Cincinnati Bengals 2009 Preview

The Cincinnati Bengals have been one of the league’s lousiest franchises during the Marvin Lewis era but there is a seed of hope that they might turn it around this year – or they might just be a good underdog. Now that Carson Palmer and Chad Johnson are healthy, arguably the team’s two best players, the offense should get back to business. On defense, a slew of young talent is ready to start meeting expectations.

Don’t bother with the Bengals Super Bowl odds but keep a close eye on this team for fantasy sleepers.

Offseason Transactions

It was a fairly quiet offseason in Cincinnati. The biggest move was that the Bengals allowed T.J. Houshmanzadeh to walk in free agency and signed Laveranues Coles to replace him. Also, the Bengals did some retooling on their offensive line, but outside of that, the offense returns virtually the same.

On defense, the Bengals added safety Roy Williams and given that his best years were under coordinator Mike Zimmer (the tandem is now reunited in Cincinnati), Williams could again be an enforcer in the back end.

Offense

The Bengals offense is going to be much better than NFL odds handicappers remember it, last year, Ryan Fitzpatrick started most of the season. Needless to say, Carson Palmer is an upgrade.

With Palmer back and the addition of first-round pick Andre Smith, the Bengals should have an upgraded offensive line and better quarterbacking. Also, one thing the Bengals discovered last year was a running back when Cedric Benson came over from Chicago and ran fairly well.

With a healthy Ochocinco, a rededicated Chris Henry and Coles, the Bengals have plenty of passing weapons. This is a very underrated unit in reality and in fantasy as all of the pieces on this offense are offering good value in fantasy drafts.

Defense

The Bengals defense is loaded with former first-round picks and they appear to have all the mixings of turning it around. Last year, the defense actually played fairly well and with the return of Keith Rivers, the addition of Williams and the growth of a number of young prospects, this could be a sleeper defense.

For as much flack as he gets, Marvin Lewis still knows how to coach up a defense and there is definitely plenty of talent here to get into the Top 10 in league standings.

One key will have to be the healthy return of end Antwan Odom. Much more was – and will be –expected from him and Robert Geathers. If this defense can’t general more pressure they will struggle in pass defense.

On the whole, don’t expect this unit to give up a lot of points in the run-heavy AFC North.

Outlook

Not many people have the Bengals as their Superbowl pick or to either win the division with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens keeping them company,
but with a lot of key players returning from injuries combined with the growth of a young team, the Bengals should get this team at or near .500.