After adding three new members to the passing game—Oklahoma TE Jermaine Gersham, Texas WR Jordan Shipley, and Kansas WR Dezmon Briscoe—during last week’s NFL Draft, no member of the Cincinnati Bengals will face more pressure during the 2010 season than offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski.
From 2005-07, Gratkowski had the Bengals offense ranked in the top 10 each season. An offense led by Carson Palmer, he had a dynamic duo at wideout in Chad Ochocinco—who went by Johnson at the time—and T.J. Houshmandzadeh along with a strong running game with Rudi Johnson. After finishing the last two seasons with the 32nd and 24th ranked offense, the 2010 season could be the deciding factor on Gratkowski’s future in Cincinnati.
Gratkowski received heavy criticism last season for his inability to utilize Palmer and the passing game. The loss of Houshmandzadeh and his ability as a slot wideout left a major gap in the passing game, but the Bengals were still expected to flourish with the addition of Laveranues Coles. After a disappointing first—and only—season in Cincinnati, he was released by the Bengals in March to make room for Antonio Bryant.
The addition of Bryant provides the Bengals with arguably one of the top free-agent wide receivers in this year’s class. The former Tampa Bay wide receiver may have struggled last season—in which he finished with 39 catches for 600 yards and four touchdowns—after dealing with knee injuries, but if 2008 is any indication of the type of potential he has, the passing game should see a drastic improvement next season.
Cincinnati contained one of the top running games last year and set a franchise record with eight games in which a running back broke the 100-yard mark. With key members of the offensive line returning—along with the potential of Andre Smith—and Cedric Benson entering his second full season as a starter with the Bengals, the running game should be just as effective in 2010 as it was last season.
All of the weapons seem to be in place for Cincinnati to finish with their first back-to-back winning seasons in 28 years. The defense is solid, the running game is strong, and the passing game has the potential to return to the dominant level it was at a few years ago with the addition of key free agents and rookies.
With the amount of talent on this year’s roster, there are no excuses for the Bengals’ offense to struggle with putting up points this season. Cincinnati averaged just 19.1 points per game in 2009 and will need to find more ways to score if they want any chance of competing in the AFC North next season.
Of course, if the Bengals continue to struggle like last season, the fingers shouldn’t be pointed at Marvin Lewis; they should be directly pointed at Bratkowski.
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