The Cincinnati Bengals surprised a great deal of people by making the playoffs in 2011 as a wildcard team. After all, this was a franchise that was coming off a 4-12 season in which they exiled Carson Palmer, Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens. Cincinnati was able to do this with a dynamic young tandem in the form of Andy Dalton and A.J. Green. Those two made the Pro Bowl in their rookie seasons and led a vastly improved offensive unit. The defense also stepped up a great deal with a combination of veteran cast-offs and talented young players. Now Cincinnati is looking to build on that surprising nine win 2011 season and take the next step towards division contention in the ultra-competitive AFC North. Let’s take a look at what they did this offseason to take that next step. One of the Bengals primary issues in 2011 was a lack of talent and depth in the secondary. They set out to fix this issues in a big way by signing both Jason Allen and Terence Newman in free agency. While both do leave a lot to be desired, they will should provide a great amount of depth and veteran leadership. Cincinnati also spent a first-round pick on another ‘corner in the form of Dre Kirkpatrick from Alabama. The young defensive back might struggle on the outside as a rookie due to less than fluid hips, but he could make a strong impact in the slot as the Bengals primary nickel guy. What was a weakness in 2011 has all of a sudden become a strength for the Bengals defense. They now seem to go about five or six deep with the likes of Nate Clements, Leon Hall, Terence Newman, Jason Allen, Dre Kirkpatrick and Pacman Jones. Cincinnati then went out to address the guard position by selecting Kevin Zeitler with the second of their two first-round picks. Zeitler, who performed well in a pro-style blocking scheme at Wisconsin, should be able to come in and start immediately. Following the initial two rounds, Cincinnati made it a point to go best player available throughout the remainder of the draft. They picked up wide receiver Mohamed Sanu from Rutgers in the third round. The talented pass-catcher was considered a late first-round talent prior to a disastrous performance at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. The Bengals then went with interior defensive lineman Brandon Thompson with their final third round selection. The Clemson product was an intimidating force against the run in the ACC and should help out as a rotational guy as a rookie in 2012. The two best picks that Cincinnati made in the draft were Orson Charles in the fourth round and Marvin Jones in the fifth. Both were considered second-round prospects, but fell down the draft board due to a combination of different issues. Jones, a standout at CAL, reminds me a great deal of the aforementioned Chad Ochocinco. While Charles has some character concerns and doesn’t possess prototypical size for a NFL tight end, he has a tremendous amount of upside. If the Bengals goal was to add as much young talent to an offense bordering on dynamic levels, they did an amazing job. The one area that Cincinnati seemed to avoid during the offseason, running back, could come back to haunt them. The Bengals picked up BenJarvus Green-Ellis from the New England Patriots in free agency. The veteran running back does not possess the ability to be an every-down back in the National Football League. Cincinnati would have been much better off ponying up the money for a player like Michael Bush instead. Overall, the Bengals improved enough to be considered a favorite to capture one of the six AFC wildcard spots. They have a wide array of young talent on the roster that should be able to take the next step after some more seasoning. Expect Cincinnati to win double-digit games and surprise pundits who believe that their 2011 season was nothing more than a mirage.

The Cincinnati Bengals surprised a great deal of people by making the playoffs in 2011 as a wildcard team. After all, this was a franchise that was coming off a 4-12 season in which they exiled Carson Palmer, Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens.
Cincinnati was able to do this with a dynamic young tandem in the form of Andy Dalton and A.J. Green. Those two made the Pro Bowl in their rookie seasons and led a vastly improved offensive unit.
The defense also stepped up a great deal with a combination of veteran cast-offs and talented young players.
Now Cincinnati is looking to build on that surprising nine win 2011 season and take the next step towards division contention in the ultra-competitive AFC North.
Let’s take a look at what they did this offseason to take that next step.
One of the Bengals primary issues in 2011 was a lack of talent and depth in the secondary. They set out to fix this issues in a big way by signing both Jason Allen and Terence Newman in free agency. While both do leave a lot to be desired, they will should provide a great amount of depth and veteran leadership.
Cincinnati also spent a first-round pick on another ‘corner in the form of Dre Kirkpatrick from Alabama. The young defensive back might struggle on the outside as a rookie due to less than fluid hips, but he could make a strong impact in the slot as the Bengals primary nickel guy.
What was a weakness in 2011 has all of a sudden become a strength for the Bengals defense. They now seem to go about five or six deep with the likes of Nate Clements, Leon Hall, Terence Newman, Jason Allen, Dre Kirkpatrick and Pacman Jones.
Cincinnati then went out to address the guard position by selecting Kevin Zeitler with the second of their two first-round picks. Zeitler, who performed well in a pro-style blocking scheme at Wisconsin, should be able to come in and start immediately.
Following the initial two rounds, Cincinnati made it a point to go best player available throughout the remainder of the draft.
They picked up wide receiver Mohamed Sanu from Rutgers in the third round. The talented pass-catcher was considered a late first-round talent prior to a disastrous performance at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
The Bengals then went with interior defensive lineman Brandon Thompson with their final third round selection. The Clemson product was an intimidating force against the run in the ACC and should help out as a rotational guy as a rookie in 2012.
The two best picks that Cincinnati made in the draft were Orson Charles in the fourth round and Marvin Jones in the fifth. Both were considered second-round prospects, but fell down the draft board due to a combination of different issues. Jones, a standout at CAL, reminds me a great deal of the aforementioned Chad Ochocinco. While Charles has some character concerns and doesn’t possess prototypical size for a NFL tight end, he has a tremendous amount of upside.
If the Bengals goal was to add as much young talent to an offense bordering on dynamic levels, they did an amazing job.
The one area that Cincinnati seemed to avoid during the offseason, running back, could come back to haunt them. The Bengals picked up BenJarvus Green-Ellis from the New England Patriots in free agency. The veteran running back does not possess the ability to be an every-down back in the National Football League. Cincinnati would have been much better off ponying up the money for a player like Michael Bush instead.
Overall, the Bengals improved enough to be considered a favorite to capture one of the six AFC wildcard spots. They have a wide array of young talent on the roster that should be able to take the next step after some more seasoning.
Expect Cincinnati to win double-digit games and surprise pundits who believe that their 2011 season was nothing more than a mirage.