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Rick Gosselin of the Dallas Morning News releases an annual special teams list. A list that many people reference when discussing the undervalued topic of special teams, which sets up field position, scores points and makes life difficult for opposing offenses, especially with Kevin Huber often pinning them inside the twenty.
The Dallas Morning News' system ranked teams using 22 categories, assigning points like a golf score. According to Gosselin, the Bengals had the second-best special teams unit of the year with a score of 276. Cincinnati's 4.1 percent DVOA ranked seventh according to Football Outsiders, finishing in the top-five in weighted DVOA and a 4.2 hidden score.
Along with specialists Josh Brown, Mike Nugent and Kevin Huber, the Bengals have a handful of marquee special teams players entering free agency this year, including Manny Lawson, Andrew Hawkins (ER-FA), Brian Leonard, Cedric Peerman, Dan Skuta, Vincent Rey, Jeromy Miles and Clark Harris.