We’re in the midst of one of the most enjoyable offseasons in Bengals history. For a franchise that will never be big players in free agency, they signed some quality players in RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis, OG Travelle Wharton, and CB Terrence Newman, all of which should compete for starting spots on a team that won 9 games and advanced to the playoffs last season. The most excitement that typically comes in a Bengals offseason is through the draft, and they just had arguably one of the best drafts in franchise history. Many analysts have picked the Bengals to not only make the playoffs again this season, but to win the AFC North and even win a playoff game.

But not everyone is quite ready to jump on the Bengals bandwagon just yet, particularly the guys at Football Outsiders. They did have some high praise on the the Bengals offseason, including their stellar draft:

It’s amazing — and completely out of character in the Mike Brown era — that, in only one calendar year, the Cincinnati’s roster has gone from having more holes than the plot of the Terminator franchise to being as solid as a terminator itself.

To be sure, the Bengals can still use some tweaking around the edges, but for the most part they’re in good shape. In February’s edition of “Plugging the Holes,” we listed running back and guard as glaring needs. The former was met by signing BenJarvus Green-Ellis to replace the worst workhorse running back of the past two years, Cedric Benson. The latter was met by using a first-round pick on Wisconsin guard Kevin Zeitler, who NFL Films Senior Producer (and avid game tape watcher) Greg Cosell thought was a better prospect than Stanford guard David DeCastro. Speaking of Cosell, he nailed Cincinnati’s selection of Alabama cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick, who will immediately fill a need at cornerback.

Oct 9, 2011; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Cincinnati Bengals defensive back Taylor Mays (26) looks up at the scoreboard during a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Field. Mandatory Credit: Fernando Medina-US PRESSWIRE

However, they did point out some gaping holes on the Bengals roster that could cost them dearly if those positions are exposed this season, particularly the safety position:

It’s at another position in the secondary, however, where the Bengals’ biggest hole remains: strong safety. Typically, when a team decides to unceremoniously release an aging team captain, they have a promising understudy already in place (See Pittsburgh’s handling of Hines Ward). To replace Chris Crocker, who was allegedly let go due to durability issues even though he started all 16 games last season, Cincinnati has … Taylor Mays? So much for praising Mike Brown, I guess.

Let’s recap Mays brief career, shall we? At the behest of Mike Singletary (and only Mike Singletary), Mays was taken by the 49ers in the second round of the 2010 draft. Shortly into the 2010 season, Mays was elevated to the starting strong safety spot in one of Singletary’s last moves as head coach (San Francisco was 0-3 at the time). Mays played so badly that he was benched after only five games — even Singletary couldn’t take any more — and finished the season having allowed 18.4 yards per pass. Then, in an extremely rare move for an NFL team, San Francisco basically gave Mays away after only one season, accepting Cincinnati’s seventh-round pick in 2013 for a player they drafted in the second round.

Are there in-house options at strong safety other than Mays? Sure, except that Robert Sands, Jeromy Miles, and 2012 fifth-rounder George Iloka all have played even fewer NFL snaps on defense than Mays has.

Its refreshing to see an article that actually looks at the holes on the current Bengals squad. With all the love they’ve gotten this offseason, you’d think they were favorites to win the AFC and advance to the Super Bowl, when in reality they haven’t won a playoff game in 21 years. Baby steps people. Baby steps.

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Oct 9, 2011; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle

Every year in the NFL, we see a select few players rise to the ranks of the elite, a group of superstars who drastically can affect games from the position they play. The Bengals haven’t had such a player on defense since the days of safety David Fulcher, and haven’t had a dominant defensive lineman since the days of Tim Krumrie. After just two years in the NFL, the next player to make that jump is Bengals defensive tackle Geno Atkins .

The former Georgia Bulldog has come along way from being the 120^th pick in the 2010 draft. Atkins was looked at as undersized as a defensive tackle who lacked both height and bulk. At the scouting combine, he measured 6’1 and weighed in at only 293 lbs, when the average weight of a defensive tackle is closer to 310 lbs. He was the combine’s top performer in the bench press, so he did make up for his lack of size with his dominant strength, which allowed him to shed blockers and get into opposing backfields.

Still, scout weren’t sold, and one of the best players in the 2010 NFL Draft fell to the Bengals in the 4^th round. 13 Defensive tackles were drafted ahead of him, including Ndamukong Suh and Gerald McCoy, who were selected 2^nd and 3^rd overall in the draft. After a slow start in the 2010 season in which Geno was on the field for limited snaps, he exploded in the second half of the year, getting four sacks in the final nine games of the season, and finished the year with 31 quarterback disruptions. Only 12 other defensive tackles had more than Atkins. It was becoming evident that Atkin’s future in the NFL was very bright, and people began taking notice of this.     The guys at Pro Football Focus were one of the first to jump on the Geno bandwagon when they wrote this article last March about Atkins being one of 2011′s secret superstars.

By the end of the year, he had totaled 31 quarterback disruptions, only 12 defensive tackles had more. Most noteworthy is that Atkins accumulated his on fewer snaps than all of the guys above him. Furthermore, Atkins converted 10.69% of his pass rushing attempts into disruptions, good enough for 4^th best among all NFL defensive tackles. More than Kevin Williams (6.63%).  More than Haloti Ngata (5.5%).  And more than our top rated defensive tackle, Kyle Williams (9.77%). Point being, Geno Atkins knows how to rush the passer.

Dec 18, 2011; Oakland, CA, USA; Detroit Lions defensive tackle

The impact of Geno Atkins is no longer a secret to the football world, as several prominent football minds are giving the Bengals’ defensive tackle the respect and acknowledgement he’s earned in just two years in the NFL. John Clayton, who is arguably one of ESPN’s greatest football analysts and insiders, released his 2011 NFL All-Pro Team, and making the list was Bengals DT Geno Atkins. This was after he was selected this year as the 1st Pro Bowl alternate at DT for the AFC, essentially snubbed from the initial roster. Its worth noting Clayton put Atkins on the list in favor of the more widely regarded Ndamukong  Suh. Atkins has been a terror for quarterbacks, getting 7 ½ sacks on the year and coming up just half a sack shy of both the NFL sack lead by a defensive tackle and the franchise record set by Dan Wilkinson in 1995. He’s also been a consistent run-stuffer this year with 48 tackles and helped the Bengals rank 10^th against the run. Geno Atkins also had 14 pass deflections, which was almost twice as many as Ndamukong Suh‘s 8.

Its amazing how much attention Suh gets compared to Atkins. For a franchise that’s been repeatedly stained with players and their off-the-field issues, Atkins has been a good citizen in his two NFL seasons, while Suh has been an overrated trouble maker who gets more personal foul penalties that sacks.

Pro Football Focus just released their list of the top performances by an NFL defensive tackle this season, and making the  list three times was none other than big Geno. No other NFL player made the list twice. He tied for the 10th best performance in his Wild Card matchup against the Houston Texans:

Atkins was simply too much for Wade Smith to handle, picking up a hit and two pressures on him and a sack on Mike Brisiel. His work when the Texans ran was even more destructive; he chalked up two tackles for short gains and another for a loss. Two fine performances.

He also made the list for his Week 11 performance at Baltimore:

The second performance from Atkins to make the list and one the Ravens would rather forget. A sack, three quarterback hits, and a pressure weren’t all Atkins was able to do–he also found himself picking up three tackles for short gains and another for a loss. It’s worth noting that some of his success came against a stud guard like Marshal Yanda which only serves to highlight how well Atkins played.

His highest ranked performance was the 4th overall best, his Week 15 game against the St. Louis Rams:

You almost knew Atkins was in for a big day when you saw that Jason Brown was in the lineup at guard. So it proved as the Bengal destroyed him time and time again. Brown wasn’t the only one to struggle with Atkins who finished the day with a sack (plus a forced fumble), two quarterback hits, three more pressures, and two tackles for losses.

 

The most impressive part wasn’t that he made the list three times, but two of those performances were against two of the best teams in the AFC. He had one of his best games of the year against the Houston Texans in a win-or-go-home scenario, a time when we typically see NFL players playing at their highest level. He dominated the Texans offensive line, one of the best in the NFL, and showed that he can play at an elite level for an entire NFL season without wearing down. Its become evident that Geno’s highest level is better than that of most NFL players.

When Pro Football Focus released their top ten defensive players in the NFL at the end of the 2011 season, they ranked Atkins #10, as well as ranking him as the best pass rushing defensive tackle in the NFL. It’s time everyone took notice of Atkins and all that he’s done in just two years in the NFL. While he has played on a team that’s had most of it’s games blacked out the past two years, he deserves the recognition he’s now starting to get, and there’s no reason to not expect him to only be better next year. His abilities as an undersized DT to consistently beat offensive lineman and play in opponents backfield constantly resembles that of what John Randle did for Minnesota. The 6’1, 287-lb defensive linemen, went undrafted out of college, and ended up in the NFL Hall-of-Fame due to his ability to pressure QB’s relentlessly. Through his first two years, he had 12.5 sacks. Through Atkins first two seasons, he’s amassed 10.5 sacks.

When its all said and done, Atkins may have been one of the best value picks in the past decade for the Bengals.

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