Cincinnati Bengals: A.J. Green the perfect man to define a franchise
Hailing from the same draft class as superstars like Cam Newton, Von Miller, Julio Jones, Tyron Smith, Cameron Jordan, Robert Quinn, Ryan Kerrigan, and Muhammad Wilkerson, Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green has more than done his part to meet the hype.
In fact, A.J. Green was the fourth overall pick in that draft class, and the Cincinnati Bengals elite wide receiver has been a difference-maker since Day 1. The owner of a career 14.9 yards per reception average with 81.2 receiving yards per game, Green hasn’t hauled in fewer than 1,000 receiving yards in a single season, and that includes his injury-hindered 2014 campaign.
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When you draft a wide receiver in the top five before deciding to snag your franchise QB, Andy Dalton, in the second round of that draft, the expectation is for that receiver to be a face-of-the-franchise kind of player. Dalton was an MVP candidate last season and played sensational football upon the returns of Marvin Jones and Tyler Eifert to full health, but there’s no question that Green is the Bengals franchise-defining player.
The Bengals, of course, aren’t short on talent or depth with the likes of Geno Atkins and Andrew Whitworth on the roster, so Green’s iconic status in Cincinnati isn’t handed to him on a platter.
Green’s year-to-year consistency is certainly impressive, and that’s part of what makes him somewhat under-appreciated at times. Antonio Brown, Odell Beckham Jr., Julio Jones, and DeAndre Hopkins are the NFL’s four best wide receivers in some order, and all four of them blow up for massive numbers on the stat sheet. Green, instead, steadily fills up the stat sheet, rarely having an off game and almost always delivering against division foes.
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In fact, all four of his 100-yard games in 2015 were against AFC North teams, including a 227-yard, two-TD takedown of the Baltimore Ravens in Week 3.
What makes Green so awe-inspiring as a picture-perfect No. 1 target for Dalton is the fact that he combines big-play ability and reliability as seamlessly as any receiver in the NFL, including Brown, who is the premier player at this talent-rich position.
Just take a look at what Green did last season. He caught 86 passes for 1,297 yards and ten TDs in another spectacularly great-but-not-legendary season at the position. More strikingly, he led the team with 15.1 yards per reception and had a 65.2% catch rate, meaning that he averaged 9.83 yards per target.
That’s pretty crazy, but it gets even more astounding. In his five seasons, Green has averaged 8.74 yards per target, so only five players with at least 500 targets have more yards per reception or receiving touchdowns than him in the past five years. So when looking at year-to-year reliability among No. 1 receivers, Green is up there with the best of them fro ma playmaking standpoint, and that’s critical when the quarterback in question is 17th out of 19 qualifiers in passing yards per game among QBs since 2011.
The Bengals offense may have been third in the NFL in net yards per pass attempt last season, but they were also 26th in overall pass attempts. This is a team that isn’t built on an all-out air raid, which made opportunities harder for Green to come by than most other top wideouts last season, especially with Jones, Eifert, Mohamed Sanu, and RB Giovani Bernard claiming targets.
That said, Green, as you can see by the 9.83 yards per target average compared to his career average which is more than a full yard lower, traded in the decrease in yardage for increased efficiency. With Jones and Sanu gone, Green may have to go back to being the bread-winner he was from 2012-2014, but if someone like Laquon Treadwell or Josh Doctson joins the team in the draft, he can continue to be the YPR and TD maven he was in 2015.
No matter the situation and irrelevant of the goal, Green has shown that he will come through for the Bengals. Whether healthy or injured, on a slant route or a “9”, an end zone fade or a decoy route, Green does everything asked of him. He isn’t just a 6’3″, 211-pound, long, athletic physical specimen who can run the forty in under 4.5 seconds. No, he’s one of the NFL’s most well-rounded receivers, and he would be more than capable of putting up jaw-dropping numbers if he weren’t tied for 16th (with Eric Decker) in targets (132) and instead among the league leaders with 150+.
Sure, Green would deserve that number, but like the other elite wideouts in this league, he can remain equally effective in any usage rate or style of offense. He hasn’t been a 150+ target hog since earning 164 and 178 looks in 2013 and 2014, respectively, and he had over 1,300 yards in both seasons. However, he “only” averaged 8.12 yards per target and had only the mild support of Jones in 2013 and Jermaine Gresham in 2012 to truly support him.
Those days could be repeated in 2016, but that surge in yardage would come at the expense of Dalton’s success and the efficiency numbers that often get overlooked when talking about Green. Regardless, he’s one of the best receivers in the game at winning downfield, using his frame, and slipping underneath.
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Blessed with the perfect build and tools to dominate as an “X” receiver in this league, Green has defined the Bengals over the past five seasons, and it’s humbling to watch him go about his craft, either as the lead dog of a talented pack or the lone wolf carrying an up-and-down offense.