ES Scouting Dept.: Meet the Bengals

Quarterbacks:

Andy Dalton, TCU - 93.9 rating completing 67% of his passes, 3 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, 1 fumble. Dalton is a smart, young quarterback. He has trouble staying upright as he's been sacked ten times through two games. Six of those were last week against the Browns. However, Dalton has some young, fast, explosive weapons on the outside and knows the game. He's capable of leading an offensive surge.

Back up(s): Bruce Gradkowski, Toledo

Runningbacks:

BenJarvis Green-Ellis, Ole Miss - The Law Firm. To date in his NFL career he has yet to lose a fumble. The guy is the epitome of ball protection. 39 carries, 166 yards and a touchdown. He's not really a big play guy, but he's a consistent football player that doesn't make costly mistakes.

Back up(s): Bernard Scott, Abilene Christin (questionable); Brian Leonard, Rutgers; Cedric Peerman, Virginia; STARTING FB Chris Pressley, Wisconsin

Wide Receiver

AJ Green, Georgia; Armon Binns, Cincinnati - AJ Green is quickly becoming one of the NFL's elite receivers. At 6-4 207 lbs, he has size and some strength to go along with his speed and he has excellent hands. Through two games he has 12 receptions for 128 yards and a touchdown and was targetted twelve times last week against Cleveland. Armon Binns has 9 receptions for 94 yards and is really nothing special. The Bengals seem to be excited about backup receiver Andrew Hawkins out of Toledo, though. he caught a 50 yard TD last week and he's extremely fast and elusive. Brandon Tate, who Binn surpassed for the starting gig, also caught a touchdown pass last week.

Back up(s): Andrew Hawkins, Toledo; Ryan Whalen, Stanford; Marvin Jones (ROOKIE), Cal; Brandon Tate, North Carolina; Mohamed Sanu (ROOKIE), Rutgers

Tight End:

Jermaine Gresham, Oklahoma - Gresham was a guy that Dalton looked to quite often last year, but this year he's become an after thought. Gresham's production is way down and has 7 catches for 67 yards. He could still be a factor, but thus far he hasn't been. That said, he's too talented to be kept quiet all season long.

Back up(s): Donald Lee, Mississippi State; Orson Charles (ROOKIE), Georgia; Richard Quinn, North Carolina

Offensive Line

Center: Jeff Faine, Notre Dame

Left Guard: Clint Boling, Georgia

Left Tackle: Andrew Whitworth, LSU

Right Guard: Kevin Zeitler, Wisconsin

Right Tackle: Andre Smith, Alabama

The offensive line has surrendered ten sacks in two games. Their pass protection has been questionable, however they have done a decent job in the running game and show flashes of brilliance at times on the pass. Andre Smith is the rookie hold out from their Hard Knocks years and he is beginning to develop nicely. Their backup situation is a bit strange, going with just three backup linemen on their 53-man roster.

Back up(s): LT Anthony Collins, Kansas; RG/C Trevor Robinson (ROOKIE), Notre Dame; RT Dennis Roland, Georgia

Defensive End

(LDE) Carlos Dunlap (questionable), Florida; (RDE) Michael Johnson, Georgia Tech - Dunlap is questionable and hasn't done much this season worth noting. Michael Johnson is an extremely tall, large bodied defensive end. He has a ton of length and can get his hands up into passing lanes. At 6-7 270 pounds he can be a match up problem for us and he will be matched up with LT Trent Williams. Johnson has 1 sack and 1 fumble recovery on the year, accounting for the team's ONLY turnover.

Back up(s): LDE Robert Geathers, Georgia; RDE Wallace Gilberry, Alabama

Defensive Tackle:

(3-Tech) Geno Atkins, Georgia; (1-Tech) Domata Peko, Michigan State - Geno Atkins is a prototypical 3-technique. He's got some agility and strength and is an extremely solid pass rusher. He's a severely underrated defensive tackle in this league. He leads the Bengals in sacks with two.

Back up(s): 1T Brandon Thompson (ROOKIE), Clemson; 3T Devon Still (ROOKIE), Penn State

Linebackers:

(MIKE) Rey Maualuga, USC; (WILL) Vontaze Burfict (ROOKIE), Arizona State; (SAM)Manny Lawson, NC State - This is an interesting group. Maualuga leads the team in total tackles so far with 15, and he's a tough nosed, downhill football player. He has solid football instincts and plays hard. Vontaze Burfict is LaVar Arrington reincarnated. I'm not sure he's quite as skilled, but from a freelancing perspective he does the same kind of things. He hits like a mack truck but not very assignment oriented.

Back up(s): (SAM) Dan Skuta, Grand Valley State; (MIKE) Roddrick Muckelroy, Texas; (WILL) Vincent Rey, Duke

Secondary

(CB) Leon Hall, Michigan; Nate Clements, Ohio State; (FS) Reggie Nelson, Florida; (SS) Taylor Mays, USC - Leon Hall leads the team with four passes defensed. He's an extremely capable defender, but he reminds me a little bit of our Hall, DeAngelo. He's a playmaker but sometimes misses assignments. Nate Clements is 104 years old (actually, he's only 33) and he still plays at a high level. Reggie Nelson is second on the team in tackles to Rey Maualuga with 14. Taylor Mays is a guy that drew Sean Taylor comparisons while he was in college, primarily because he can hit like no one's business. However, that's where the comparisons end. While he's gotten better in coverage, he's still weak in that department and he hasn't done much in the way of tackles yet this year, either. His backup, Jeromy Miles, has gotten some decent playing time so far this year. Dre Kirkpatrick is questionable, but he's in line to become the eventual starter opposite Leon Hall. And Pacman Jones had a punt return last week against Cleveland.

Back up(s): (SS) Jeromy Miles, UMass (FS) George Iloka (ROOKIE), Boise State (CB) Terrance Newon, Kansas State; Jason Allen (questionable), Tennessee; Adam Jones, West Virginia; Dre Kirkpatrick (ROOKIE) (questionable), Alabama

The Cincinnati (I'd swear they were from Georgia with all the guys from Georgia or Georgia Tech on their roster [7]) Bengals are a fast team that can move around the field, but they don't have much in the discipline department, especially defensively. Their offense can be dangerous and reminds me of a less explosive Rams team in the RB department, but more explosive in their receivers. This should be an interesting game to watch

Miles replaces Mays last week against the Browns, I don't know for sure if it's permanent but I just thought I'd put that out there. I hope to see Mays back there against us, he's worse than Landry as far as liability in the coverage area and horrible when it comes to avoiding personal fouls. He does a lot of the late hit, defenseless receiver, unnec rough. variety.

Their Wide Receiver depth is what scares me, they're all damn good and quick. Worries me if Dalton gets time.

Our best bet is to blitz the hell out of them, their o-line is new/playing with backups. Given time, Dalton can light it up with the best of them IMO.

I didn't know that about the "Law Firm." I wonder if it's technique or just dumb luck.

I feel like this is a game that's destined to be a shoot out, but it's one we can win if Garcon is healthy. I also feel like we should do a little of the opposite, and pass to set up the run. Their linebackers and safeties are not good in coverage. If we can get them away from the LOS, we should have much more success running it.

The first three players on this list are quality players. I certainly hope that the Redskins are not looking past this game. This team can put points on the board and Dalton can be very effective if given a little bit of time. He gets sacked a lot, but I am sure after watching the tape of the Rams game they will follow the script of quick passes trying not to allow the defese to get pressure on him. Green is big and can fly and the law firm is pretty darn good out of the backfield.

We will need our defense to get it together or look for another 400+ yard offensive output from the Bengals. These are not your Bengals of old.

Andrew Hawkins has had some big games this year.

Andrew Hawkins may be our Danny Amendola this week.

If Andrew Hawkins shreds us.. you'll know they didn't do enough research and had a bad game plan again.

Our best bet is to blitz the hell out of them, their o-line is new/playing with backups. Given time, Dalton can light it up with the best of them IMO.

Yeah, that's what we said last week with the Rams O-line.

---------- Post added September-19th-2012 at 02:26 PM ----------

Leon Hall, Nate Clements, Terrance Newman, Pacman Jones, Dre Kirkpatrick. That is some depth at CB even though a couple of them are past their prime. I noticed they rotate them in and out alot.

God that team is loaded with talent. It's all first round picks and guys who were first round talents that should have gone in the first but fell for whatever intangible reason. They must be like a herd of cats, but if you get them going in the same direction, that's a potent group.

---------- Post added September-20th-2012 at 08:44 AM ----------

Zeitler, Faine, Boling is going to be a monstrous interior line eventually.

Marvin Lewis and Mike Zimmer might be the strongest test RG3 has had to deal with in defensively so far this season. While the Bengals ranking defensively doesn't appear impressive, it's early enough in the year where I think it might be misleading. I'm not saying they are the best defense in the league but compared to the Rams and the Saints they may certainly be a step up.

I expect this to be a shootout. Two explosive offenses. Our defense is lacking talent in some places, their defense has talent everywhere but are young and undisciplined. I would not be shocked if, like our first two games, both teams approach or exceed 30 points.

I'd love to see Crawford on AJ Green. I don't know why... I just think this kid can play. If they put Hawkins in the slot it's going to be a loooong day in my opinion.

I echo the sentiments of SkinsCrushCowboys in that I think (even without Orakpo) teams know that they can get the ball out quickly on us and rely on YAC to move the ball down the field... especially with their big WRs and TEs. Until someone on the defensive side of the ball decides it's time to jam WRs, that's going to be there for any offense who wants to take it.

I do not hope to see RG3 run the ball 10 times this week. Burfict will kill him. I hope we see more of the screen game and PA setup we saw from week 1.

Excellent stuff. I got the chance to interview the Bengals play by play announcer yesterday for our website. He felt the secondary is not as decent as some might think, feels Dalton could be the second coming of Ken Anderson and thinks AJ Green is the REAL DEAL.

http://www.eyesradio.com/2012/919-mc-talks-with-dan-hoard-of-bengals-radio/

Andrew Hawkins (#16) may have a huge game.

I didn't know that about the "Law Firm." I wonder if it's technique or just dumb luck.

I think he's just really good at ball security, to be quite honest.

Andrew Hawkins has had some big games this year.

Andrew Hawkins may be our Danny Amendola this week.

If Andrew Hawkins shreds us.. you'll know they didn't do enough research and had a bad game plan again.

Hawkins scares the piss out of me.

God that team is loaded with talent. It's all first round picks and guys who were first round talents that should have gone in the first but fell for whatever intangible reason. They must be like a herd of cats, but if you get them going in the same direction, that's a potent group.

---------- Post added September-20th-2012 at 08:44 AM ----------

Zeitler, Faine, Boling is going to be a monstrous interior line eventually.

Agreed. They have a TON of talent!

Andrew Hawkins (#16) may have a huge game.

I picked him up off waivers in fantasy... sadly

Nice work KD.

I have more concerns about this game then the previous 2 games.

Jay Gruden and his weapons on offense are a tough match-up for Jim Haslett and his weapons on defense.

Even though there OL is banged up our scheme or players are gonna need to step up and make them give up the sacks and pressures and that didn't happen last week.

I think the Bengals defense is almost as tough a match-up as the Rams.

Although their edge rushers aren't name guys they have good depth and overall defensive unit has a few years of scheme continuity that's lead by a solid DC in Zimmer.

As goes Griffin so go the Redskins, I think this game and many of our games this year will come down to what Griff can do on offense.