It's a fine line....

[HairOnFire]

I thought the following was one of the most interesting articles I've read on the official Bengal website (Eat more chili!) in quite some time. Amongst the things I hadn't heard before was an actual description of Rucker's shoulder injury and the surgery that followed. Call me crazy but reattaching a players torn labrum seems serious enough to call into doubt all previous talk that Rucker was shelved soley to keep him under wraps until the media lost interest in his arrest.

QUOTE

Bengals (D-)line up young

By GEOFF HOBSON

May 15, 2007

It’s not the way the fans drew it up but the Bengals defense is going to have a different look when voluntary practices start later Tuesday morning at Paul Brown Stadium.

A decided younger look got even younger Monday with the release of Sam Adams, a starting defensive tackle who turns 34 next month in the discard pile with linebacker Brian Simmons, turning 32 next month in New Orleans, and cornerback Tory James, turning 34 this week in New England.

The critics will say this defense is cheaper, but the Bengals will argue it is younger, healthier, and faster, starting with first-round pick Leon Hall at nickelback and second-year players Domata Peko at tackle and Ahmad Brooks at middle linebacker.

Also arriving Tuesday is some seasoning in the form of six-year veteran Ed Hartwell, who turns 29 in two weeks and whose 77 NFL games make him the club’s senior linebacker when he lines up at right outside.

Adams had no comment Monday, saying only he was thankful to be given an opportunity that had to be disappointing for both sides after such optimism 13 months ago. Adams was looking to go to his third Super Bowl with a third different team, and head coach Marvin Lewis was looking for a stingy Pro Bowl run-stopper near the one that helped his record-setting Ravens defense prevent any touchdowns in their Super Bowl victory.

But when Adams needed time to work into shape and then tore cartilage in his knee during the preseason and the Bengals went through a turnstile of linebackers, the karma never clicked.

Now the topography along the Bengals front has changed on Voluntary Eve.

A LOOK AT THE BENGALS DEFENSIVE LINE

TACKLES

Domata Peko (6-3, 319)

One of the good locker room guys. Coming off a fine rookie season after just 11 starts at Michigan State, Peko is the presumed starter at left tackle now that Sam Adams is gone. A 320-pounder who is active against both the run and pass, his work ethic makes him a guy coming fast on the upside.

John Thornton (6-3, 297)

One of Marvin Lewis’ anchors at age 30. Another consummate pro who is a bit undersized at 297 pounds at right tackle, but he can play all three downs and has missed only one of his 64 Bengals starts.

Michael Myers (6-2, 300)

At 31, Myers played the last two seasons in Denver and last year had a career-high 37 solo tackles and led the defensive line. He started every game last season, but his 6-2, 300-pound frame was deemed too small for new Broncos defensive coordinator Jim Bates. Myers played his first six seasons in Dallas before the Cowboys cut him during the 2003 season and the Browns picked him up a month later. While in Cleveland, Myers played in 23 games with eight starts before Denver traded for him and defensive end Ebenezer Ekuban in exchange for running back Reuben Droughns before the 2005 season. Ironically it was Cleveland’s signing of restricted free agent Shaun Smith that spurred Myers’ two-year deal that probably contains a small signing bonus. Myers is viewed as a solid, durable pro that fits into the rotation and who has played in every game five of the last six years.

Kenderick Allen (6-5, 328)

Allen is a very large man who is known as an agile threat when healthy. He signed his one-year contract Monday, which is no doubt close to minimum salary and a small signing bonus after being limited to two games for the Packers with a lisfranc foot injury that didn’t require surgery. After coming into the NFL in 2003 in New Orleans as a college free agent, he saw his most action in 19 games with the ’04-05 Giants that included three tackles in a playoff game.

Matt Toeaina (6-2, 311)

The team's sixth-round pick out of Oregon. At 6-2, 311 pounds, his athleticism opened some eyes during rookie camp when he almost chased down quarterback Jeff Smith. A beast in the weight room (he repped 225 pounds 26 times at the combine and has done a 368-pound power clean), he has some intriguing possibilities as an end and tackle.

ENDS

Bryan Robinson (LE, 6-4, 304)

Turns 33 next month in the final season of a three-year deal and brings a seasoned professional approach much admired in the room. He started all 16 games last year and provided some inside pass rush on passing downs. There is some speculation that Robert Geathers and his new $5 million cap number for ’07 and his 10.5 sacks for ’06 will make him the starter, but Geathers worked effectively off the edge on third down.

Justin Smith (RE, 6-4, 275)

May very well be in his final season with the Bengals but they felt like his steel-belted annual averages of 95 percent of the snaps, seven sacks, and 87 tackles were worth the franchise tag of $8.6 million because there was nobody proven to replace him.

Robert Geathers (LE, 6-3, 265)

The Bengals think so highly of him that they gave him a six-year deal back in January that gives him more in the first year than the deal for Colts sack ace Robert Mathis at $14 million. Take away his second year, when they moved him inside on passing downs, and he has 14 sacks in 30 games rushing from the edge. He won’t turn 24 until August, a month before rookie running back Kenny Irons turns 24.

Frostee Rucker (RE, 6-3, 267)

Bengals third-round pick in 2006 who spent his rookie year on injured reserve. He initially injured his shoulder in the preseason opener before returning to play the finale. After being inactive for the regular-season opener, Rucker reinjured it in practice the next week and had to undergo season-ending surgery to reattach the labrum. This is a guy for whom they have high hopes. He has been cleared and the Bengals hope he shows the same strength and quickness that they feel will allow him to play some tackle on passing downs and both end spots.

Jonathan Fanene (E-T, 6-4, 295)

Hampered by lack of playing time as a rookie (three games) and a hamstring injury suffered in last spring’s camps that limited him to the final four games in ’06, the Bengals need their seventh-rounder to have a breakout year. They think he’s a strong enough athlete that can play first down at either tackle or end, although his best bet may end up being at left end. Like his lifelong friend Peko, Fanene, 25, looks to be on a sharp upside with just 10 starts at Utah.

Jimmy Verdon (6-3, 280)

A seventh-round pick of the Saints in 2005 out of Arizona State, where he was the club’s defensive MVP. Verdon played the last four games of his rookie year and had a tackle before the Saints waived him two days before the ’06 opener. At 6-3, 280, he’s currently the starting left end for first-place Hamburg in NFL Europe and has started all five games with eight tackles, two passes defensed and a forced fumble for a unit that has allowed a league-low 77 points.

Bryan Andrews (6-5, 266)

A rookie free agent out of Wake Forest that led the team in tackles-for-loss (8.5) and second in sacks with 4.5.

Xzavie Jackson (6-3, 287)

His 44th and last game at Missouri resulted in the MVP of the 2006 Brut Sun Bowl. He ran a slow (4.9) 40 at the combine but the scouts say he’s physical against the run and he had a Justin Smith-esque line as a senior in ranking fifth in the Big 12 with eight sacks while leading the team in tackles-for-loss (13.5) and the defensive line in tackles (64).

With Adams due about $500,000 in various bonuses and $1.5 million in salary, and his $1.2 million signing bonus accelerating under this year’s salary cap to account for $800,000 of the pro-rated bonus, the Bengals save $700,000 in salary on top of the bonuses by releasing Adams.

But most of the money will be rearranged in the line. Most of it will go into at least one new veteran tackle in Denver’s Mike Myers, counting an estimated $850,000 against the cap, and if Kenderick Allen makes it, that is another $595,040 in cap charges.

But the biggest fallout of the Adams move is that it presumably makes the highly promising Peko the starter at left tackle after a fine rookie year with 49 tackles and 2.5 sacks coming off the bench.

Traditionally the club has kept four tackles so with Peko, Myers, and starting right tackle John Thornton established, Allen figures to be battling with sixth-round pick Matt Toeaina for the last spot.

But there is also the flexibility of third-year player Jonathan Fanene, who the club thinks can also play tackle on any down. The Bengals also know that starting left end Bryan Robinson can swing inside on passing downs and they believe that second-year backup end Frostee Rucker can also do that but they don’t know for sure because he missed his entire rookie season with a shoulder problem.

And they know their top two pass rushers who combined for 18 sacks last season, ends Robert Geathers and Justin Smith, are going to make the team.

They also know that former-end-turned-SAM-linebacker Eric Henderson has a shot at being the ninth lineman and seventh backer.

The jockeying starts Tuesday, but for linemen on either side of the ball the voluntary camps are nothing to get excited about. No pads can be worn, only helmets, and there is supposed to be no aggressive contact, which is what trench play is all about.

Teams can’t be on the field more than 14 days, but Lewis has scheduled a dozen for this spring and usually one is reserved for a team outing away from the facility.

[ArmyBengal]

I liked the article as well (read it yesterday) and am looking forward to what the changes in the front 7 are going to produce. Will the youth be the difference maker ?? Will there be someone emerge as a stud (along the lines of Peko) ?? Can the changes give us the middle of the road defense that will take us to the SuperBowl ?? These are the things I'm looking forward to seeing out of the defense this year. Hopefully I'm not totally and completely disappointed in the outcome...

WHODEY !!!