Cincinnati Bengals Week 16 Stock Report

As a whole, the Cincinnati Bengals are on the up after beating the San Francisco 49ers in Week 15 and securing a fifth consecutive postseason berth.

Still, it wouldn't be a normal week without ups and downs to address from the 24-14 affair. While some stepped up and rallied around backup quarterback AJ McCarron, other areas struggled and made the game perhaps closer than it should have been.

With eyes now on a postseason bye ahead of a Week 16 heavyweight bout with the Denver Broncos, it's critical to review the team's stock at key places to understand what to watch for ahead of the game.

Within, let's look at the biggest stock movers on the roster.

Stock Up: Shawn Williams, Secondary

Eric Risberg/Associated Press

Shawn Williams saved the day for the Bengals in San Francisco, picking off a Blaine Gabbert pass after the special teams unit failed to come up with an onside kick.

Fox 19's Joe Danneman put it best: "Shawn Williams making a name for himself as a playmaker. That's two big-spot interceptions this season."

Williams continues to emerge, which makes for a pretty interesting scenario with George Iloka and Reggie Nelson on the way to free agency after the season.

Speaking of Iloka, Williams and Co. posted a strong overall game in San Francisco without their starting safety, holding Gabbert to one touchdown and picking him off three times.

If the secondary can keep it up, playing Denver close isn't so outlandish.

Stock Down: Jeremy Hill

Tony Avelar/Associated Press

Make it two weeks in a row Jeremy Hill's stock has hit on a decline.

Slapped in the perfect situation to carry the team with Andy Dalton out of the picture against a weak opponent, Hill finished with 19 carries for 31 yards, good for a 1.6 per-carry average, and found pay dirt twice.

Oddly, though, the Bengals benched Hill for the entire first quarter, and offensive coordinator Hue Jackson wasn't exactly willing to talk about it this week.

"That's between the head coach and the coordinator and Jeremy," Jackson said, according to ESPN.com's Coley Harvey. "So it's all good. That's it. End of discussion."

It sounds like the situation will remain a mystery, but Hill's inability to get going when given the chance against a unit that ranked among the worst in the league at defending the run is something to worry about.

Hill's next shot at redemption comes against a tough Denver defense.

Stock Up: Tyler Kroft

Michael Conroy/Associated Press

Talk about stepping up when the team needed it most. 

With Tyler Eifert out of the picture and A.J. Green not playing the full game due to precautions over a slight back issue, it wasn't easy to predict who would step up and bail out McCarron in what turned out to be a close game. 

As about nobody expected, Tyler Kroft seized the moment. 

The third-round rookie out of Rutgers hooked up with McCarron on a 20-yard score for his first NFL touchdown before finishing with three catches for 31 yards and the score.

While he's no Eifert, Kroft gives the Bengals a sense of security as a target who can take pressure off McCarron if the starter needs to miss more time.

Stock Down: Offensive Line

Eric Risberg/Associated Press

The Cincinnati offensive line has had a tough go of it for weeks after a strong showing against the St. Louis Rams in Week 12.

A decaying situation seemed to bottom out in San Francisco last weekend, where Andrew Whitworth's unit surrendered four sacks of McCarron and the offense rushed for just 68 yards on 36 carries, which translates to less than two yards per carry.

Call it the biggest concern right now. Center Russell Bodine got routinely whipped on the interior, Andre Smith looked lost and everyone from Kevin Zeitler on down to even Whitworth at times missed blocks on broken plays.

Some might hope this was a case of the Bengals showing up and mailing it in against a miserable opponent. Maybe, but keep in mind the unit let up three sacks in the loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers the week prior, too.

With the running game the most important part of the Cincinnati offense right now, the line has to hope it can address the issues before attempting to shut down a strong Denver pass rush.

Stock Up: AJ McCarron

Eric Risberg/Associated Press

Let's review. 

McCarron, making his first NFL start, takes to the road with various playoff and divisional implications on the line, not to mention the weight of the well-publicized fact an Alabama quarterback hadn't won a game since 1987 on his shoulders.

He does this without Eifert in the lineup whatsoever, a small sampling of Green and downright shoddy play from his offensive line and running backs and still manages to throw for 192 yards and a score with some of the prettiest deep balls Bengals fans have seen all season.

So yes, McCarron's stock is on the up.

It should go without saying that McCarron faces a much bigger test next week in Denver. Fine. But Sunday, he refused to turn the ball over, executed the offense and hit some nice throws while leaning on an elite defense.

There's nothing wrong with that. In fact, that's exactly what the Bengals brought him to town for in the first place.

Stats courtesy of NFL.com and are accurate as of December 22. All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus.