Why is Brian Leonard not the starting RB?

He’s got to stay on the field. If he can do that, would love for him to be more involved.

He’s definitely more of a 3rd down gadget back.

he’s perfect for a 3rd down/hands back. clutch as all hell too.

and shovel passes. Not to say he’s not good, but give him the same kind of carries you give Benson and I think you’ll find a different back.

hope we can lock him up for a while and he does not suffer any major injuries

But most of his yards are when the defense is playing off. He’s a good 3rd down guy but a starter I don’t know about that. Last night they were playing off leaving the middle wide open. They were inviting him to run in the middle to run off the clock.

Most of his carries are on 3rd down, when defenses are playing soft up front, allowing 5 or 6 yards on a draw play when it’s 3rd and 10. So it’s hard to compare his ypc with a guy like Benson who is running on 3rd and 1 or 1st and 10, when those are more heavily defended to stop the run.

He’s also not an “elite” back with break away speed or shiftiness…so i don’t see him being a “starter”.

But, hs is under-utilized. He should be in a Saints/Patriots/Packers type of trio of RB’s who rotates in and out and gets 7~12 carries a game.

They should team up B Leonard, B Scott, and somebody from round 2 or 3 like LaMichael James and use them each for about 7~12 carries a game.

But that doesn’t mean he’s a featured back. Running the west coast offense it’s very important to have a running back that can catch the ball out of the backfield – which Leonard does very well. The problem is that Benson is a below average receiving back and Leonard looks so much better in comparison.

Should we keep Brian Leonard? Absolutely!! The way I see this playing out is Benson will not be resigned and Scott may hit the road as well (which would be stupid in my opinion – I think Scott is grossly overrated and won’t have the same opportunities as he has in Cincinnati.) I like the west coast offense – but we need a running back that excels in both running the ball and receiving it out of the backfield. When we have that – this offense will definitely be something to watch.

Leonard = extremely valuable to this team, but not a starter.

of course leonard has a better ypc and catches the ball, he’s the third down back.

meaning, defenses don’t stack the box with 8/9 defenders when Leonard is in the game because he is usually on the field for 3rd and 9… or 3rd and 12.

Defenses have a tendency to allow more yards per carry on third down because they move their entire unit back. Say it’s 3rd and 20. The Bengals shovel pass to Leonard. Leonard gets probably 10-15 yards on the play, but that’s fine for the defense because they just don’t want him to get 20. now it’s 4th and the Bengals have to punt it? See? Leonard’s stats get inflated

And, not that I don’t love the guy. Leonard is a perfect fit for the third down back on this team, he can catch the ball and block for Dalton extremely well. But, he’s not good at carrying up the middle

Yes, his numbers are 3rd down and 2 minute situation numbers BUT, he produces. We can’t say the same thing for either Scott or Benson. Leonard was an every down back in college, whether he was playing FB after Ray Rice arrived or playing TB before Rice arrived or to spell Rice. The problem is that no one has seen what he can do if he was the every down back. This was part of my argument for why the Bengals should have benched Benson and let Leonard start the final couple of games during the season and the Houston game. Benson and Scott were sucking up the joint so why not see what Leonard could do with more carries, snaps, targets. The Bengals would not have been any worse off and may have found their every down back for the next few years.

Anyway, its interesting with all the “Leonard can’t carry the load” comments that he is winning the poll in a landslide.

the fact we put leonard in on 3rd and longs and even 3rd and 4 tells me the defense probably gives him a lot space. I think there are a lot of junk yards you can give to Leonard. If he had the ability to start right now, he would have been the starter from day one.

Don’t get me wrong, Leonard has talent and is a good receiver out of the back field. But something tells me his stats are a little off. I think he should continue to do what he is doing because it has been successful ever since he has been here. And if we switch it up and make him the focus, defenses will be more prepared and they wont be caught off gaurd as much as there are now.