Bengals Bye Week Report Card: Receivers

The Bengals leading receiver coming into this season was Andre Caldwell after the team shipped Chad Ochocinco to New England and chose not to re-sign Terrell Owens. It's safe to say that the team's leading receiver may be rookie wide receiver A.J. Green by the time the season is over.

The Bengals receivers are easily the youngest group of players on the Bengals roster but that doesn't mean they aren't loaded with talent.

Here is a statistical breakdown of the Bengals receivers through the first six games of the 2011 season.

Week 1: Against the Browns, receivers caught 12 passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns.

• A.J. Green: Green caught one pass for 41 yards and a touchdown. His first regular season catch was for his first career touchdown, which is pretty cool. That score also gave the Bengals the lead late in the game.
• Jerome simpson: Simpson caught four passes for 44 yards, the longest being a 20-yard reception.
• Jermaine Gresham: Gresham caught six passes for 58 yards and a touchdown. His longest reception went for 22-yards. He was the team's leading receiver on the day.
• Jordan Shipley: Shipley only caught one pass that went for negative one yards against the Browns.

Week 2: Against the Broncos, both Green and Simpson went over 100 yards. All together, Bengals receivers caught 22 pass for 310 yards and two touchdowns.

• Green: Green caught 10 passes for 124 yards and a touchdown. His long catch went for 26 yards.
• Simpson: Simpson caught four passes for 136 yards, including an 84-yard catch as his long for the day.
• Andre Caldwell: Caldwell caught his first passes of the season against the Broncos. He caught three passes for 27 yards and a touchdown.
• Shipley: Shipley caught three passes for 15 yards. He injured his knee during the game was was lost for the season.
• Gresham: Gresham was limited to only two catches for eight yards on the day.

Week 3: The Bengals dropped their second game in arrow the following week during their home opener to the San Francisco 49ers by a score of 13-9. All together the Bengals receivers caught 16 passes for 150 yards.

• Green: Green caught four passes for 29 yards with a long catch of 18 yards.
• Simpson: Simpson only caught one pass for six yards.
• Caldwell: Caldwell caught six passes for 53 yards with a long play of 16 yards. He led the team in receiving on the day.
• Gresham: Gresham was the team's second-leading receiver. He caught four passes for 51 yards with a long catch of 22-yards.
• Donald Lee: Lee caught his first pass of the season. He caught one pass for 11 yards.

Week 4: The Bengals rebounded against the Bills in Week 4 beating them for the first time since the 1989 AFC Championship game. Bengals receivers caught 15 passes for 274 yards against Buffalo.

• Green: Green caught four passes for 118 yards with a long play of 58 yards. He also ran the ball once for a six-yard gain.
• Simpson: Simpson caught three passes for 26 yards with a long play of 17 yards.
• Gresham: Gresham was the team's second-leading receiver against the Bills. He caught four passes for 70 yards and a touchdown.
• Caldwell: Caldwell caught two passes for 17 yards.
• Andrew Hawkins: Hawkins caught his first career pass against the bills. He finished the game with two catches for 43 yards with a long play of 25 yards

Week 5: The Bengals defeated the Jaguars in Jacksonville in Week 5. During that game the receivers caught 18 passes for 170 yards.

• Green: Green caught five passes for 90 yards and a touchdown. His long play went for 37 yards.
• Simpson: Simpson caught four passes for 40 yards with a long play that went for 18 yards.
• Gresham: Gresham caught five passes for 21 yards and a touchdown. His long play went for nine yards.
• Caldwell: Caldwell caught two passes for 13 yards with a long play of eight yards.
• Hawkins: Hawkins caught two passes for six yards.

Week 6: The Bengals won their third game in a row the following week at home against the Indianapolis Colts. In that game, receivers caught 21 passes for 216 yards.

• Green: Green caught five passes for 51 yards and a touchdown. His long play went for 22 yards.
• Simpson: Simpson had his second 100-yard game of the season. He caught six passes for 101 yards with a long play of 32 yards.
• Caldwell: Caldwell caught four passes for 32 yards with a long play of 14 yards.
• Gresham: Gresham caught four passes for 23 yards with a long play of 13 yards.
• Hawkins: Hawkins caught one pass for seven yards.
• Lee: Lee caught one pass for two yards.

Thanks to rookie A.J. Green's performances, the Bengals' receivers have looked fairly solid. He has proven to Bengals fans why he was chosen fourth overall in the 2011 NFL draft. Unfortunately he's been the only consistant receiver on the team.

Grade -- B-: This unit has been good considering their overall lack of experience. Green has been incredible so far this season and is on pace to be considered for the Offensive Rookie of the Year. However, the team's No. 2 receiver, Jerome Simpson, has been inconsistant. Maybe there were problems stemming from the drug investigation he is a part of but he plays well in one game and then does nothing in the next. Caldwell hasn't been much better and the way they're both playing right now they may not get re-signed next season (they're both in contract years). Gresham has been a good safety valvue for Andy Dalton and has proven to become a red zone threat but he has had some inconsistant games as well. He's getting better though. Hawkins is an exciting player to watch when he has the ball but he doesn't get the ball enough to really judge him well. Drops have also been a problem at times.

What grade would you give the Bengals receivers through the first six games of the 2011 season?