SB Nation - Andre Frazier

Bengals First Quarter Review: Saying satisfied like only Billy Dee Williams can

Kirkendall — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:27:55 -0000

Ah, another week in which Bengals fans (us) are granted an extension of a beautiful luxury having a win under our belts. Not just win, mind you. A division win. Do you know the impact of that? The Bengals are the only team in the division with a 2-0 record against the division.

AFC North Standings Through Four Games in 2009
Teams	Record	PF	PA	Div.	Conf.
Baltimore Ravens	3-1	124	80	1-0	3-1
Cincinnati Bengals	3-1	84	76	2-0	2-1
Pittsburgh Steelers	2-2	85	78	0-1	2-1
Cleveland Browns	0-4	49	118	0-2	0-3

The Bengals have allowed the least amount of points than any team in the division; Cincinnati's 76 points allowed is better than 11 AFC teams. You have to admit, that's like Rice Krispie treat covered in chocolate and peanut butter, or jamming out to an old school Guns N' Roses song where you actually think that you're as smooth and cool as Slash. As we noted earlier, the Bengals have started 3-1 only four times dating back to 1990; three times during the Marvin Lewis era, which includes this year's heart-stopping indigestion-filled (and in some cases, chain-smoking) season. So far we're a quarter of the way through the season and it's appropriate that we dive into quarterly reviews.

I've never subscribed to the school that you can grade a team using a variety of letters when summarizing the first four games of a 16-game schedule. When you got graded in school, the letters had meaning behind them. They are letters that fall within a range of numbers that represents the percentage of properly answered questions. When we use letters grading football teams, it becomes a little too arbitrary; they don't have any substance behind them. I don't mind others that do it. I really don't. Live and let live, I always say. It's their thing and we're but a small gear in the blogging world. But I don't like using them. Instead, we're taking a new approach with a grading system that goes outstanding, satisfactory, nervous, and terrible. I'm sure our system goes without saying, which is the most innovative and detailed system to date.

CARSON PALMER. There's two arguments with Carson Palmer. There's the ineffective through most of the game, Carson Palmer. Then there's the Carson Palmer that routinely puts the Bengals into position to win the football game. His numbers have been very ordinary and he's yet to eclipse the 300-yard passing mark. However, after beating Cleveland, Palmer is on the good side of a touchdown-interception ratio again. I've never been a believer in grades but I do subscribe that Carson Palmer is the Harvey Dent of NFL quarterbacks. This is why I have to grade Palmer on two levels. He's made me nervous during the game, but outstanding when it comes to winning the game.

Most important note: 3-1 when starting as team quarterback.
Stat of concern: on pace for a career low 57.7% completion percentage.

RUNNING BACKS: Grade: Satisfied. It's hard to argue with results. Through four games this season, the Bengals have racked up an impressive 491 rushing yards -- averaging 122 yards-per-game. Averaging 4.4 yards per-carry on 84 attempts, Cedric Benson alone has rushed for 367 yards -- 91.8 yards a game (which may be a result of a lack of carries lately, his average since the Denver game is nearly 4.8 yards per carry). Benson has done a good job consistently gaining yards, but he hasn't quite been explosive. His longest rush this year is for 23 yards (the touchdown against Pittsburgh). Interestingly, Benson has had exponentially more success rushing to the left side, averaging over 6 yards per carry. Up the middle and to the right, Benson is averaging between 1 and 3.5 yards per carry - that's just not very good, but this is a criticism of the right side of the O-line, that could surely benefit from the return of an in-shape Andre Smith. The rest of the running backs have been pretty decent. Jeremi Johnson hasn't been glaringly bad in the run blocking game, and hybrid back Brian Leonard has epitomized clutch - mostly as a receiver out of the backfield. Rookie Bernard Scott has flashed his talent early this season, but his big runs are also going to the left side of the line. He's been good when he's been used, but that's been rare. Scott has also been promising in the return game. I give this group a passing grade of satisfactory bordering on "good", but not outstanding. They don't get an outstanding mark from me because they aren't producing enough. That may or may not be their fault, though.

Most important note: 122 rushing yards a game is good news. If we can get Andre Smith working into the rushing game on the right side of the line later this season, that number could improve. We might finally be a solid rushing offense.
Concern: The concern is really with offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski and the offensive line. Brat has been too reliant on the pass (especially in the Browns game), and the right side of the offensive line is not opening holes for running backs.
- Jake (jsl413)

WIDE RECEIVERS

Ochocinco through first four games
	Rec.	Yrd	TD
2009	17	258	3
2008	11	116	1
2007	28	495	3
2006	18	201	1
2005	26	374	3
2004	20	297	1
2003	21	370	3
2002	18	221	1

Chad Ochocinco
Ranking: Outstanding
Chad is officially back. After a horrific 2008, Ocho has returned to the form that makes him one of the better receivers in the NFL. Not only is he talking the talk, he's walking it as well, something his three touchdown catches indicate quite well. Whether Chad is Lambeau leaping or being held back from Cleveland's Dawg Pound, Ocho is once again a terror for opposing defenses and fans alike. Sure, he's had a drop or two so far, and the fact he and Carson haven't fully integrated the long ball is cause for concern, but the flea-flicker play against Green Bay proves it's still a viable option. Maybe now they can use it a little more. Currently, Chad is on pace for a 68-catch, 1000-yard, 12 touchdown season. While I would expect the touchdown numbers to perhaps shrink, the opposite is true for his catches and receiving yards. Welcome back Ocho. Now go tweet your day away.
- Chris (IFChris)

Andre Caldwell.
Ranking: Outstanding/Satisfactory
Introducing the Bengals second leading receiver, yard/receptions-wise. Granted, I think many of us expected to see Laveranues Coles or Chris Henry here, but obviously, Caldwell has something to say about that. Caldwell, even though he's more of a slot-receiver, is proving to be a reliable number two to Chad's one. Caldwell has six more catches than Coles and eleven more than Henry. He's on pace for a 64-catch season, which would be a personal record, and would eclipse his before-this-season-started career total by 37 catches. The only reason Caldwell doesn't get an "Outstanding" is for that ugly fumble he had against Cleveland on Sunday.
- Chris (IFChris)

Laveranues Coles.
Ranking: Nervous.
Currently, Coles ranks third in the NFL with three dropped passes, something that does not inspire a great deal of confidence. When he was signed by Cincinnati, he was expected to fill the shoes left behind by T.J. Houshmandzadeh, however, it seems that job as gone to Caldwell. Coles can still get open and judging by last season's stats, he's still a very capable receiver; which is why I haven't completely given up on him. As long as Coles can keep his hands on the ball when Palmer throws it his way, we'll all be fine. Last season, Coles collected almost 900 yards and seven touchdowns. If he gets near that kind of production for the Bengals, his ranking would quickly move to the "Outstanding" neighborhood. Until he stops dropping the ball, however, his signing is going to be a disappointment.
- Chris (IFChris)

Chris Henry.
Ranking: Nervous.
After a brilliant preseason, I think all of us expected Henry to show the league just how good he can be. Alas, that has not been the case. Currently, the following Bengals (besides the ones listed above) have more catches than the one they call "Slim" -- Daniel Coats (8), Brian Leonard (11, Leonard is actually the third-leading receiver, catch-wise, on the Bengals), and Cedric Benson (6). Further, Henry is tied with J.P. Foschi, who has five. So what does this say about Slim? Is he not working hard enough or is something just not clicking? Or is it that Caldwell is simply outplaying him? Before the season started, Henry was looked at as the best deep threat on the Bengals offense, so what gives? Should the Bengals be using 4-wide sets more than they use 3-wides? Or is Henry -- who has thankfully stayed out of trouble -- simply the odd man out in a Ocho/Coles/Caldwell trio? As you can see, there are a lot more questions than answers here, and until we have a larger portion of the season to work with, I'm tempted to change Slim's grade to an "Incomplete."
- Chris (IFChris)

OFFENSIVE LINE. Grade: Satisfied. We could recap all that's happened in the past calendar year. We could say that the Bengals offensive line in 2008, with Levi Jones, Eric Ghiaciuc and Stacy Andrews were the "weakest links". Football Outsiders ranked the Bengals offensive line as one of the worst offensive lines in football. But we won't. Why dig up history when there's a better future, just over there, behind the mole hill. No, that's not the mole hill. That's the Bengals 2009 offensive line (was that a bit corny)?

Andrew Whitworth slides to left tackle. Nate Livings and Evan Mathis work time at left guard. Kyle Cook wins the job at center, with rookie Jonathan Luigs always in the background looking for playing time. Bobbie Williams and Anthony Collins holding down the right side of the fort with a WWE entrance soon coming for first-round pick Andre Smith. I won't call the offensive line Outstanding. But I'm more than comfortable to say that they've clearly been satisfactory -- and improving each week.

	Sacks	Yrd/Rush Avg.	Adj. Line Yards *	Adj. Sack Rate *
2008	12	3.46	3.22 - 32nd	8.6% - 27th
2009	9	4.5	4.33 - 10th	6.5% - 23rd

* Stats by Football Outsiders

Quarterback Sacks from D-Line
Antwan Odom	8
Jonathan Fanene	1
Pat Sims	0.5
Robert Geathers	0.5

DEFENSIVE LINE. Grade: Satisfied. Through four games, the Cincinnati Bengals defensive line are leading a pack of wolves that's recorded 12 sacks as a unit this year. Ten of those sacks have come from the defensive front four. Antwan Odom, the guy that will sack you at Krogers for taking the last box of Wheat Thins, not only leads the team with an NFL-high eight sacks, he's also the leading tackler on the defensive front. Against the Browns, Robert Geathers returned a fumble 75 yards for a touchdown (boy, that kind of sounded like an after-thought, didn't it?).

However, all of that said, I'm hesitant calling this defensive front outstanding. Maybe it's because we set the benchmark so high with Carson Palmer's late game heroics. Still, the defensive front, while it's played well, still lacks a constant pass rush and there were noticeable rushing lanes against the Cleveland Browns, who came into the game with a 71.3 yard-per-game rushing average (29th in the NFL).

Linebackers	Tackles
Keith Rivers	29
Dhani Jones	25
Rey Maualuga	19
Brandon Johnson	16
Abdul Hodge	3
Rashad Jeanty	3

LINEBACKERS. Grade: Satisfied. Our linebackers in 2007 consisted of Lemar ~~Parrish~~ Marshall, Landon Johnson, Caleb Miller, Andre Frazier, Anthony Schlegel and Rashad Jeanty. If it wasn't for the Ravens linebackers, the Bengals linebacker unit would still be bad. Several were lost early in the season, which opened a spot for crazy journey man (quite literally) Dhani Jones. Two years later, Jones is one of the leaders on defense and the most consistent tackler. They put guys like Keith Rivers and Rey Maualuga around him giving the team a promising trio of linebackers to start the season. Beyond that, the Bengals have two backup linebackers in Brandon Johnson, who plays in nickel packages and Jeanty who each recorded over 100 tackles last season. In terms of Maualuga, the rookie strong-side linebacker has forced two fumbles and a sack along with his 19 total tackles.

SECONDARY. Grade: Nervous. The Bengals secondary has been challenged much of the season, allowing 242.3 yards passing per game. They are 26th in the league. The secondary has had its issues preventing big plays, allowing 17 passing plays of 20 yards or more -- most in the NFL. Much of the blame could be brought on because of the team's safeties defense against slot receivers; hasn't been very good. It could also be softer coverage, worried about the 40-yard strikes instead of the 20-yard variety. Furthermore, Johnathan Joseph's two interceptions this season are the team's only interceptions through four games.

I think Leon Hall and Joseph have played well above satisfactory levels when defending the pass. And Joseph more so against the rush. However, I think outside those two cornerbacks, the secondary has work to do; especially against the pass.

Kevin Huber in 2009
Punts:	30
Long:	61 yards
Avg.	42.9
Net Avg.	35.8
Inside-20	10

SPECIAL TEAMS. Grade: Nervously terrible yet sometimes outstandingly satisfied. It took you a couple of times to re-read the grade, didn't it? It's complicated. Kevin Huber has been outstanding. Shayne Graham has been ordinary. The kickoff return teams is 25th in the league and the punt return team ranks in the top-five. Brad St. Louis is still on the team. It's almost like you have a good, a bad, a middle, a good and then another bad. Really. Is there a more roller coaster unit in the NFL than the Bengals special teams? So how do I grade the entire unit? Can one do such a thing? I'm nervous every time the Bengals attempt to kick. I yawn when the kickoff return team, you know, returns. Huber is the only punter in the known galaxy that actually makes me pump my fist and Quan Cosby is the first guy that returns punts on this team that makes it a realistic dream he could return it for touchdown.

What do you guys think? Where are we at the quarter point of the season?

Steelers Rookies Seeing Significant Playing Time

Blitzburgh — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 23:00:39 -0000

I just wanted to throw this discussion starter out there to see what some of you guys thought - are the Steelers making more little mistakes early on in the 2009 season because they are working in a high volume of rookies compared to in years past? It's fairly well documented that rookies don't often see the field much during their first season in Pittsburgh. There have been exceptions, for sure, but for the most part, players are forced to learn the ropes for a year or two behind more seasoned, veteran players before getting their first real crack at making an impact for the Black 'n Gold.

Take last season, for example. The 2008 Rookie of the Year for Pittsburgh was reserve linebacker and special teams contributor, Patrick Bailey, an undrafted free agent rookie out of Duke. Donovan Woods (also undrafted) saw the field sparingly; so did Bruce Davis, the team's 3rd round pick. Other than that though, there was very little playing time for any of Pittsburgh's 1st year players last year.

What about in 2005, the other recent year Pittsburgh won the Super Bowl? The Steelers were introduced the services of Heath Miller that year, and he played quite a bit and fairly well. There was also rookie cornerback Bryant McFadden, who was also forced in to action later in the year due to injuries. Outside of those two, the Steelers other crop of rookies didn't play too much. Trai Essex was used sparingly; same with Chris Kemoeatu and Nate Washington. Undrafted free agent Andre Frazier made a few plays on special teams, and rookie long snapper Greg Warren saw playing time. That's about it though.

This year, the Steelers are incorporating quite a few first year players in to the fold. And they're doing so with mixed results I'd say. 1st round pick Ziggy Hood has played very little, but has appeared in all three games. The team's two 3rd round picks - Mike Wallace and Keenan Lewis - have also played early on. Wallace of course has been largely spectacular through three games. He caught 7 passes for 102 yards in Sunday's loss and now has 12 catches on the year, and at least 2 in each of his first three professional games. Despite his outstanding play, he's nevertheless made a few rookie mistakes the past two weeks. The most notable one came last week when he didn't stay in bounds late in the 4th quarter when the Steelers were on the move and trying to set up a potential Jeff Reed game-winning FG. By not staying in bounds, the Steelers left enough time on the clock for Jay Cutler to engineer a game-winning drive of his own following Reed's second costly miss. Wallace looks like he's going to be a player, but he can still help the Steelers chances of winning by eliminating some of the small, mental mistakes that players tend to outgrow as their careers progress.

Then there's Joe Burnett, who muffed his way out of a more prominent role on special teams during the preseason. By doing so, he opened up the door for Stefan Logan to win the return duties. That's all fine and well, and congratulations to Logan for seizing the opportunity and performing fairly well so far, but giving up a roster spot for a return specialist perhaps also has repercussions that aren't necessarily visible or easy to identify just yet.

Then there's Frank Summers, who also was seeing the field frequently before sitting this past Sunday's game out. Summers has shown promise on special teams and he's got every opportunity in the world to learn the nuances of being a professional fullback. But for now, he's missing assignments and not really making his big, bruising frame work for him or the running game.

Again, I'm not really pointing to specific plays or instances where the 2009 Steelers rookie class has cost the team. I'm just making a general point that the team is working in far more young bodies than we are accustomed to. This will pay dividends for the organization down the road, and perhaps even for this team later on in the 2009 season. There will be more growing pains though I'd guess before things really all start to come together for this particular squad. That's part of the process and the reality of life in the National Football League. As fans, we must be both excited about all the fresh talent in the pipeline while also remaining realistic about the growing curve that these young players must face and overcome before consistently contributing to a ballclub with championship aspirations.

Thoughts?

Pittsburgh Steelers Post-Game Review: The Special Teams

Blitzburgh — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 06:26:17 -0000

More photos » by M. Spencer Green - AP

It wasn't Jeff Reed's day Sunday against the Bears. Reed's two missed field goal attempts in the 4th quarter ultimately allowed the game to slip away from the Steelers.

Browse more photos »

Let's continue talking about various aspects of Pittsburgh's 14-17 loss to the Chicago Bears with a look at how the special teams fared on Sunday. Of course, two missed field goal opportunities by Jeff Reed helped Chicago steal a victory at home against the defending champions. But there were other phases of the special teams that gave Steelers fans reason to be optimistic moving forward.

* I was one again very pleased with the coverage units on special teams. The Bears averaged a little less than 18 yards per kickoff return and just 7 yards per punt return. Andre Frazier, in particular, seems to keep sticking out as the guy most frequently around the football on special teams coverage units. It's not a one man effort though. All 11 guys seem to be flooding to the ball while still maintaining their discipline and staying in their lanes. I believe the defense will continue to be a bit vulnerable with Polamalu injured, so it will be as important as ever for the special teams to limit field position for opposing offenses.

* On a similar note, a tip of the cap to punter Daniel Sepulveda for a job well done Sunday. Last week against the Titans, Sepulveda posted nice numbers - 7 punts, 42.7 average, 4 downed inside the 20. But I didn't see a booming leg that made me believe he could be a true weapon. I did today, though. Sepulveda punted 3 times for an average of 54.3 yards per punt. He had one beauty - a 58 yarder - that landed inside the 10 and sat down nicely inside the 5 yard line before being downed by Joe Burnett at the 3 yard line. Sepulveda had much better hang time and leg on his kicks this week despite the rainy conditions in Chicago.

* What can you say about Jeff Reed's performance? He's been so good for so long that it's not even really worth going there. If he struggles in forthcoming weeks, there will be a legitimate cause for concern. You can't win in this league without a kicker that is nails. The Steelers in particular need great field goal kicking. They're not an outstanding red zone team. Let's just move on for now and hope this was an aberration.

* Finally, Stefan Logan was again good in his second NFL game. Not great, but solid. He finished with an average of 25 yards per kickoff return and took one punt return 19 yards that helped set up a Pittsburgh touchdown. Honestly though, despite him playing pretty well through two weeks, I would be fairly surprised if Logan remains on the 53-man roster for the remainder of the season. Unless he's really effecting ballgames, he's not worth keeping on the roster.

Steelers Defeat Titans 13-10 in Overtime, Begin Title Defense With Opening Victory

Blitzburgh — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 04:00:58 -0000

Ok, whew. 1-0. As Mike Tomlin said last year, people get too preoccupied with style points. Tonight's 13-10 victory by the Pittsburgh Steelers over the Tennessee Titans left plenty to be desired if you were looking for perfection, but at the end of the day, just about everything imperative that we needed to see did in fact unfold. To my notes from the game.

* Hmm, where to start? Well, I guess as good a place as any is to state that the 2009 Steelers really aren't going to be much different than the 2008 Steelers. By that I mean we can all forget about some sort of revamped running game against the league's better rush defenses. The Steelers proved again tonight that picking up tough yardage in the running game against a stout defense is going to be tough this coming season. The Steelers finished with just 36 yards on 23 carries and were a mediocre 4/14 on 3rd down partly because of their inability to again move the chains on 3rd and short situations with the ground game.

* If the running game was a disappointment, Big Ben's performance had to be considered an outstanding development. The 2-time Super Bowl winning quarterback completed 12 straight passes at one point late in the game and finished with 363 yards passing on 33 of 43 attempts. He was picked off twice but one of those came at the end of the half on a Hail Mary. His other interception was an early season miscalculation, but all in all I thought Roethlisberger looked exquisitely sharp and more ready than ever to lead his team to great things. Bottom line is this team has a top 3 quarterback in this league and that's going to take you pretty far. Couple that with an elite defense and look out...

* Would this be the year that Santonio Holmes broke through and emerged as a true star at the wide receiver position? And if he did - and actually, if he didn't as well - would he handle the situation with the class of a Steelers player and continue to work within the team framework? For a night, Holmes proved he was both ready to establish himself as a Pro Bowl caliber play maker as well as to wait his turn and wait for the game to come to him patiently. Holmes finished with 9 catches for 131 yards and 1 touchdown.

* Obviously his fumble at the end of regulation was a huge mistake, but I was also pleased to see Hines Ward play good football tonight against a pretty solid Titans secondary. Ward also finished with 100+ yards. He caught 8 balls for 103 and again proved that he's capable of getting the offense going with one of his patented big plays. His 29 yard catch and run near the end of the first half led to the game's first score just several plays later.

* Changing gears here...is Tennesee the Ohio State of the NFL? Jeff Fisher is a pretty good football coach, don't get me wrong. He's never really going to 'lose' a football team like you'll see a Romeo Crennel or an Eric Mangini do. But I don't know if I'd ever truly like my chances under Jeff Fisher with just a solid quarterback like Kerry Collins (as compared to a very, very good one like Steve McNair in his prime).

* Justin Gage more or less had his way with William Gay I felt. Gage finished with 7 catches for 78 yards and 1 touchdown. Not sure just how many of those catches came against Gay, but it felt like a fair number of them were against him. There was also at least one big gain from Gage against Gay that was negated by penalty. Gay, to his credit, also made some nice plays against the Titans, but as I've been since the minute we let Bryant McFadden walk, I'm still concerned about Gay playing a full season in a huge role opposite Ike Taylor. Particularly if...

* Troy Polamlu is seriously injured. Polamalu was absolutely dominating the game before his left knee was tweaked on a blocked FG attempt that he tried to pick up and run. 280 pound Alge Crumpler landed on his knee, extending it awkwardly. These notes are being written just a bit after the conclusion of the game, so no news yet has surfaced about the severity of Polamalu's injury. Expect the worse though. It looked ugly on television. Fingers crossed.

If Polamalu is lost for a significant amount of time, all bets are off really with this defense. I think it could still be good. Very good, in fact. But the bottom line is the offense will have to be significantly more consistent and be better controlling the clock if Polamalu were not back there on defense being a game-changer. Let's just wait and see for now.

* Staying on the defensive side of the ball, a quick kudos to Keyaron Fox for his nice game filling in for Lawrence Timmons at inside linebacker. Fox finished with 5 tackles and really did a noticeably good job against both the pass and the run. The Steelers will benefit from Timmons's return, particularly if Polamalu is lost for a number of games, but it's really, really good to know that the Steelers seem to have a player in Fox who's just about as solid and complete a player as Larry Foote was for the past several years in Pittsburgh.

* In my brief preview to the game, I wondered who would fill the void left by Anthony Madison being cut. Well, for a night it was two mainstay veterans of special teams - Andre Frazier and Arnold Harrison. Both were outstanding headhunters on special teams against the Titans. Well done.

Notes and links for Ohio football; if you love Cincinnati-area football, we might have a job for you

Kirkendall — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 20:28:48 -0000

Even though we're a blog that specifically talks about the Cincinnati Bengals, we try our damnest to talk about other area football teams; especially the Ohio State Buckeyes and the University of Cincinnati Bearcats. The truth of the matter is, when the Bengals were recording their worst season since 2002 (2-14), the University of Cincinnati was in the middle of their first BCS season since, well, the BCS started. It didn't just make the season the Bengals were having passable (if that phrase even exists); it was exciting as hell. As was the run the Buckeyes have, save for that one game during the third week of the season; I can't remember the result, or even who we played; in fact, I have no memory of September 13, 2008. If you're remotely a fan of the UC Bearcats, or have this uncontrollable instinct to simply cheer anything related to your hometown, then how are you not excited about the Bearcats? The Buckeyes. Well, we're extremely nervous. In truth, even with the Bengals and Browns, football in Ohio is the best football product in any state in the union; that includes Florida, Texas and California. I'm biased for Ohio football. I don't care. It's the best. So when we have time, or when we start feeling all Swine-Flu sick talking about the Bengals because their season turns into a wreck, we'll talk Ohio football. Now, I know readers might not care; they just want Bengals news and nothing else. I can respect that. So in our Ohio football that doesn't include the Browns posts, we'll keep it short, and anyone wanting to continue, can click on the jump.

(Note: if you have a love for Ohio football, especially the Bearcats and Cincinnati area football, drop me an email. I might have a job for you).

Now, onto links and notes.

Go Bearcats takes a look at the 12 former Bearcats on NFL rosters. They are Conner Barwin (Texans), John Bowie (Raiders), Brandon Underwood (Packers), Brent Celek (Eagles), Trent Coles (Eagles), Troy Evans (Saints), Andre Frazier (Steelers), Tyjuan Hagler (Colts), Haruki Nakamura (Ravens), Mike Wright (Patriots), Antonio Chatman (Bengals) and Kevin Huber (Bengals).

Seven former Bearcat players were released from NFL rosters this weekend: which includes Mike Mickens (Cowboys), Corey Smith (Chiefs), DeAngelo Smith (Cowboys) Digger Bujnoch (Saints), Adam Hoppel (Browns), Manalac (Bills) and Trevor Canfield (Cardinals)

However, Joe Reedy Tweets that DeAngelo Smith was claimed by the Browns.

The Bearcats season kicks Monday (Labor Day) at Rutgers at 4 PM. It will be broadcast on ESPN. Quarterback questions for Rutgers.

Brian Kelly doesn't like opening the season against a Big East team on the road.

Tony Pike and Mardy Gilyard are great offensive players for the Bearcats and likely NFL prospects. However, the Bearcats also have Jeff Linkenbach, a 6'6", 311 pound left tackle.

"He had a great year last year," offensive coordinator Jeff Quinn said of Linkenbach. "Without him as our left tackle, who knows what could have been the outcome of the season?"

The Bearcats' newest defensive coordinator, Bob Diaco, is the complete opposite of Mike Zimmer. Aaron Webster, the team's free safety, says of Diaco. “He’s a real mellow person. You can tell not a lot gets to him. He’s not really flustered when there’s controversy or when adversity hits.”

UC joined IMG College and ISP Stadium Seating to provide Nippert stadium with 10,000 cushioned seats with backs.

"Over the past few seasons more and more fans have come up to us and asked if there was anything we could do about the uncomfortable red seats in Nippert. When we looking into this, the most economical and comfortable alternative was to partner with an outside vendor who could help us solve our fan's comfort issue, and do so at a reasonable price. We tested these types of seats over the last two years and decided to move forward with a mass installation for the 2009 season. ISP Stadium Seating has answered our charge and will serve our fans well this season and for many years to come."

Hopefully 2010 will be a season where seats aren't being used all that much. The seats, "black with a red c-claw on the backs", are being offered as part of a season ticket package for UCATS members.

We Will Always Have Tempe freaked out, as did we all, when the Buckeyes nearly let Navy beat them Saturday. Things don't look good for USC this Saturday.

Defensive back Anderson Russell gave up a long touchdown pass and "frequently misdiagnosed plays". However, Terrell Pryor, who wore eye black with the words "Vick", is a much improved passer over last year.

The Rivalry, Esq calls the Buckeyes performance a disappointing showing, especially when failing to establish the running game.

Navy recorded three 80-yard plus touchdown drives.

Elder, ranked fourth in the nation, beat Colerain, who is ranked 13th in the nation, 20-7. The game was sold out at the Pit, which holds over 10,000 and was broadcast live on ESPN.

The Mason Comets, my old stomping grounds, lost their first game of the season, to Centerville 14-34. That drops the Comets to 1-1. They play their first Greater Miami Conference game in two weeks.

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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

Bengals Training Camp: The vastly improved Bengals linebackers will be fun to watch this year

Kirkendall — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:29:01 -0000

More photos » by Tom Uhlman - AP

6 months ago: Cincinnati Bengals' Keith Rivers runs plays during football practice in Cincinnati Friday June 19, 2009. (AP Photo/Tom Uhlman)

Browse more photos »

Let me take you back to September 4, 2007. The Bengals just won their first preseason game, beating the Indianapolis Colts 14-6 to end with a 1-3 preseason record. It was time to participate in National Layoff Day in which several professional football players lose their jobs so teams can get underneath the required 53-man roster limit. Running back Clinton Dawson made the roster -- as did Skyler Green.

What's really interesting from the team's 2007 kickoff weekend roster is the linebackers. Ahmad Brooks started the middle. Lemar Marshall and Landon Johnson played on the outside and backups included Caleb Miller, Rashad Jeanty, Andre Frazier and Anthony Schlegel. Brooks, Miller, and Marshall were lost early in the season and eventually Cincinnati signed Dhani Jones, Roy Manning and Jim Maxwell.

Fast forward two years. Of all the players on the 2007 kickoff weekend roster, Rashad Jeanty is the only linebacker that remains. Landon Johnson signed with the Carolina Panthers and Andre Frazier returned to Pittsburgh. Ahmad Brooks signed with the San Francisco 49ers, was waived in late November but re-signed in early December. Caleb Miller and Anthony Schlegel haven't signed on with another team and you have to assume Lemar Marshall is retired, after rupturing his Achilles tendon that year. Brooks, Frazier and Johnson, players that left Cincinnati and signed on with new teams, have combined to start zero games.

Dhani Jones signed on in 2007 and solidified the team's inside linebacker spot. Keith Rivers and Rey Maualuga were draft picks in 2008 and 2009 respectively. The Bengals signed Brandon Johnson and Darryl Blackstock to one-year contracts in 2008 and 2009 and Rashad Jeanty went from Exclusive Rights free agent to Restricted Free Agent and signed one-year deals each season.

Compare linebackers from the 2007 kickoff weekend roster to the team's current roster of linebackers.

Ahmad Brooks	Dhani Jones
Rashad Jeanty	Rashad Jeanty
Landon Johnson	Keith Rivers
Caleb Miller	Rey Maualuga
Lemar Marshall	Brandon Johnson
Andre Frazier	Darryl Blackstock
Anthony Schlegel	Abdul Hodge
	Jim Maxwell

To say that Marvin Lewis and company revamped the team's linebackers from 2007, while suffering the unexpected loss of David Pollack and Odell Thurman -- considered in 2005 to be the foundation pieces at linebacker like Rivers and Maualuga are now -- would be an understatement. Each linebacker spot is vastly improved with enough youth to see long-term growth.

Two years after 2007, the Bengals are now focused on Dhani Jones in the middle. Keith Rivers returning after missing nine games to injury -- and he's looking to have a major impact this year. Rey Maualuga will compete with Rashad Jeanty all season long, claiming starting rights at strong-side linebacker. Here's where the Bengals really improve. After recording 112 tackles in 2008 with only nine starts, Brandon Johnson will be a backup weak-side linebacker. Whomever doesn't win the competition between Jeanty and Maualuga, will be a backup at strong-side linebacker.

Our linebackers will be fun to watch this year.