Oct 16, 2011; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Carlos Dunlap (96) walks back to the huddle during the second half after running back a fumble against the Indianapolis Colts at Paul Brown Stadium. The Bengals defeated the Colts 27-17. Mandatory Credit: Frank Victores-US PRESSWIRE

Since 2008 when Mike Zimmer came to Cincinnati to take over as the teams’ defensive coordinator, the Bengals’ pass-rush has risen to one of the best in the NFL at pressuring the opposing quarterback. They ranked 5th in the NFL last season with 45 sacks. Despite playing in only 12 games last season, DE Carlos Dunlap was a significant contributor to that cause, as he ranked 4th on the team with 4.5 sacks.  Its hard to grasp the fact that Dunlap has played in only 24 games in his 2 years as a Bengal, and only one of them came as a start. Mike Zimmer has used him as a situational pass rusher, a role he has thrived in at times.

After Dunlap was taken by the Bengals in the 2nd round of the 2008 NFL Draft, he had been passed over for the likes of Vernon Gholston (#6 overall), Derrick Harvey (#8 overall), Brandon Graham (#13 overall), Jerry Hughes (#31 overall). Those four players had combined for a total of 12 sacks in 3 NFL Seasons going into 2012. In that same time frame, Dunlap has produced 14 sacks in only 24 games played.

In 2010, all 10 of his sacks came in the final eight weeks of the season. That led to big expectations for him coming into the 2011 season, but he got off to a disappointing start and didn’t have a sack until week 7. Then came his epic Week 8 performance against the Seattle Seahawks, where Dunlap had the best game of any 4-3 DE last year, racking up a sack, 3 QB hits, and 8 QB pressures.

He continued his heightened level of play against the Titans the following week, getting 2 sacks, including a crucial one late in the game that prevented a Titans rally, but injured his hamstring in the process. He would never fully recover from the injury, and missed 4 of the next 5 games, and was able to get only 1.5 sacks the rest of the season. He finished with a disappointing 4.5 sacks, and left much to be desire.

That didn’t stop Pro Football Focus from tabbing Dunlap as one of their Secret Superstars coming into 2012:

A quick look at our Pass Rushing Productivity Signature Stat reveals two interesting points. Firstly, Dunlap ranks highly, finishing the season with a PRP rating of 13.1; fifth among all 4-3 DE’s who played at least 25% of their teams’ snaps. This Signature Stat measures pressure on a per-snap basis, showing how often a player generates pressure as opposed to just how often they sack the opposing QB.

The second thing you would notice is that of the 278 times Dunlap rushed the passer in 2011, every one of them came from the left side. While some players are used primarily on one side, he was one of only five qualifying DE’s to rush the passer from one side exclusively. This is interesting because it allows us to see who Dunlap is competing with for snaps from that left defensive end spot.

August 16, 2012; Atlanta, GA, USA; Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton (14) drops back to pass in the first half against the Atlanta Falcons at the Georgia Dome. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-US PRESSWIRE

Last season, Andy Dalton, lead the Bengals to the AFC Wildcard round of the Playoffs. As well as being a rookie, he did it with a rookie wide receiver in A.J. Green, and with a first year offensive coordinator in Jay Gruden. The other factor in Dalton’s great rookie season, was the fact that he had no offseason to work with the team, due to the lock-out.

With a full offseason and a year of experience for Dalton, Green, and Gruden, will the ceiling be sky high or will the 2nd round pick out of TCU be victimized by the sophomore slump?

Last season, being Andy Dalton’s rookie season, he would not have had the full offseason that the players normally have to work with the team for two reason. One because of the fact that he was a rookie and could not coordinate work outs with teammates throughout certain parts of the offseason. Two is because of the lock-out that took away from all teams practice times. Now that he has a full season with the entire team and coaches, he should improve drastically.

-The Preview: Rating Dalton

I am going to do something a little different this time around with the ratings. Before, I gave my opinion on what I thought would happen with the player(s) that was being previewed. This time around I am going to rate the different aspects of his game and compare them to whom, I feel, has the best rating in that particular category.

1. Arm Strength

-All of the critics this offseason and preseason have seemed to complain that Dalton has a lack of arm strength, and that this will limit his production in the NFL. Have we all but forgotten the Bengal Great, Ken Anderson? Anderson, who like Dalton, had not what is called a quarterback coaches dream of an arm. It was average, but very accurate.Anderson did also lead the Bengals to a Super Bowl. I am not going to compare Dalton to Joe Montana, but Montana did not have a strong arm either.

Dalton: 7/10

Best in the League; Aaron Rogers

2. Arm Accuracy

Although Dalton only completed nearly 60 percent of his passes last season, he still was pretty accurate. Let us remember that A.J. Green was our only true wide receiver threat, who, oh yeah, by the way, was a rookie as well. So for having a rookie, and a load of receivers that were either hurt, or a work in progress I will say that he is pretty accurate. Another point to be noted, Dalton did not throw an interception in the Red Zone last season. Plus Dalton was on ESPN’S Sports Science for being highly accurate. See the Video here.

Dalton: 8.5

Best in the League; Tom Brady / Drew Brees

- Brady went a whole season only throwing 4 interceptions, while Brees has the record for completion percentage in a single season.

August 16, 2012; Atlanta, GA, USA; Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver

As Week 3 of the NFL preseason opens tonight, for most teams, this will be the dress rehearsal for starters as they will get the most playing time of the preseason they’ll receive. In tonight’s games, the Baltimore Ravens will host the Jacksonville Jaguars, while the Cincinnati Bengals host the Green Bay Packers, and the Arizona Cardinals will head to Tennessee to take on the Titans.

Steelers WR Emmanuel Sanders believes WR Mike Wallace will sign his one-year, $2.742 million tender and report to the team this weekend.

Bengals rookie WR Mohamed Sanu is way behind Armon Binns and Brandon Tate on the Bengals’ receiver depth chart.

Steelers RB Jonathan Dwyer is reportedly in the best shape of his career as he is set to get a lot of carries with the Steelers’ top-2 back out with injuries.

Steelers safety Ryan Clark doesn’t hate the Ravens.

Bengals CB Nate Clements is likely to open the season as the Bengals’ starting left corner.

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