Cincinnati Bengals: The Future Has Come

Though Thursday night’s 34-10 demolition of the Atlanta Falcons was a preseason game loosely coached for evaluating players in bulk, the Cincinnati Bengals showed that the future may have already come for this young team.

The once elite AFC North is now a diminishing division. Despite the acquisition of coveted defensive end Elvis Dumervil, the Baltimore Ravens has lost eight starters from their Super Bowl winning team, including defensive and emotional leaders Ray Lewis and Ed Reed.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have began slowly losing key players while proving inconsistent and struggling to stay out of trouble off the field. In Cleveland, the Browns will be undergoing yet another “rebuilding” year.

Right now, the AFC North is at its most vulnerable state with the usual threats in Baltimore and Pittsburgh fading.

In his third NFL season, Andy Dalton will be looking to lead the Bengals to their fourth straight playoff berth, and potentially their first first-round bye since the 1988 AFC Champion season. As a second round draft pick in the recent era of big time first round quarterbacks, Dalton has quietly become one of football’s next great quarterbacks.

After his standout rookie season, Dalton avoided a sophomore slump last year by bettering all of his stats, except for interceptions, rushing yards, and fumbles. This season, Dalton will have already played two full campaigns and will be looking to takeover a questionable division as a dominant quarterback.

Dalton will once again be armed with fellow 2011 Draft Class member, A.J. Green. Since they debuted together, Green and Dalton have been evolving into one of the league’s best quarterback/ receiver tandems. In their rookie season, Green and Dalton set records for completions and passing yards between a rookie quarterback and wide receiver.

Like Dalton, Green is returning from a second season where he was able to improve most of his stat categories. Green enters 2013 with already two 1,000 yards receiving season and eighteen career touchdowns.

The Bengal offense will not be one dimensional and just Green.

Gradually, Cincy has put together a stellar young squad. At the other wide receiver, the Bengals have Mohamed Sanu in his second season out of Rutgers. In just eight games last year, Sanu had four touchdowns. This will likely be Sanu’s first season as is already projected to be a starter.

At tight end, the Bengals will have depth and size. Cincinnati will have a pair of 250+ pound tight ends, with 6’5” Jermaine Gresham and 6’6” Tyler Eifert.

Eifert was just drafted out of Notre Dame in this year’s draft after a standout season with the BCS runner-ups where he average almost fourteen yards per carry. Gresham is the projected starter after averaging twelve yards per reception last season.

Dalton and Green might not be the only young duo on the Bengals With their size and ability, this tight end duo of Gresham and Eifert can develop into the Patriots of old with Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.

In the backfield, Dalton will have BenJarvus Green-Ellis in shis econd season with the Bengals. Green-Ellis broke out with the Patriots in 2010 and 2011 where he rushed for 24 touchdowns in two seasons. Last season with the Bengals, Green-Ellis fell off a bit with six touchdowns but still provides a dynamic presence in the backfield.

The defense will be returning most of their top performers from last season including middle linebacker Rey Maualauga. Maualauga will be in his third year as the team’s middle linebacker. Last season, Maualauga recorded a career high in total tackles with 122.

The Bengals will have a very experienced secondary with eleven year veteran Terrence Newman and seven year veterans Leon Hall and Reggie Nelson. Last season, these three combined for seven interceptions while providing a strong veteran’s presence and experience.

Carlos Dunlap will once again be the defense’s lead pass rusher. In his three seasons out of Florida, Dunlap already has 20 sacks, including a 9.5 sack rookie campaign.

For the Bengals, their young offense is catching up to their seasoned defense’s experience and they will be in a position to take the AFC North crown in a weak division.

Unlike the Broncos and Patriots, there is no pressure of running out of time. As a young team, the Bengals will have many more seasons to win. Because the future has come, this year may be one of those seasons.