The Good for the Bengals

One of my favorite times of the year is approaching, Bengals training camp. Ah there is nothing like the drive down to Georgetown and getting to see your team work hard to bring a winner back to Cincinnati. So in anticipation of Summer football, here is my perception of the Bengals from an optimists’ point of view.

The Good:

Rookies Keith Rivers, Pat Sims, Andre Caldwell and Jerome Simpson provide depth and promise in areas of concern. Keith Rivers has been wowing the media and coaching staff with his maturity, leadership qualities and athleticism. Defensive line coach Jay Hayes likes what he sees in Pat Sims but needs him to adopt his tempo and practice methods.

“The most important thing he has to do is learn how we do things, not how he has been doing them. And I’m not saying those were bad things. He’s a wide guy that has quickness to him,” Hayes said.

This is good news since the biggest knock on the Bengal’s defense for years has been the inability to stop, or even slow the running game of opposing offenses.

The addition of a rookie receiver as polished as Andre Caldwell has given reasons for optimism as well. Caldwell caught 16 touchdowns and 175 receptions in his four year career with the Florida Gators, which gives him a sturdy resume of production and experience you do not usually find in rookie receivers.

As for Jerome Simpson, the voluntary workouts have been a bit of a tease regarding his potential talent. No one questions his work ethic and athleticism, as evidenced by post practice sessions with fellow wide out Marcus Maxwell and quarterback Carson Palmer and a highlight reel filled with ridiculous “How did he catch that?” grabs. The issue in practice has been his tendency of needlessly laying out to catch every ball thrown at him.

The Bengals also made a respectable move by locking up one of their most promising young players, Domata Peko. His new five-year deal ensures the Bengals will have one of the hardest working and highest character players in Cincinnati for a long time.

“He’s getting better and better. He has great effort. You never have to worry if he’s going hard enough,” Hayes said.

More good news on the defensive side of the ball is that the Bengals have two of the league’s better young corners, Johnathan Joseph and Leon Hall, entrenched in their starting positions and fully healthy entering training camp. The depth behind them isn’t too shabby either with Deltha O’Neal operating as the nickel corner.

And for the first time in a long time there is a significant battle in the tail-end of the secondary between safeties. Chinedum Ndukwe, or as I like to call him “Duke Nukem”, is battling former Superbowl MVP Dexter Jackson for the strong safety position. At free safety is Marvin White who looks to be the starter but has rookie Corey Lynch and a bevy of special teams aces looking to push him out of the line up.

Also note the exit of character cancers Odell Thurman and Chris “I love the view behind bars” Henry.

So rejoice Bengals fans, the hard-nosed coaching style of Mike Zimmer on defense and the promising youth on either side of the ball should allow you to be cautiously optimistic that the Bengals will have a shot at putting the Browns back in the AFC North gutter and finally securing some revenge on the Steelers for Carson Palmer’s knee.