The Cincinnati Bengals finally added another one of their players to the NFL Top 100 list voted on by the players with wide receiver A.J. Green.
The Cincinnati Bengals added a second player to the NFL Top 100 list yesterday with the addition of wide receiver A.J. Green coming in at number 22. The only other Bengal so far to make the list is defensive tackle Geno Atkins at 63. It’s been a long wait to hear another Cincinnati player make the list but we all knew that Green would be near the top of the list.
Green had a down season for his expectations coming out with 75 catches for only 1,078 yards. The star receiver has broken 1,000 yards six out of seven seasons in his career as a Bengal, only missing that 1,000-yard mark in 2016 when he missed out on six games due to injury. Even in 2016 when he only played in 10 games, he still came up with 964 yards.
While it was a horrible season for the Bengals offense overall in 2017 ranking last in yards per game and at the bottom of the list in multiple other categories, Green doubled his touchdowns from 2016 with eight and still put up more than 1,000 yards. He has also made the Top 100 list every year since coming into the league and is known as one of the leagues best at the position.
Most of the troubles in 2017 for the Bengals offense was what stemmed from a poor offensive line production. Cincinnati has since brought in a new offensive line coach Frank Pollack and added instrumental pieces to their line like left tackle Cordy Glenn and rookie center Billy Price. Quarterback Andy Dalton struggled with consistency as well but will hopefully see a significant increase in his 2018 production with a better offensive line, more utilized run game, weapons like wide receiver John Ross and tight end Tyler Eifert coming back healthy, and offensive coordinator Bill Lazor’s rebuilt offense.
There are plenty of playmakers on this team to help take away some of the extra attention that Green held last season. Defenses severely slanted to his side of the field and if Tyler Eifert and John Ross can stay healthy and prove productive, Green could see less of that in 2018. He will still see a good amount of extra attention as he is one of the best at the position but his catch radius and body positioning make it hard for even top cornerbacks to cover.
In the video of Green’s nomination, cornerbacks from around the league talked about his great ball skills and catch radius. Even Pro Bowl cornerback Darius Slay from the Detroit Lions talked about a few plays when he was covering Green. Other cornerbacks from around the AFC North including Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Artie Burns saying “you can’t make a top 100 list and not put him on it”.
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Green has fallen down the list some the last couple years as he ranked 16th in 2015 and 17th in 2016 but with a better offense this season he has all the skills in the world to break even those rankings. Green will need some help from playmakers like Eifert, Ross, and running backs Joe Mixon and Giovani Bernard to help get this offense back to the production of 2015. If those players can stay healthy and have success, Green should have a much easier time making plays in 2018.