SB Nation - Alex Stepanovich

Strength in numbers; an examination of who the Bengals started the regular season since 2006

Kirkendall — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 17:05:45 -0000

When the preseason marches towards a welcomed conclusion, discussion and debate takes place on who the team cuts and keeps. Sometimes the topic goes into salary cap causalities; veterans that are cut, like Willie Anderson and Rudi Johnson last year. Other times, the debate talks about players that surprisingly make the roster. As jsl413 broke down, the Bengals depth is strong in some areas, weak in others. Which means the Bengals could strengthen weaken positions by increasing the depth. It's a numbers game.

You see that notably with linebackers. In 2006, Brian Simmons was nearing retirement; his production was falling. David Pollack, while great with potential, was only then starting to adjust from being a defensive end in college to an outside linebacker in the NFL. Rashad Jeanty was a rookie. Landon Johnson was arguably our best linebacker. If you look back to that season, only one linebacker remains (Jeanty) with the Bengals and as far as I can tell, three are still in the NFL (Jeanty, Johnson and Ahmad Brooks). The position didn't improve in 2007 and grew worse when it was decimated by injury. Dhani Jones, an unlikely stability force who would join the team later in the year, became the most productive middle linebacker during Marvin Lewis' tenure. By 2008, the linebackers were on pace to be the most talented group assembled, taking less into the regular season while numerically increasing their numbers at other spots, like running back, defensive tackles -- two spots with limited production. You'll obviously see that again this year, with Jones, Jeanty, Rivers, Brandon Johnson and Rey Maualuga as the depth leaders.

Running backs is another example. In 2006, and even 2007, Rudi Johnson was considered the team's feature back. No competition. Hands down. After all, he set franchise rushing records in 2004 and 2005. However, along with the offensive line's degradation, he started degrading (some will note his inadvisable weight loss regiment, losing all of his strength in 2006) until he was finally cut in 2008. More importantly, the Bengals decided to take two fullbacks because Jeremi Johnson was simply not the force he used to be and the team liked Coats' enough to make room for him. While the talent level dipped, the team decided to strengthen the depth with numbers.

Take note of this. Am I saying that the depth and position is stronger because there's more players? Obviously not. You either have talent or you don't. A combination of average talent still makes that position average. But it is a luxury that most teams have, which largely depends on play-calling philosophy, as well as projecting your opponents philosophies. If you take on more defensive backs in any given year because your passing defense is poor, it allows you additional packages. But it's also dictated by strength. You will note how once the team had Leon Hall and Johnathan Joseph, they believed the position strong enough to only take four cornerbacks in 2008, as opposed to five in 2007 and 2006. Safeties increased because a long-standing issue of giving up big plays was still unanswered. You can bank on at least six safeties this year.

After the jump, you can see which players the Bengals took after cutdown day and how many players the team took at each position.

First thing we should note are the roster cut deadlines:

DATE	EVENT
September 1st	Roster cutdown to maximum of 75 players
September 5th	Roster cutdown to maximum of 53 players

Here's a breakdown on what positions the Bengals after final cutdown heading into the regular season.

Position	2006	2007	2008
Quarterbacks	3	3	3
Running backs (including FB)	4	4 (1)	5 (2)
Wide Receivers	6	6	6
Offensive Linemen	9	8	9
Tight Ends	2	3	2
Total on Offense	24	24	25

Defensive Ends	4	5	4
Defensive Tackles	4	3	5
Linebackers	8	7	6
Cornerbacks	5	5	4
Safeties	5	6	6
Total on Defense	26	26	25

Specialists	3	3	3

After the jump, we chart which players the Bengals kept since 2006.

2006

Position	#	Players
Quarterbacks	3	Carson Palmer, Anthony Wright, Doug Johnson
RB / FB	4	Rudi Johnson, Kenny Watson, Quincy Wilson, Jeremi Johnson (FB)
WR	6	Chad Johnson, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Chris Henry, Tab Perry, Antonio Chatman, Kelley Washington
O-Line	9	Levi Jones, Eric Steinbach, Rich Braham, Bobbie Williams, Willie Anderson, Andrew Whitworth, Eric Ghiaciuc, Stacy Andrews, Scott Kooistra
TE	2	Reggie Kelly, Tony Stewart

DE	4	Justin Smith, Bryan Robinson, Robert Geathers, Frostee Rucker
DT	4	Sam Adams, John Thornton, Domata Peko, Shaun Smith
Linebackers	8	Brian Simmons, Landon Johnson, David Pollack, Rashad Jeanty, Marcus Wilkins, Ahmad Brooks, A.J. Nicholson, Caleb Miller
Corners	5	Deltha O'Neal, Tory James, Johnathan Joseph, Keiwan Ratliff, Greg Brooks
Safeties	5	Dexter Jackson, Madieu Williams, Kevin Kaesviharn, Ethan Kilmer, Herana-Daze Jones

Specialists	3	Shayne Graham, Kyle Larson, Brad St. Louis

2007

Position	#	Players
Quarterbacks	3	Carson Palmer, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Jeff Rowe
RB / FB	4	Rudi Johnson, Kenny Watson, Clinton Dawson, Jeremi Johnson (FB)
WR	6	Chad Johnson, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Tab Perry, Glenn Holt, Skyler Green, Antonio Chatman
O-Line	8	Levi Jones, Willie Anderson, Bobbie Williams, Andrew Whitworth, Stacy Andrews, Scott Kooistra, Eric Ghiaciuc, Alex Stepanovich
TE	3	Reggie Kelly, Daniel Coats, Nate Lawrie

DE	5	Justin Smith, Robert Geathers, Bryan Robinson, Frostee Rucker, Jonathan Fanene
DT	3	Domata Peko, John Thornton, Michael Myers
Linebackers	7	Ahmad Brooks, Rashad Jeanty, Landon Johnson, Caleb Miller, Lemar Marshall, Andre Frazier, Anthony Schlegel
Corners	5	Deltha O'Neal, Leon Hall, Johnathan Joseph, Keiwan Ratliff, David Jones
Safeties	6	Dexter Jackson, Chinedum Ndukwe, Madieu Williams, Marvin White, Herana-Daze Jones, Ethan Kilmer

Specialists	3	Shayne Graham, Kyle Larson, Brad St. Louis

2008

Position	#	Players
Quarterbacks	3	Carson Palmer, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Jordan Palmer
RB / FB	5	Chris Perry, Kenny Watson, DeDe Dorsey, Jeremi Johnson (FB), Daniel Coats (FB)
WR	6	Chad Johnson, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Glenn Holt, Antonio Chatman, Andre Caldwell, Jerome Simpson
O-Line	9	Stacy Andrews, Levi Jones, Eric Ghiaciuc, Bobbie Williams, Andrew Whitworth, Dan Santucci, Kyle Cook, Scott Kooistra, Anthony Collins
TE	2	Reggie Kelly, Ben Utecht

DE	4	Antwan Odom, Robert Geathers, Jonathan Fanene, Frostee Rucker
DT	5	Domata Peko, John Thornton, Jason Shirley, Pat Sims, Michael Myers
Linebackers	6	Keith Rivers, Rashad Jeanty, Dhani Jones, Darryl Blackstock, Brandon Johnson, Corey Mays
Corners	4	Leon Hall, Johnathan Joseph, Simeon Castille, David Jones
Safeties	6	Dexter Jackson, Kyries Hebert, Herana-Daze Jones, Corey Lynch, Chinedum Ndukwe, Marvin White

Specialists	3	Shayne Graham, Kyle Larson, Brad St. Louis

Report: C Jeremy Newberry Will Retire

Dave the Falconer — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:44:14 -0000

Man, you just sign a guy and he decides to quit football forever. Isn't that just the way of things?

ProFootballTalk reports that Jeremy Newberry, he of the bad knees and veteran pedigree, will retire before the season begins. This removes the veteran insurance from the equation if something happens to ~~Troy~~ Todd McClure and brings signing Brett Romberg into a backup role. The team might also crawl back to Alex Stepanovich and beg him to come back, which probably will result in a West SIde Story-style love, er, story. I just re-signed a lineman named Stepanovich...

Crazy ramblings aside, this isn't a good thing. Newberry was somewhat of a question mark because of his injury history, but it's rare to see someone of his skillset backing up a starter who has had one or two injuries of his own to contend with. Our depth takes an immediate hit, and while I like Romberg, we're not really sure what he's going to be able to do.

Of course, this is all moot if McClure just stays healthy and effective all year, but this rainy day must be killing my optimism. What are your thoughts?

Bengals kickoff minicamp; Palmer says team is focused, "best talent we've had"

Kirkendall — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:57:30 -0000

Today kicks off the team's weekend mandatory minicamp that goes through Saturday, June 20. As far as we know, we'll have the entire squad report. Chick Ludwig previews the minicamp at Paul Brown Stadium this weekend. James Walker will be in attendance also. Geoff Hobson breaks down the roster.

Carson Palmer is excited by the team's maturity and depth of talent, saying it's the best its been since he's been here.

“In my seven years here, this has been as good as its been,” Palmer said. “The mindset of the team, the amount of distractions is down and the focus is where it needs to be. As far as talent wise, this is probably the best talent we've had but the most maturity we've had by far. We're where we need to be, we’re headed in the right direction.”

He compares the team this year to the team last year.

“You compare where we are to last year, you could just tell we were a bad football team,” Palmer said. “Going into training camp, coming out of training camp. Week 1, it just felt terrible. We were out of synch, out of rhythm, all of our guys weren’t there. It was a scary year going in, then we start 0-2, 0-3, 0-4, you could see it coming.

Is there anything more pointless than a Chat on ESPN?

Michael Johnson has a chip on his shoulder after scouts and teams lowered his stock saying that he took plays off. "If they had asked any of my teammates, guys who played around me, and even guys who played against me, they would have told them that's bogus."

If the Bengals go with four defensive ends, Frostee Rucker is likely the odd man out.

When asked the question "What should the Bengals do with Ochocinco?", Charley Casserly and Rod Woodson agreed: Keep Him (not that there's a choice now).

Ben Utecht will be at Riverbend tonight, giving help to Maestro Erich Kunzel conducting "the Cincinnati Pops and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir."

Remember Alex Stepanovich; he backed up Eric Ghiaciuc in 2007 and started four games. The Falcons cut him on Wednesday, bringing their center count down to three. In other former tOSU players that made a stop in Cincinnati news, the Jacksonville Jaguars signed quarterback Todd Boeckman. Note, Boeckman only tried out during rookie camp.

Atlanta Falcons Ink C Jeremy Newberry

Dave the Falconer — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 22:21:02 -0000

There has been speculation for months now that the Falcons might sign Jeremy Newberry as insurance at center, and today they made that dream a reality.

Twelve seasons into his career, the reliable center is not the same player he once was, primarily due to knee injuries that have left him less mobile than before. Still, he played in all sixteen games for the San Diego Chargers last season and is still a terrific backup to have around. That's especially true if the team managed to sign him for cheap, which I suspect is the case.

Of course, there's a slight chance that Newberry will be competing to start if McClure has any problems this season, which is a little bit more frightening. If that happened, it would leave whoever's left out of Alex Stepanovich, Brett Romberg, Ben Wilkerson and Newberry to duke it out for a starting job. My hunch is that given the injury concerns with the position, the Falcons will keep Romberg and Newberry behind McClure.

Basically, it's at worst a nice depth move for the Falcons, who need all the help they can get along the offensive line. I'm on board with it. How about you?

Thursday Afternoon Links and Notes -- Several NFL Teams Struggling With Ticket Sales

Kirkendall — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 20:01:35 -0000

Even though the Bengals are sold out Sunday, tickets are available at less than face value. It would seem that teams and tickets sales (or lack thereof) aren't just exclusive to the Bengals, in relation to other NFL teams. A furniture company bought 3,100 tickets in Detroit to lift the blackout. The NFL granted the San Diego Chargers (tickets bought by a local Fox affiliate) and the Arizona Cardinals a 24-hour extension to sell off their tickets to avoid a blackout, and the Vikings have over 6,000 tickets for week three's contest against the Panthers. Jacksonville hasn't sold out their game this Sunday, the Dolphins can't sell season tickets.

Sadly, the issue isn't reserved for just crappy teams -- rather several 2007 playoff teams are having problems.

When Dolphins right guard Donald Thomas was placed on Injured Reserve, it gave Ike Ndukwe the first shot at taking the spot. Even though Ndukwe is taking first team snaps, the Dolphins signed Evan Mathias, who Matty says, "probably will be the guy to take Thomas' spot once he gets better acclimated to this team." Yes, Ike is the older brother of Chinedum Ndukwe. Why else would we posting this?

Did you know that the Bengals are the fourth youngest team in the NFL with an average age of 25.81? Never really occurred to me either.

Let's see. Terrell Suggs says that the Ravens defense felt "super confident" about the matchups AFTER Willie Anderson and Rudi Johnson were let go. Titans' linebacker, Keith Bulluck is "still chapped" about last year's 35-6 loss to the Bengals.

Behind the Steel Curtain ranks the Bengals the 15th best AFC Team. Thank god for the Raiders, eh?

DID YOU KNOW: After starting up Bolts From The Blue (Chargers) and Gang Green Nation (NY Jets), Sports Blog Nation (the blog this site is apart of), now has all 32 NFL teams represented.

San Francisco Quarterback Alex Smith is on IR. He "never had much of a shot".

Vince Young will have to earn his starting job back, once (if) he returns.

Former Bengals center, Alex Stepanovich returns to the Atlanta Falcons.

What happens with the Saints offense now that Marques Colston could miss up to six weeks with a torn ligament in his left thumb?

Week 1 Injury Report

Sean Yuille — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 05:38:58 -0000

DETROIT LIONS
Pos.	Player	Injury	Status
QB	Drew Stanton	Right Thumb	Probable
TE	Dan Campbell	Hamstring	Probable

ATLANTA FALCONS
Pos.	Player	Injury	Status
C	Alex Stepanovich	Back	Doubtful
LB	Coy Wire	Ankle	Questionable
S	Thomas DeCoud	Ankle	Questionable

NFL INJURY REPORT GUIDE
Status	Definition
Probable	75% chance that the player will play in the game
Questionable	50% chance that the player will play in the game
Doubtful	25% chance that the player will play in the game
Out	0% chance that the player will play in the game

Thursday Notes: Even More on "Bag-Gate"

Sean Yuille — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 04:00:08 -0000

Tatum Bell attempted to get in contact with Rudi Johnson yesterday to "talk to him man-to-man," but didn't have any success in doing so. Bell has taken an aggressive approach in trying to clear his name as he is currently a laughing stock all across the country.

The story of him stealing Johnson's bags spread like wildfire after Pro Football Talk first broke the news Tuesday night. In a matter of hours it began to spread across the Internet, and by the morning it hit the mainstream media. By then it was only a matter of time until ESPN and other major outlets picked up the story, putting Bell in a very tough spot.

Bell continues to call this one big misunderstanding and maintains that he thought the bags belonged to his friend and recently released Lion Victor DeGrate. However, that doesn't explain why they were returned to the Lions without Johnson's stuff. The blame could be put on the mysterious woman that somehow got the bags, but no one really cares about her as Bell is without a doubt the focus of this story, and it doesn't seem like it's going away anytime soon.
Only tight end Dan Campbell and quarterback Drew Stanton are currently listed on the Lions' week 1 injury report. Campbell is still dealing with a nagging hamstring injury that just seems like it will never go away (he did fully practice the last two days, though), and Stanton, as we all know, has a hurt right thumb.
Three Falcons players -- center Alex Stepanovich, linebacker Coy Wire, and safety Thomas DeCoud -- are listed on the Atlanta's injury report.
Rudi Johnson will play on Sunday and Rod Marinelli said that Johnson's hamstring didn't appear to be bothering him. (Johnson recently had a hamstring injury)
ESPN's Kevin Seifert wrote a great piece on Calvin Johnson and how he should have an amazing season this year.
The director of security for the Lions, Ricky Sandoval, is going to be featured on a show called "Stand Up To Cancer" that will air on NBC, ABC, and CBS this Friday at 8 p.m. 27 months ago Sandoval was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer, and he and Rod Marinelli were interviewed for the show.
On a side note, Sandoval was the one that showed Rudi Johnson the surveillance video of Tatum Bell taking his bags.
Tickets are still available for the Lions' home opener on September 14 against the Packers.
The Free Press has a photo gallery from yesterday's Lions pet calendar photo shoot. The gallery opens with a picture of Ernie Sims and his two pit bulls, and honestly I'm a bit surprised he didn't bring any of his reptiles to the shoot. I guess they didn't want those kinds of pets roaming around Ford Field. Then again, go to picture #9 and take a look at what one of Mike Furrey's dogs appears to be doing right on the 50-yard line.
Along with wearing a patch, the NFL will honor Gene Upshaw by stenciling his initials and number on the fields of all 16 week 1 games.
Redskins tight end Chris Cooley had to explain how to play fantasy football to many of his teammates.