Veterans Of Cincinnati: Best Bengals Players To Wear No. 11 - No. 20 All-Time

Last weekend we announced the best Bengals players to wear uniform numbers one through ten. As we pointed out then, many of the numbers we selected were due to the obviousness of the selection. Boomer Esiason is number seven. Number one wasn't assigned and sometimes we picked the best from a collection of mediocre players, usually defined by length of stay and effectiveness on the field (which I guess kind of goes without saying). And for the more recognizable selections, such as uniform number three with Jim Breech and Jon Kitna, we ran a poll to let you decide the best player that sported that number. Click the link to see our selections from number one through ten.

Now we move onto the next phase; the results of uniform numbers 11 through 20.

Let's quickly go through the numbers we selected without running a poll. While Jim Breech holds virtually every record in franchise history as a place kicker, Shayne Graham (17) ranks second on most of those records that he himself doesn't hold. And before Breech and Graham, there was Horst Muhlmann (16) who left the team after 1974 holding mostly all of those records. Ken Riley (13), Ken Anderson (14), Essex Johnson (19) and Lemar Parrish (20) are obvious choices. In the case of Essex Johnson, the team's leading rusher during the 1973 and 1974 seasons, posted 3,070 yards rushing, 1,541 yards receiving and 29 total touchdowns with Cincinnati.

John Stofa was one of the first ever starting quarterbacks in franchise history -- Dewey Warren was the first starting quarterback in franchise history -- though Stofa only played with Cincinnati for the team's inaugural season. Quarterback Turk Schonert played with the Bengals for eight seasons, starting his career when Ken Anderson was the team's starting quarterback, ending it during the Boomer Esiason era. Yet, neither quarterback was the best Bengals player to wear number 15. That goes to the late Chris Henry, who posted 21 career receiving touchdowns, including 15 during his first two seasons with the Bengals.

That leaves our poll choices for number 11, number 12 and number 18. Virgil Carter won 55% of the vote for number 11, beating out defensive back Rod Johnson (32%). We agree Jordan Shipley will eventually be considered, perhaps even the next time we run this series next year or the year after that. But not today. Greg Cook won 46% of the vote for number 12, beating out the surprising second-place selection in Quan Cosby by only 11 percentage points. Running back Paul Robinson beat wide receiver Charlie Joiner by a single vote for number 18. One vote. One person.

Presenting the best players to wear uniform numbers 11-20.

	Number	Pos.	Years
No. 11:	Virgil Carter	QB	1970-73
No. 12:	Greg Cook	QB	1969-74
No. 13:	Ken Riley	CB	1969-83
No. 14:	Ken Anderson	QB	1971-86
No. 15:	Chris Henry	WR	2005-09
No. 16:	Horst Muhlmann	PK	1969-74
No. 17:	Shayne Graham	PK	2003-09
No. 18:	Paul Robinson	RB	1968-71, '72 (first six games)
No. 19:	Essex Johnson	RB	1968-75
No. 20:	Lemar Parrish	CB	1970-77