(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
With the first two preseason games in the books, Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis will soon be making his final roster cuts as the 53-man roster deadline of Sept. 5 approaches.
The Bengals had an exceptionally busy offseason, signing several high-profile free agents and holding a draft that could quite possibly go down as one of the best in the team's 41-year history. This year's cuts are going to be especially difficult considering the amount of talent the team has in certain areas and the lack of depth in others.
Regardless of all the positive developments coming out of training camp, there is one issue that overshadows them all: Andre Smith's contract situation.
Smith is entering the fourth week of his holdout without any apparent progress. There is no question after last season that the offensive line was a top priority heading into 2009. It's the reason the Bengals decided to draft Smith, one of the most complete left tackles in college football.
Unfortunately, Smith isn't in camp. With the team's history of frugality, it comes as no surprise that Smith hasn't been paid the type of money that he expected.
But for the fans (and Carson Palmer's short-term health), it would all be very disheartening.
With that in mind, here is a position-by-position breakdown of what the 2009 Cincinnati Bengals have going for them, as well as the areas in which they need improvement:
Quarterback
There aren't many "sure" things in the NFL, but there is one: The NFL is a quarterback-driven league, and the Bengals are definitely not an exception to that rule.
This team goes as Carson Palmer goes. Unfortunately, Palmer has been plagued with injuries in recent years, which ultimately lead to losing seasons. With the departure of last year's starter Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Bengals were forced to sign a two-year deal with backup free agent quarterback J.T. O'Sullivan.
Upon O'Sullivan's signing, most Bengals fans assumed that he would be the backup going into week one, however, this was not exactly the case. According to Lewis, Jordan Palmer (Carson's younger brother) is the most improved player on the entire team and has looked pretty sharp this preseason.
At this point it's O'Sullivan's job to lose, but Jordan hasn't had the same opportunities to run with the first team offense that O'Sullivan has had. If given the same opportunities, it could get interesting. Regardless, given Carson's history of injury, I see all three making the team.
While neither O'Sullivan nor Jordan Palmer will ever come close to dethroning Carson as the starter, keep an eye on this battle during the final two preseason games.
Running Back
Rewind back to Sept. 30, 2008: The Cincinnati Bengals were in desperate need of a running back after the painful discovery that Chris Perry, the team's injury-plagued, first-round selection of 2004 draft, couldn't hold on to the football.
With no other viable option on the roster to replace Perry as the starter, the Bengals signed a one-year deal worth $520,000 with another "bad guy" player in the form of Cedric Benson (though Benson was cleared of all charges).
Despite not seeing any significant playing time until Week Seven, Benson finished the season with 214 carries for 747 yards and two touchdowns, also catching 20 passes for 185 yards.
Many different opinions circulate about Benson.
Chicagoans pretty much despise the guy and consider him a bust.
In terms of production, Benson absolutely was a bust in Chicago, considering he was the fith overall pick in the 2005 draft. Benson never even came close to rushing for over a thousand yards in Chicago.
Cincinnati fans take a different perspective.
As a player in Cincinnati, Benson rushed for more yards in nine games with the Bengals than he did in any of his previous seasons with the Bears.
In my opinion, Benson had little chance of success with the Chicago Bears for a number of different reasons:
First, in an article on the Bengals' official Web site, Benson discussed his tenuous relationship with his former teammates and some altercations with linebacker Brian Urlacher—situations in which Benson claimed Urlacher tried to purposely injure the Texas standout.
Even before Benson's rookie season was over, his own team was trying to take him out. That's a problem! Why would Benson want to play for a team where his own teammates purposely tried to take him out in practice? Regardless of whether Benson's accusations are true, that was his perception and the only perception that matters in this case.
In a recent article on Yahoo! Sports, this is what Carson Palmer had to say about Benson:
“Ced has been the ultimate teammate,” says Palmer, the team’s star quarterback and unquestioned leader. “He’s fun to play with, studies hard, wants to win, helps young guys and is a leader—what’s not to love? It makes me mad when I think about what I heard out of Chicago, because now I know the guy and have spent a lot of time with him, and he’s a model teammate.”
Sounds to me like Benson is in a completely different situation than the one he was in with the Bears.
Second, Benson just couldn't stay healthy while in Chicago. There isn't much else that can be said about that.
Finally, it's important to remember that Benson lined up behind one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL, Rex Grossman—how he led that team to a Super Bowl speaks volumes about the defense.
Think about it—if you were a defensive coordinator in the NFL, would you stack eight in the box to stop Benson and force Grossman to beat you through the air? It's pretty much a no-brainer to me.
As the old saying goes, "One man's trash is another man's treasure," and I truly believe Benson has found a home in Cincinnati.
Obviously, I like what I'm seeing from Benson this preseason. I think he's running with a chip on his shoulder this season. He reported to camp in great shape, and as Bengals HOF Anthony Munoz mentioned on the last preseason telecast, he also appears to be stronger, faster and quicker than at any other point in his career. Benson is this team's starting running back; the interesting question is "Who backs Benson up?"
With veteran running back Kenny Watson and undrafted rookie Marlon Lucky having already been cut by the Bengals this preseason, the remaining candidates include Brian Leonard, Bernard Scott, DeDe Dorsey, and James Johnson.
Look for Bernard Scott to be the backup heading into week one of the season. Scott, who was drafted in the sixth round of this year's draft, has looked exceptionally well this preseason, displaying great speed, quickness and vision. Considering Benson is a downhill, straight-line runner, Scott will be the perfect change-of-pace-type back that Lewis has been searching for since his arrival in Cincinnati.
When the Bengals traded "waiver-wire wonder" Orien Harris to the Rams this offseason in exchange for former second-round pick Brian Leonard, I was pleasantly surprised.
Leonard is a player that isn't great at any one particular thing, but is good at a lot of different things. Although I don't believe Leonard is going to press Benson for any significant playing time, he is a great guy to have on the roster.
Leonard has a similar running style to that of Benson. He isn't the fastest player and won't make many people miss, but he has a knack for picking up yardage.
Leonard isn't fast enough to be a change-of-pace back or a receiving threat out of the backfield, so the real question is: What value does he have?
My guess is that his real value is as a primary backup to Benson. If Benson goes down, Leonard would handle the load for the remainder of the season.
Dorsey is the guy that drives me crazy. When he touches the ball, he makes plays. Period.
However, the question with Dorsey has always been "Can he stay healthy?"
The answer up to this point has been "No." I have absolutely no doubt that Dorsey could be an effective third-down back in the NFL if he could stay healthy. But he's proven time and time again that he can't!
It has to be tough decision cutting a talented player in favor of Dorsey considering his history with injuries, but it also has to be difficult to cut a player as talented as he is.
It's a double-edged sword. The guy has all the tools you look for in a third-down back—he has blazing speed, can make guys miss, and he can catch the ball out of the backfield—but he just can't stay healthy!
This might be the year that Lewis finally lets Dorsey go in favor of another player. Keep in mind: Dorsey doesn't have the baggage that others may have and he's averaging 9.3 yards a carry; do you see how difficult of a decision this is? Would he make it past waivers? We'll see...
Finally, barring injury, James Johnson will either be cut or retained on the practice squad. There is simply too much talent ahead of him to secure a spot on the 53-man roster.
Fullback
Want to see one of the most intense positional battles in training camp? Look no further than the fullbacks. If you've been watching HBO's Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Cincinnati Bengals you will recognize the name Chris Pressley.
Pressley, an undrafted rookie out of Wisconsin, was one of the best collegiate fullbacks in the country last year. However, fullbacks are a dying breed in the NFL and it's extremely difficult to make a team considering the size of the roster, the limited number kept by each organization and the number of college fullbacks looking to fill these limited positions.
Fullback is as "blue collar" of a job that can be found in the NFL, and fullbacks experience the same difficulty finding work in their profession as many other "blue collar" men and women experience in the "real world."
Personally, I'm pulling for Pressley. I wouldn't mind seeing him line up as the starter on Sept. 13 against the Denver Broncos.
With Jeremi Johnson still struggling to keep his weight down, I wouldn't be surprised if he's cut for the second straight year in a row. Rookie seventh-round pick Fui Vakapuna appears to be the heir apparent, but I wouldn't count Pressley out just yet. Vakapuna suffered an injury in the first preseason game of the year and it might slow him down.
It seems that all the stars are aligning for Pressley if he takes advantage of the situation. Pressley is a smart, hard-working guy that has always made the best of the bad situations in his life. He's self-made and wouldn't be where he is today if it wasn't for the game of football. He realizes that. The Cincinnati Bengals could certainly use more people like Chris Pressley on the roster.
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