Nov 4, 2012; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick (27) before the game against the Denver Broncos at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports

The 2012 NFL season can effectively be called a redshirt year for first-round cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick, as the Bengals placed him on the injured reserve list, ending a disappointing and injury-plagued season. Its been a rocky rookie season for the former All-American out of the University of Alabama, who missed most of the teams’ OTAs and mincamps with a leg injury, and then missed essentially all of training camp and preseason.

He didn’t make his regular-season debut until November 4th vs. the Denver Broncos playing on special teams. He saw his most playing time on defense against the Kansas City Chiefs as he notched  two tackles and downed a punt at the KC-4. He’s missed the past four games due to a concussion, and will finish his rookie season having played in only five games.

Now comes word Kirk will be held out of team drills until training camp as the Bengals cautiously work him into football shape:

Meanwhile, don’t expect to see Kirkpatrick in team drills until the opening of training camp in late July as he recovers from knee surgery designed to ease the bone spurs that pretty much wiped out his rookie season.

But in between his rehab, Kirkpatrick is doing some individual drills with the defensive backs that have pleased his coaches.

“It’s the best he’s moved since he’s been here,” said secondary coach Mark Carrier. “It’s amazing what you can do when you don’t have any pain. Remember, he’s been hurt pretty much since he’s been here, so he really looks good so far.”

Jun 12, 2012; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals corner back Dre Kirkpatrick (27) during work outs at mini camp at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports

It’s draft time, so it’s only been a year since we have seen some of the Bengals rookies play. Kevin Zeitler played extremely well and some analysts believe he was one of the better players at his position. Mohamed Sanu came into the receiver position for 5 games, until ultimately ending up lost for the season. However, 3 of those 5 games, Andy Dalton had above a 109% QB rating. Marvin Jones then became the #2 and showed some promise here and there. Vontaze Burfict, although went undrafted, was a very big surprise to the Bengals and has tremendous upside. There’s many other draft picks the Bengals made last year, but it seems many people have been mostly quiet about one guy, Dre Kirkpatrick.

Kirkpatrick was the Bengals first overall pick in the 2012 NFL draft because of the Carson Palmer trade to Oakland. Kirkpatrick was argued as the #2 best CB to come out of the draft last season, and was possibly the most physical. He actually did receiver some game time last season on special teams and defense, but it seems a lot of Bengals fans have already written him off. While some people are looking forward to this draft, they can’t forget that the Bengals are basically getting another 1^st rounder in Kirkpatrick.

Bengals CB Pacman Jones #24

Free agent cornerback Adam Jones has tweeted out that he’s agreed to a new three-year deal with the Cincinnati Bengals:

Happy to say this morning that i agreed to a three year deal with the Bengals Stand up WHODEY!!!!!

— ADAm Pacman Jones (@REALPACMAN24) March 21, 2013

Jones is coming off his best season since his 2006 despite not logging an interception and just 33 tackles. But those stats are often misleading, because in just over 600 snaps played, he allowed a reception once every 6.3 targets that came his way, and one every 11.5 coverage snaps he played. Those numbers put him in the top 25 in each category among qualifying corners in the NFL.

Pro Football Focus graded his cumulative coverage grade at +10.6, which ranked sixth among all cornerbacks in the NFL last season. Jones also showed a proficiency in returning punts, averaging 11.6 yards per return and scoring a touchdown.

It’s a great day to be a Bengals fan.