Josh Kirkendall over at CincyJungle.com linked to a nice write-up by Pro Football Focus about one of our favorite rookies from 2010: Geno Atkins. They put some light on one of the league’s secrets known largely only Bengals fans.
By the end of the year, he had totaled 31 quarterback disruptions, only 12 defensive tackles had more. Most noteworthy is that Atkins accumulated his on fewer snaps than all of the guys above him.
His good performance last year was joined by Carlos Dunlap, Frostee Rucker and Pat Sims. The “Fisher-Price” package. This is the perfect reason to taking one of the stud defensive linemen at #4. You say, “But we’ve already got all of those guys. We’re set.” Oh really?
There is no such thing as “deep enough” for either line. Injuries are going to happen. You need to be ready when they do.
Imagine being an offensive lineman and having this looking back at you: Dunlap-Fairley(or Dareus)-Atkins-Rucker. Or Dunlap-Sims-Atkins-Bowers(or Quinn). YOW! You’ve got your hands full. That makes your blitzers better too. It makes your CBs better. Put Maualuga at middle LB and let him headhunt the RB. It’s getting tough to move the ball.
By giving the defense one more tool to get back into the top 10, you take the pressure off of your rookie quarterback. He won’t need to score 25-30+ to win. 13-21 will do in many instances, especially with the weaker schedule the Bengals will have in 2011. A smart, accurate second rounder like Ponder or Kaepernick can do that most weeks.
Don’t think it will work? The 2000 Ravens won the SuperBowl behind Trent Dilfer. Trent Dilfer! I’m not saying this one pick will turn the Bengals’ defense into the 2000 Ravens’ defense or that this will even get them to the playoffs in 2011. (That isn’t likely to happen no matter what.) But I am saying that it is a faster path to sustained success than taking Cam Newton or A.J. Green at #4.
Original Story:
http://stripehype.com/2011/03/11/geno...
