4 Reasons the Cincinnati Bengals Should Feel Confident Heading into OTAs

The Bengals got a lot younger on offense this offseason—picking up players like TE Orson Charles, pictured above—but they'll have time to work with them this offseason.
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The Cincinnati Bengals have a good deal of momentum heading into this year's offseason activities. They're coming off of a 9-7 2011 season in which they made the playoffs, in a year in which everyone had written the team off as one of the NFL's worst.

But now, with OTAs underway and minicamps looming, the Bengals have to find a way to maintain that momentum and continue to improve.

Luckily, they have reasons why this shouldn't be so daunting of a task. In the following four slides, I break down just why the Bengals should be feeling pretty fine now that it's time to get back on the field for OTAs.

QB Andy Dalton's Comfort Level Can Only Go Up

A full offseason program will help prevent Dalton from having a sophomore slump.
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Last year at this time, the Cincinnati Bengals had themselves a new rookie quarterback and no way to get him up to speed with the offensive game plan.

This year, Andy Dalton will have a full offseason program for the first time in his professional career, which should only help his chances to avoid a sophomore slump.

Already, doubters have emerged when it comes to Dalton's ability to transcend his impressive first-year performance—with questions mainly surrounding his arm strength (or lack thereof). 

However, arm strength is but one component of what makes a successful quarterback. More important are accuracy and a good level of communication with receivers—and those are two areas in which Dalton can improve by honing his craft in OTAs, minicamps and training camp.

The Bengals' Biggest Defensive Conundrum Is Who Starts Where

Brandon Thompson could start at NT for the Bengals this year, as the injured Pat Sims eases his way back into a full workload.
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The Cincinnati Bengals needed to improve their depth on defense this offseason, especially after losing Jonathan Fanene and Frostee Rucker in free agency. The team managed to do so via a combination of free agents and draft picks, bringing on Jamaal Anderson, Derek Harvey and draft picks Devon Still and Brandon Thompson. 

Now the Bengals have all the time they need to figure out their rotation on the defensive line. The four new players join veterans Geno Atkins, Carlos Dunlap, Pat Sims, Robert Geathers and Domata Peko in the competition to earn playing time this season.

Bengals.com's Geoff Hobson says that the two rookies should get their fair share of practice snaps, with Still backing up Atkins and Thompson backing up the nose tackle Sims. All players should be on the field at one point or another in the regular season—which is good news, considering that the Bengals have amassed quite the group of talented players on their defensive line.

OTAs and camps will be used to figure out just who goes in the game and when rather than ruling out any player as a non-contributor. That's a great sign for a strong Bengals defense that appears to have gotten only stronger in the past months.

Their Issues Running the Ball Should Be Mostly Solved

Rookie OG Kevin Zeitler is a run-blocking specialist and should be a starter this season.
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On Wednesday, I detailed ways in which the Cincinnati Bengals could fix their run game and included a litany of stats that illustrated just what their weaknesses on the ground were last season.

The Bengals have most of the pieces in place to have an uptick in their running production this season, and OTAs and camps will give them a chance to instill those pieces to their greatest benefit.

Most importantly for the ground game are the upgrades at offensive guard. Last year, with little help from their offensive line, the Bengals were near last in the league in yards per carry up the middle.

Now that Kevin Zeitler and Travelle Wharton are likely to win the starting right and left guard jobs, and Cedric Benson has been swapped out for the more reliable BenJarvus Green-Ellis, look for the Bengals' run game to see significant improvement this year.

One thing to consider, however, is that Zeitler, Wharton and Green-Ellis are all new to the Bengals, which means this offseason will be crucial to their development as well as to their ability to transition to a new way of doing things.

But at least on paper, it looks at though the Bengals will be going into 2012 in better shape when it comes to the run game, which will not only help their offense become more balanced but assist Andy Dalton in his all-important second season.

A Youthful Receiving Corps Isn't a Liability with a Full Offseason

If there's a team that can get a rookie WR like Mohamed Sanu up to speed quickly, it's the Bengals.
Joe Robbins/Getty Images

The Cincinnati Bengals skirted disaster last year, bringing on a rookie quarterback-wide receiver combo to lead their offense in a lockout year.

However, this year, the entirety of the Bengals' passing offense (save slot receiver Jordan Shipley and tight end Jermaine Gresham) are either first- or second-year players.

This would have posed some major problems last year, but this season, the Bengals are well-equipped to take on the challenges presented by fielding such a young receiving corps. 

A big part of Dalton's development in his second year will be taking on the true leadership role of a starting quarterback. What better way to do this than helping along a group of young receivers achieve success in the NFL?

At least it helps that the two receivers the Bengals picked up in the draft, Mohamed Sanu and Marvin Jones, are talented. They also added a solid receiving tight end, Orson Charles, who should help make the Bengals' passing game more multi-dimensional.

The learning curve for rookie receivers is steep, but the Bengals showed last season that there are ways for first-year players to make an impression. Cincinnati is a team that does a good job getting their rookies comfortable with their system, and that success should continue this year.

 

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