Bengals: Roster analysis: Running backs

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Roster analysis: Running backs

Second in a series

Today: Running backs

Starters: TB Rudi Johnson, FB Jeremi Johnson

Backups: TB Kenny Watson, TB DeDe Dorsey, TB Chris Perry, TB Kenny Irons, TB Quincy Wilson.

Like linebacker, the Bengals running back position looked like a M*A*S*H unit in 2007. Perry (ankle, shin) and Irons (knee) didn't play because of injuries. Dorsey, a pleasant surprise on offense and special teams, ended on IR with a high ankle sprain. Rudi Johnson missed five games because of a hamstring.

Watson was the most durable, playing in all 16 games with five starts. He lead the team with 763 rush yards and five touchdowns and added 374 yards on 52 receptions. The bodies and talent are here. It's just a matter of sorting through the injuries in the offseason and making sure players are ready to contribute once the season starts. The medical/rehab staff must get players such as Perry and Irons pointed in the right direction to make maximum use of the offseason off-time.

Rudi Johnson might be a salary cap casualty, but why not bring him to training camp to see if he has recovered from the hamstring issues that affected him in 2007. He had been incredibly durable.

The Bengals might be tempted to draft another running back, having received very little from first-rounder Perry in 2004 and second-rounder Irons last year.

Question: Who are your starting offensive backfield (tailback and fullback) and two backups to open the 2008 season?

Postscript: The 80-percent stat attributing those incomplete passes to route-running errors in the quarterbacks installment is an estimate that came from inside the Bengals organization.

22 Comments:

at 1/22/2008 10:51 AM

Anonymous said...

I'd say if McFadden is available at No. 9 you can't pass him up. Beyond that you hope Irons can play and continue to phase out Rudi if he indeed has slowed down a step and it wasn't just the injury.

at 1/22/2008 10:53 AM

Anonymous said...

Rudi's production is declining. In 2006, he averaged 3.8 yards per carry. This year it was 2.9 with an injury. He is set to earn $4.9 million next season and if the Bengals cut him will save $2.9 million against the cap. At best rudi has one more good, not great, season left. The Bengals should let another team figure that out. Start Kenny Watson and Jeremi Johnson in the backfield. I'm not sure how durable Watson is but most teams are doing a platoon system anyway these days. Have Watson get 15 carries a game, Irons 10 and Dorsey 5. If Perry proves he's healthy in camp then trade him for a late-round draft pick.

at 1/22/2008 10:56 AM

Anonymous said...

Keep either Johnson or Wilson to pound between the tackles. Keep Watson as a third-down back and durable backup. Keep either Irons or Perry as the speed back. Keep Dorsey as a backup/special teamer. Trade the others for Osi Umenyiora!

at 1/22/2008 11:12 AM

Anonymous said...

Drop Perry and Johnson to save their cap room. Irons might be pretty good, but it's too early to tell. Dorsey and Watson were better than Johnson and they can also catch the ball. Johnson seems to have lost too much weight - he's not able to pound the ball anymore and isn't shifty enough to run any other way.

at 1/22/2008 11:49 AM

Anonymous said...

The last thing this team needs is to draft another RB. They already have the players. The big problem with the running game this year was the O-Line did a poor job at run-blocking. You get rid of Rudi, and Perry and keep Irons, De De, and Watson.

at 1/22/2008 11:50 AM

Anonymous said...

Roster analysis: A pile of polished turds.

at 1/22/2008 12:03 PM

Anonymous said...

I agree we cannot bring Rudi back at $4.9M, but I think its worth trying to get him to renegotiate for lower $$$ but with incentives. If he doesn't bite, then we have to part ways.

I think they need to pick one between Dorsey and Perry, and hope for the best to have a healthy scat back.

It'd be nice to have a big body/Jamal Lewis pounder type, but with $$$ already invested in Irons we can't afford that luxury.

Hopefully with a healthy Dorsey/Perry, Irons producing some, and Watson that will provide the O with enough ground ammo to keep defenses honest.

If Rudi comes back he'd be great to have around, but only at the right price.

at 1/22/2008 12:23 PM

Anonymous said...

Rudi should come back only if he gains back the weight which he ill-advisedly lost.

Rudi at 225-230 lbs. can bounce off tacklers. Rudi at 210 is simply way too light and he's never had the elusiveness of a smaller back.

Oh, and fire anyone in the organization who thought it was a good idea for him to lose the weight.

Somebody tell Marvin and Bratkowski it's OK to have the fullback run the ball once in a while. Anybody remember Pete Johnson, Larry Kinnebrew and Ickey Woods?

Otherwise, Watson, Perry, Dorsey and Irons are enough to make RB a low priorty in the draft.

at 1/22/2008 12:27 PM

Anonymous said...

Regarding your 80% statement: Ohhhh, the Bengals are saying that. Then we MUST believe it. Because they obviously know what they're doing, right? What a blatant, outright farce to blame Palmers passes sailing high on incorrect routes. It wouldn't matter if the reciever was running the opposite direction on the field, Carson sailed passes ALL YEAR LONG.

Look, I like Carson. He is a good QB (not great - yet), and seems like a really good person. But let's stop coddling the guy. He is NOT the #3 QB in the league, like everyone is quick to claim. He has his issues too, like all the other Bengals. Not mobile in the pocket, pocket presence questionable at times, tends to hold the ball too long, accuracy is not consistent, needs to take command of this team, etc. To throw the recievers under the bus like that, given the career years both Chad and TJ had, is a disservice that I think fans realize, and quite frankly, they know better.

at 1/22/2008 12:53 PM

Anonymous said...

Here is an interesting scenario:

First, cut Rudi and Perry-

1st string-Watson
2nd string-Irons
3rd down back-Dorsey

HB-Reggie Kelly- why you ask? He in Carson Palmers words is a 3rd offensive tackle, the plus side is that he is mobile enough to go out and catch a pass and block out of the backfield. I would love to see him shoot through the hole in front of Watson/Irons (Dede only goes outside)and he is quicker/lighter/longer than JJohnson. Similar to the way the Colts use Utect. That being said, how awesome would it be to see USC's Freddy Davis in a Bengal uniform next season as the TE.

at 1/22/2008 1:07 PM

Anonymous said...

can't wait to discuss the D line the O line, and then linebackers.

if i were to blow up a unit - my first one would be D line.

at 1/22/2008 1:22 PM

Anonymous said...

Rudi has to go. He can't break a long run, or even an arm tackle now days and he's approaching 30. You keep Watson, Irons or Perry depending on health and run a 2 back committee. All 3 of those guys can catch and run. You have to keep Dorsey to play on Special Teams. Only late in the draft, do you try to pick up a butter ball running back (a big guy) like a Jacobs/Bettis or an Alstott type back that can play both FB & RB positions when needed. Ultimately, you got to kick Rudi & his salary to the curb.

at 1/22/2008 1:26 PM

Anonymous said...

Attn: Anon 1/22/2008 12:27 PM

Why does that 80% stat mean that the club is throwing the WRs under the bus? That still means that 20% of the passes were Carson's fault. Just because the WRs had record years, why does mean it automatically absolves them from criticism for the incomplete passes as you seem to imply it does. It is quite possible the record years are more of a reflection of an offense with no semblence of a running game, therefore leading to more pass attempts(Carson had 575 attempts this past year, the MOST of his career, and the 2007 rushing attempts were the LOWEST they had been in the last 5 years, the Bengals rushed the ball 416 times in 2007, for comparison: 2006=435, 2005=459, 2004=437, 2003=481).

So in your blind defense of the record setting WRs did you ever think it is quite possible that just because a pass sails over a WR's head doesn't immediately mean it is the QBs fault. Just think if a route is supposed to be run 2 or 3 yards deeper than it was run that the ball sailing OVER their head may be the result of a QB throwing a 20 yard pass to a 17 yard away receiever. Sure the receiever may have run the right route and he may be standing in the right place when the ball is delievered, but if he runs it short then the ball sails over his head.

Personally I think just about everyone on the offense is to blame for the poor performance of the offense this yar. While the line did well pass blocking(giving up the second least amount of sacks, 17, in the NFL), they did TERRIBLE run blocking and tended to lose the battle at the line of scrimmage on seemingly every run play. The WRs had to many drops and to many wrong routes and Carson Palmer had to many bad passes, and he seemed to hold the ball to long on numberous occasions. Then lastly the coaching staff turned this offense into an offense that was terribly predictable, and they had some really, really poor play calling based on situations. So really in the off season the ENTIRE offense needs to work hard to get better, and NO ONE on offense should be immune from being criticized.

at 1/22/2008 1:46 PM

Anonymous said...

Good comments here! I appreciate everyones opinion, and all have valid points. I would disagree with the McFadden point though, obviously he won't be there at 9, but even if he were, we don't need to waste a pick. We have backs, what we need are linemen, both offensively and defensively. ONTO the RB question overall, and this is a tough one. I like Rudi, he has been a total professional and works hard, unfortunately his time has come and gone, and just like a lot of other players, MB has ruined it for him. This is a business, and it is about putting the best team on the field. It is time to cut Rudi loose, along with Perry. We have Watson and Dorsey, and even though there are questions, Irons should be a productive back. We need to save on the cap, and free up some spots for the future, and like I said, Rudi and Perry are not the future. In the right situation, Rudi still has a couple of years of spot work with another team, and hopefully for him, it is a contender. BOTTOM LINE: The years have caught up with Rudi, and Perry has had his chance to get healthy. Cut them loose and save some cap money, and focus on using that to improve the team, NAMELY A DT in Haynesworth or Allen, and an OG like Faneca.

at 1/22/2008 1:57 PM

Anonymous said...

Everyone to blame:

My point is not to blindly defend the WR's, as you allege. My point is that Carson gets a free pass and gets coddled by the media, undeservedly. You actually agreed with me that everyone shares the blame, which was my point. How can the team throw one position under the bus when there is literally EVRYONE to blame? If the WR's were such an issue this year, why did they set every major team record? Answer: the management are Carson apologists. Did you just want to argue semantics?

at 1/22/2008 2:19 PM

Anonymous said...

Drop Perry because he has been a huge bust. Try to trade Rudy for a 2nd rounder & let's see what Watson, Irons, & Dorsey can do. 3 backs are better than 1 #32 who can't hit the holes anymore.

at 1/22/2008 3:15 PM

Anonymous said...

First of all, trade Rudi!
we have enough talent(and young) running backs : watson, perry, irons, dorsey
What else : improve our defense !

at 1/22/2008 5:27 PM

Anonymous said...

i think that it is a fore gone conclusion that either Perry or Irons wil be Pupd or IR'd. I cant see them both here ... I think ideally they woud like to get Perry some looks to trade him. Rudi is gone unless he becomes a Bettis type of runner again ...

All this talk regarding our Johnson players, personally I would not like to Jeremi here. He has no self discipline, overweight, hardly plays (but willing to forward the blame to the offense braintrust). In some no huddle packages Kelly moves back to block ... Why not hybrid Kelly and obtain that nice pass catching TE (position debate forthcoming)

I believe the roster will be:

Rudi
Perry/Irons (the other on IR)
Watson
DeDe (I dont think there is anyway to get back on the practice squad - more often than not deactivated)
J. Johnson

And for the people still talking about the Carson/Receivers ... move it back to the QB instead of here ...

And for those who think too many RB's, remember we had like 15 DB's on the roster to start the season so there is no perfect RB roster. Stop living in MaddenLand

at 1/22/2008 5:33 PM

Anonymous said...

The WRs set records because there were more passes thrown this year, plain and simple.

The WRs get the blame because they are the ones SEEN acting like prima donnas, and really if you look at the way the wind is blowing with Cincy fans, of course the team is going to support Carson over the WRs. The ownership of this team is so reactionary, so of course they are going to support Carson because it seems like the majority of the fans right now are supporting Carson. Chad is out being Chad and saying look at me, look at me, and it seems to me that Cincy fans are tired of this behavior.

Personally it doesn't bother me one bit, I love Chad as much now as I always have, but I can see which way the wind is blowing. Plus franchise QBs are a lot harder to find than franchise WRs, I mean the Bengals seem to have two franchise WRs on the team right now.

Personally most of the blame this year goes to the defensive side of the ball, and to me the defense is to blame for the offense. There is not one defense in the league that had to play the Bengals offense straight up because they knew that no matter what they were going to score a ton of points, so they could cheat a lot more against the Bengals offense. Thus that lead to a lot of the problems, and lead to a lot of frustration on the offensive side of the ball, and eventually that spilled over. To me the Bengals were the other side of the coin to the Ravens. The only difference is that instead of one side of the ball turning against the other side of the ball and turning against the head coach, the Bengals offense seemed to turn against itself.

Like I said earlier everyone is to blame, and records be damned, the WRs are just as much to blame, and easier targets because they are more vocal. So yea management are Carson apologists, but what is new, that is how all management in sports are, they support the "popular" players over just as, and even more productive players that cause them headaches, tis human nature...

at 1/22/2008 11:23 PM

Anonymous said...

On the whole, I think the RBs are OK and we should let the pre-season determine who stays and goes.

I think the real issue is the O-line just couldn't seem to run block consistently.

I agree with Anon 1:07 and can't wait to look at the two lines. That is where the problems start on both sides of the ball.

Dave in Dallas

at 1/23/2008 10:16 AM

Haystacks Calhoun said...

Trade Rudi for a second rounder? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!

Are you serious? In what world is that going to happen? Fantasyland?

Having watched all the games this year, it was painfully obvious that Palmer, Johnson, and TJ were NOT on the same page. Chad is notorious, and those around the league will tell you, for cutting off routes, not running routes the way that they are supposed to be ran. That said, Chad is a brilliant receiver, but needs to work on his route running. That is no secret around the NFL.

When you offense is based on timing, based on a receiver being in a certain place at a certain time, and he is NOT where he is supposed to be, whom do you blame?

Some of the posts here, and on the previous thread really highlight the ignorance of some Bengal fans.

at 1/24/2008 4:22 PM

Anonymous said...

They should give Dorsey a long look this summer. He seems like the explosive type of runner they're looking for to take pressure off the passing game. Several anonymous tailbacks have emerged for various teams over the last few years, showing that you don't necessarily have to use a high draft pick to establish a high-powered running offense.

Previous Posts

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Roster analysis: Running backs

22 Comments: