. I would love for us to find AJ Green deep every play, but that doesn’t happen and especially going to be tough with a certain Texans CB out there.

That said, we really need to get back to the WCO Roots here and dink and dunk making those 1st down dump off passes. Against the Ravens there were too many throws that were not even near the first down marker. I don’t know what Jay was thinking other than Ravens have a lot of talent in the secondary and it’s not easy to play WCO against them. However, the Texans are very different and this could be where we can readily move the chains and setting up the big B.Scott runs and the WR catches for big gains.

Wrong! Conan! What is best in life?

To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women.

by UpStateMike on Jan 3, 2012 8:42 AM EST reply actions

The running backs are all garbage.

Or, the offensive line is garbage at run blocking. Either way, I want a new RB and OG next year. The average is pitiful.

by jsl413 on Jan 3, 2012 11:44 AM EST reply actions

CHILL DUDE!!!

This year we got what we got! And right now we need only positives cause we are still playing! Let’s just hope we win Saturday and against the Patriots!
We will worry about commentary about the changes necessay in the off-season…

I represent the Bengals of Cincinnati with extreme passion and prejudice and make no apologies for it!

by Law1951 on Jan 3, 2012 2:21 PM EST up reply actions

And keep in mind..

There are a lot o team with better players at every positiopn, but they will be at home watching “US” play this Saturday.

Like you, I may not be the happiest with certain aspects (in my unlearned opinion), but i know it takes a lot to make up a TEAM that works together. The 2011 bengals area TEAM with chemistry between the players on the roster. And that’s all we need NOW!

I represent the Bengals of Cincinnati with extreme passion and prejudice and make no apologies for it!

by Law1951 on Jan 3, 2012 2:25 PM EST up reply actions

I'm all about winning this year.

But I don’t think the Bengals can hang with the Patriots at NE, though I expect them to beat Houston.

That said, the RBs were not good this year. Check out FBO for the weaknesses in the running game:

http://footballoutsiders.com/stats/ol

25th in power run blocking, 27th in stuff %age, 23rd in second level blocking.

Passing has been much better, ranking 4th. Pass pro and AJ Green have made Dalton look better than he perhaps otherwise would have. Gotta keep that success around and find a way to fix the running game.

by jsl413 on Jan 4, 2012 10:08 AM EST up reply actions

Understand...

Stats be damned! When the clock strikes “0” only the final score counts!

I represent the Bengals of Cincinnati with extreme passion and prejudice and make no apologies for it!

by Law1951 on Jan 4, 2012 2:30 PM EST up reply actions

Break Out, then Break Out Again!

Seemed like Hawkins had a break out game against Baltimore, and would love to see his speed consistently utilized.
I’ve been waiting for any of our guys to break out, and then use the momentum to build great careers. Just seems like we take one step forward and the three steps back. Rey, Dunlap, Gresham, Scott, and Hawkins all need to have great games this weekend. Let’s see who steps up.

by MCSubtext on Jan 3, 2012 1:25 PM EST via mobile reply actions

I dont consider any of those choice's "veteran's"

"A team is more than a group of individuals,its a group of individuals that come together to make a team"

by keithp on Jan 3, 2012 2:06 PM EST reply actions

Great post, thanks for putting all that together. I've got two things though

1) Don’t be so hard on poor Donald Lee! He doesn’t have as many snaps or run as many pass routes as he did a few years back. Both Cochart and Lee’s primary responsibilities are pass-blocking and run-blocking. Tight ends contribute in more ways than catching balls, especially in this offense.

2) I’d be interested if you could add the total snaps to each player across the years. For instance, sure Caldwell and Lee had down years by the numbers (and Simpson had an up year) but how about how many plays they were in on? Pro Football Focus has these numbers if you are a premium member

by BeWarned on Jan 3, 2012 5:28 PM EST reply actions

Good post.

I thought Scott improved this yr. Simpson made the biggest jump, but he drops alot of passes.

by redrifle14 on Jan 3, 2012 9:13 PM EST reply actions

Did anybody see the greatest plays of the season on NFL network?

Simpsons front flip was #1.

"Shiny. Let's be bad guys."

by KentuckianaBrowncoat on Jan 3, 2012 11:46 PM EST reply actions

That WAS cool.

But the fact remains that doing a front flip over a defender makes you a great athlete, but not necessarily a great wide receiver.

Simpson has talent for sure, when he’s on he’s a damn good player. The problem is you can’t count on when he’s going to be on his game and when he’s going to be daydreaming on the sidelines. On some of the passes he’s dropped this year, I swear he looked almost surprised to find the ball was coming at him.

I’d give him one more year and see if he can’t find a way to stay focused consistently.

by Realityburn on Jan 5, 2012 9:56 AM EST up reply actions