Top-20 Bengals Of 2012: No. 19 Running Back Bernard Scott

The epitome of promise. The sky, like another assigned seat in home room, for his amazing talent. Bernard Scott, the second half of a running back combination expected to make up the bulk of Cincinnati's rushing offense, has always been one of promise. Much like flashes of a camera winking in and out of existence within the blink of an eye, such as a 96-yard touchdown return against the Pittsburgh Steelers, or his stretch of 206 yards rushing in consecutive games, giving an injured Cedric Benson time to recuperate without much loss to the team's overall production in the running game, has fueled the imagination.

Yet his career continues to define potential, if not exhaustion from impatience. During half of his 42 career regular season games, he's generated less than 20 yards rushing. Only four regular seasons games has Scott surpassed 50 yards rushing, and of the seven games that he ran the football ten times or more, he's averaged four yards or more three times.

Still that ceiling of potential continues to weigh heavy on the scale against a simplified history deep in Cedric Benson's shadow, who commanded a heavy percentage of the team's participation. Benson's departure, combined with duel work stations inside the same cubicle with free agent acquisition BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Scott has the chance to make his biggest impact yet. Perhaps finally generating enough shift on that scale to go from promise to production.