Real Expectations

There is no denying that there was a ton of talent taken in the 2010 NFL draft. The Bengals grabbed some talented players themselves, but let's discuss what we should actually expect from these players. If you go to the Bengals official boards, you will find plenty of nut jobs who set the highest expectations for rookies. Now, some of the hype has cooled down, but I still feel that we need to address what's been talked about on the boards. We'll go pick by pick for this writing.

Jermaine Gresham:

Honestly, this is the only rookie people should not be surprised to see start. I know that Marvin has said that he likes to bring rookies along slowly, but that seems to be changing lately. Look at how this played out:

Palmer - Sat out 1st year.
Perry - Missed year due to injury, but probably would've been 2nd fiddle to Rudi.
Pollack - Long holdout didn't help so he didn't become a starter until late in the season.
Joseph - Meant to play nickel role, but wound up with more playing and starts due to Tory James and Deltha O'Neal injuries/sucking.
Hall - Like Joseph, supposed to be a nickel but injuries and Deltha being a moron forced some early starts.
Rivers - The first rookie who was slated to start from day 1 and he did.
Smith - Penciled in as starter during OTAs but a holdout and injury prevented him starting.

So it would seem that Gresham should be our opening day starter barring holdout and injury. However, if we're truly a running team, then don't expect major stats from him. At this point, I won't make a prediction because we have no idea what will happen with him.

Carlos Dunlap:

Dunlap started off with major expectations from fans, but that's cooled for the most part, except when he's seen talking to Zimmer in videos. The bottom line is that he's only going to be a rotational player, barring injury. He'll be playing end and tackle for us, but it will most likely be on 3rd downs only. It would seem that a sack or two is reasonable to predict, but it's hard to know with him playing LE/DT for us.

Jordan Shipley:

Okay, Shipley is popular with a lot of people, me included, but people make it sound like he's going to get 100+ catches with 15 TDs. As of right now, he's not our top slot WR. Chad and Bryant are ahead of him, and despite what some people believe, Caldwell is ahead of him. We'll most likely use a rotations beind our top two WRs, so I think a couple of TDs in reasonable to expect from him, but anything more is pushing it.

Brandon Ghee:

After the signing of Pacman Jones, no one really talks about Ghee anymore and he's become an anonymous player in reports. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised to see him be a game day inactive.

Geno Atkins:

I am definitely a fan of Atkins, but I realize that he will probably not be on the field that much. Again, it seems like he'll just be a 3rd down pass rusher, but he'll probably rotate at tackle with some of our DEs during the game on 3rd downs. A possible sack or maybe 2 would be okay to predict, in my opinion.

Roddrick Muckelroy:

A lot of people have said that they think Muck will compete for a starting spot next year, but I just don't see it. While I would love to see him eventually start and become a good player, I think he is Brandon Johnson's eventual replacement as our utility LB. Become a solid special teams player and quality depth.

Otis Hudson:

He's penciled in as Bobbie Williams' backup, so he's already exceeded my expectations. Now, there's been a couple of people who think he'll get some playing time because of Bobbie's declining play. Unless we're up by a lot in a game, I don't see Otis getting playing time. He's labeled as a project, so we'll see, but be reasonable people.

Dezmon Briscoe:

Like the Jeromy Miles discussion, people have used the "he could've been a 3rd round pick" debates. Some have even said that he'll be better than Dez Bryant. While we would all like to see that, things aren't looking good for him to make the roster. So while some people are ready to put him down as a secret weapon this year, we should probably prepare to see him just battle for a roster spot.

Reggie Stephens:

No hype given.