The Cincinnati Chapter of the Pro Football Writers of America named Johnathan Joseph and Leon Hall as this year's Most Valuable Players, while Carson Palmer won the annual "Good guy" award. I guess our ballot got lost in the mail.
Domata Peko and Jonathan Fanene will be on 60 Minutes this weekend. The show is documenting "why do more NFL players come from a tiny group of south pacific islands than from any other place in America?"
Even though Hall was the only player to make one of the two All-Pro teams, left tackle Andrew Whitworth did receive a vote.
James Walker writes in response to a question if he's anticipating a change at offensive coordinator.
I don’t anticipate any changes with Bengals OC Bob Bratkowski, Ed. The feeling I’m getting from the organization is the offense was limited because of personnel, and the coaching staff did what it had to do (i.e. run the ball) to be successful. The Bengals didn’t have enough deep threats and the offensive line couldn’t pass protect for more than three seconds some weeks. What were they supposed to do? That’s the vibe I’m getting. If Cincinnati adds a speedy receiver and gets better protection, the Bengals feel their offense will be more balanced moving forward.
Like me, James Walker projects that the Bengals will go with a wide receiver in the first round. If none are available, then he thinks Oklahoma Tight End Jermaine Gresham deserves a look.
With the uncertainty surrounding the Bears offensive coordinator position and the interest with Ken Zampese, the Bengals could have two assistants to replace soon. The first is assistant offensive line coach Bob Surface, who left to become Princeton's head coach. If Zampese leaves, Geoff Hobson writes that wide receivers coach could be promoted as quarterbacks coach. Sheppard's "resumé includes stints as a quarterbacks coach with former Bengal Jon Kitna in Seattle and Aaron Brooks in New Orleans."