How Have Cincinnati Bengals Addressed Biggest Weaknesses from 2014?

As the spring cool begins to give way to summer heat, the Cincinnati Bengals go through the paces of another offseason, working to implement new faces and improve upon glaring weaknesses from a season ago. 

Of those there were few, to which the credit goes to the strong roster-building job put on by coach Marvin Lewis, owner Mike Brown and the rest of the front office.

Still, the issues last season were obvious. Defensive coordinator Paul Guenther's unit couldn't get any form of consistent pressure. Quarterback Andy Dalton's quick reads struggled as defensive backs found it easy to shut down his receivers at the line of scrimmage.

Some of the weaknesses stemmed from depth, something the organization tackled head-on in the draft. Below, let's take a look at a few of the obvious 2014 weaknesses and how the team went about fixing the issues ahead of next season.

Biggest Weaknesses Addressed

The Weakness: Lack of a Pass Rush

The Solution: Michael Johnson and Marcus Hardison

The Bengals mustered just 20 sacks last season, a mighty low number for a unit priding itself on an ability to fluster quarterbacks and make the lives of defenders in the backfield easier.

Cincinnati thought the loss of Michael Johnson, who signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, wouldn't be a major issue with Carlos Dunlap healthy and Margus Hunt ready to step in and help in a rotation with Wallace Gilberry. 

Instead, Hunt battled injuries and only played in 12 games, recording one sack. Even worse, defensive tackle Geno Atkins appeared just a shell of his former elite self while working his way back from a knee injury.

Now for the good news—Johnson is back after his brief stay in Tampa Bay, and while he doesn't add a ton in terms of the rush, he demands attention and opens things up for others. Hunt should be healthy, and the addition of fourth-round pick Marcus Hardison deepens the rotation on the chance someone suffers an injury or Atkins continues to struggle after posting just three sacks last season.

ESPN.com's Coley Harvey put it best concerning how the Arizona State product fits with the Bengals:

"

While most considered Hardison a defensive end in pre-draft evaluation, the Bengals classified him as a true 3-technique defensive tackle. In time, he could return to the line's exterior, but the feeling around Cincinnati is that he will be a pass-rusher from defensive tackle. In that respect, the 307-pound lineman who ran a sub-4.9 40-yard dash at the combine compares with Bengals veteran Geno Atkins.

"

Cincinnati needed two things to fix the woeful sack numbers from last year: health and additional depth. It got both, and if it all goes according to plan, the team will be better for it.

The Weakness: Offensive Line Depth

The Solution: Cedric Ogbuehi and Jake Fisher

By most accounts, the Cincinnati Bengals had a great offensive line last season.

Dalton was only sacked 21 times, and the team rushed for 2,147 yards and 19 scores on a 4.4 per-carry average. Over at Pro Football Focus, the team ranked fourth in pass blocking and eighth in run blocking.

Problems arose, though, when right tackle Andre Smith went down with a season-ending injury. The experiment with Marshall Newhouse—who wound up ranked as the 60th tackle in the league at PFF—ended in failure before the team found a quality stopgap solution with veteran Eric Winston, who re-signed with the team this offseason.

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Still, simple depth and insurance for the future was an obvious weakness of last year's roster, something the team fixed in the first two rounds of the draft.

Texas A&M's Cedric Ogbuehi joined in the first round and Oregon's Jake Fisher in the second. The team will ease the former into things after a January ACL tear, which is fine so long as Andrew Whitworth and Smith stay healthy.

Fisher, on the other hand, can play wherever the coaching staff desires and sounds comfortable in his do-everything backup role right out of the gates.

"I definitely feel good at right (tackle)," Fisher said, per Jim Owczarski of Cincinnati.com. "Some guard will be coming up, so it's just a matter of taking things and learn from the old guys and keeping your head down and learning."

Even if there are injuries, the Bengals are now in a position to recover in an adequate manner with in-house talent. It wasn't the primary goal in drafting two of the top tackles this year, but it should serve as a nice bonus.

The Weakness: Pass-Catching Depth and Ability to Separate

The Solution: Tyler Kroft, C.J. Uzomah, Mario Alford, Denarius Moore

For just a moment, flash back to Cincinnati's latest first-round postseason exit, the 26-10 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. 

Dalton posted an 18-of-35 mark for 155 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions, but he wasn't the problem—pass-catching ability and the creation of separation at the line of scrimmage that the offense relies on was absent. Running back Giovani Bernard led the team in receiving with eight receptions, the next-closest player catching just three balls.

Knowing the team would suffer the same fate if injuries strike again, the Bengals went out and drafted two tight ends and a wideout and brought on veteran Denarius Moore in the offseason.

At his peak to date, which came in 2012, Moore caught 51 passes for 741 yards and seven scores. He's a burner who has zero issues creating separation as he stretches defenses in a vertical manner. He seems a lock as the first backup behind A.J. Green, Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu, if not working in on a consistent basis.

John Minchillo/Associated Press

As for the rookie tight ends, C.J. Uzomah is a high-upside product held down by his collegiate offense at Auburn. He's a strong red-zone target, but most of the focus should go to Tyler Kroft, who can block well as a rookie and will be the first tight end on the field after Tyler Eifert, if not on it with him consistently.

It's impossible to know if the coaching staff will implement seventh-round rookie Mario Alford into the base offense with any consistency, but his deep speed and ability to create separation are obvious.

Offensive coordinator Hue Jackson told Harvey the rookie remains a work in progress: "You can see the speed, you can see the suddenness and the quickness and that's what we're looking for. But now we just have to fine-tune it and have him play the way we play."

As even Jackson can see, the speed is there if the staff wants or needs it, although the safest bet is Alford sticking as a regular on special teams returns. 

Like a few of the team's needs this offseason, one of the best ways the Bengals can improve in the wideout department is simple health. As of now, things look good for Jones, Green and others to be back in the fray, but it sure doesn't hurt that the team brought on some reinforcements in case the injury bug bores down again.

Stats courtesy of NFL.com and are accurate as of June 4. All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus.