Cincinnati Bengals Michael Johnson: The New Most Important Johnson

Just when it looked like the Cincinnati Bengals had a consistent pass rush for the first time in years, DE Antwan Odom and his eight sacks promptly lands on the IR. Odom tore his Achilles against the Houston Texans on Sunday and is now lost for the season.

To add insult to injury, DT Domata Peko went down with a knee injury as well. His status for Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears is in the air. With the pair, the Bengals are third in the league with 16 sacks through six games.

Enter Michael Johnson. The rookie from Georgia Tech was considered a top-10 prospect going into his final year of college, a physical specimen that would translate well to the NFL. The knock on him was his effort. He took plays off, scouts said.

He dropped all the way to the third round in the ’09 draft. He impressed early on in training camp with his 6’7" and 260-pound frame. But like most first year players, the learning curve was steep.

After the first six games of the season Johnson has collected 11 tackles. He has slowly received more playing time as he learns the consistent effort needed to be successful in the NFL. With the way Odom was playing, it was hard for him to even get on the field at all. Now he will be playing a much bigger role for this team.

Johnson has the physical tools to be a disruptive force on opposing QBs. Long arms and quick feet allow him to get penetration in the backfield. He has a pass deflection in each of the past three games. He will block a kick sooner or later in his career.

“Every week he gets quite a few snaps,” said Bengals coach Marvin Lewis of Johnson. “I think Michael played his best football that he played this season yesterday (Sunday.) Hopefully that continues as a trend. He’ll have an opportunity to do more and more.”

While the injury to Odom is a real bummer for Bengal fans, the door is now open for Johnson. If he can put fourth maximum effort on every snap his physical talents will do the rest. DT/DE Johnathan Fanene will start this week for either Peko or Odom. If Peko is ruled out, then Johnson will get his first career NFL start.

If the Bengals want to keep the top spot in the division, they must get big contributions from Johnson. If not, then the secondary will continually be relied upon to defend receivers for six to seven seconds. Just like the last 15 plus years.