Bengals Roundtable: New Enemies to the North
By Jason Marcum
“Who was drafted into the AFC north that scares you the most?”
Nov 3, 2012; Manhattan, KS, USA; Kansas State Wildcats linebacker Arthur Brown (4) during a 44-30 win over the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports
Walter Zaviski
Arthur Brown. This guy has the look of an instant starter, and my biggest fear is that he is a Ray Lewis in training. Jarvis Jones is another guy I wanted to keep out of Pittsburgh. I watched him at Georgia and he looked phenomenal. I know he had a slow 40 time, but it doesn’t matter. This guy is going to be a pain in the back of Andy Dalton for years to come.
Blake Meek
Jarvis Jones. The guy is an absolute playmaker on the defensive side of the ball. He can get to the QB as well as anyone in the draft and he just makes plays. He may not be the biggest or the fastest, but he knows how to take the QB down.
Dustin Meritt
When I look at the rest of the AFC north teams I saw solid players but no one that really scares me. The two that worry me are the rush guys that Cleveland got in Mingo and
Pittsburg got with Jarvis Jones. Andre Smith sometime struggles with guys like this and may need help from a TE or RB.
I am also going to mention wide receiver Devon Bess that Cleveland got from Miami with a fourth-round pick. He isn’t a big play guy, but is clutch on third down.
Guttersnake
Only two players worry me within the AFC North: Pittsburgh’s replacement of James Harrison, Jarvis Jones, and Baltimore’s newest toy in the secondary, Matt Elam. To be fair, the both could be extremely troubling, but with the Steelers’ linebacking corps being what it has been for the past several years, Jones is really just more of the same hi-octane pass rushing the Bengals are used to from Dick Lebeau.
Elam is really the devil we don’t know. He has some of Ed Reed’s punishment/enforcer mentality, but I had this guy’s instincts and ball hawking way off the charts. Dalton tries to hit his big targets (Green, Gresh, Sanu and now Eifert) at apex, but on the deep ball that doesn’t always work. Elam could really cause some havoc for Jay Gruden’s brassy west-coast offense.
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