Cincinnati Bengals: Is Brian Quick an option?

There aren’t many good impending free agent wide receivers this offseason, so the Cincinnati Bengals have two of the top options that could be available in Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu, with the former potentially being the No. 1 free agent WR since the Chicago Bears are fully expected to retain superstar Alshon Jeffery at all costs.

The Cincinnati Bengals have managed to provide Andy Dalton with an excellent arsenal of weapons, as the returns of Marvin Jones and Tyler Eifert to full health helped Dalton become an MVP candidate before his especially untimely season-ending injury at the end of the campaign. Along with elite wideout A.J. Green and Sanu, who emerged as a credible target in 2014, those two helped the Bengals finish third in the league in net yards per pass attempt.

There’s a good chance both Sanu and Jones could be playing elsewhere in bigger roles, and we will most likely see one of them slip away in free agency. Jones is the better player and is thus the priority for the Bengals, but he’s more expensive and less versatile than Sanu, which complicates things.

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In the case that the Bengals aren’t able to keep either of them, they will have to look to free agency and the draft to re-stock Dalton’s cachet of weaponry. It is a smart idea for the Bengals to pluck a wide receiver in the middle rounds of the draft, but the best way to attack the position if both Sanu and Jones leave in free agency is to sign a veteran and add a rookie via the draft.

Unfortunately, the Bengals free agent options will be limited, which is why it is important to highlight potential buy-low, bounce-back candidates who would be willing to sign cheap, one-year “prove it” deals. These carry no risk and give the Bengals an experienced player who could give Dalton another capable option.

Joe Goodberry is a man with plenty of great ideas, and he tweeted out that he would target Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Brian Quick if the Bengals were to lose Jones.

Couple of free agent WR I'd target if the Bengals lose Marvin Jones:
Brian Quick (26) and Andre Holmes (27).
— Goodberry (@JoeGoodberry) February 8, 2016

Although Quick never got back on track from his major shoulder surgery in 2014, he is the exact type of veteran, buy-low candidate the Bengals should be going after.

Before that massive injury, Quick looked like a breakout star in the 2014 season for the Rams, as he averaged 53.6 yards per game and 15.0 yards per reception in seven appearances. The former second-round pick out of Appalachian State finally seemed to be making good on his pre-draft love, and his 6’3″, 220-pound frame could make him an appealing option for the Bengals, especially since he showed some playmaking ability in his best season.

Last year, Quick struggled mightily, and his numbers were actually pretty embarrassing. After averaging 9.61 yards per target in 2014, Quick caught just 31.3% of his passes for 10.2 yards per reception in 2015, and I don’t even want to calculate that YPT average. Sample size is an issue, yes, but remember, Quick only had 39 targets in 2014, so his 32 targets in 2015 aren’t that much less either.

Counting on Quick producing as a free agent signing would be risky, but any team adding Quick wouldn’t be counting on anything from him. It’s why he’s a “prove-it” type receiver, and many of the most successful “prove-it” free agents have bounce back seasons because they are in a more favorable environment. If you want to look at a recent example of this, then look no further than Oakland Raiders receiver Michael Crabtree, and he didn’t even have to move out of the Bay Area.

Dec 13, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton (14) against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Paul Brown Stadium. The Steelers won 33-20. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /

Of course, Quick isn’t as good as Crabtree, nor has he ever been as productive as the former San Francisco 49ers No. 1 receiver. That said, Quick’s price tag will reflect that, as will his role as a No. 3 receiver in the Bengals offense. They won’t ask much more than that out of him, and, if he plays like he did in 2014, they could get WR2 upside out of him.

All the Bengals would be looking for from a free agent replacement at the wide receiver position is someone who can produce. They won’t need a star, and, well, there aren’t any star-caliber receivers in free agency.

That said, you can find upside in players like Quick, since there’s a huge difference in quality between Nick Foles/Case Keenum and Dalton, the Rams line and the Bengals line, and Kenny Britt and Green.

Surroundings play a big role in production, and the Bengals can also boost their surrounding talent at WR with a third to fifth-round wide receiver in another deep class at the position.

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I like Goodberry’s suggestion of Quick as an option, and I have a feeling the Rams will let him test the free agent market after an awful season in which he looked out-of-place as an afterthought in the NFL’s worst passing attack.

The big question is whether or not he can shake off that huge 2014 injury, but Quick will be 27 when the 2016 season starts, which is still pretty young.

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