Best Cincinnati Bengals Running Backs

The running back is one of the most important positions in American football and thus every team that plays this sport needs efficient running backs to be successful. For the uninitiated the primary role or duty of a running back is to receive handoffs from the quarterbacks for the rushing play and to catch the passes from the backfield and block. The Cincinnati Bengals have had some amazing running backs on their roster over the years and they made some stellar contributions in the team.

Rating the best running backs to play for Cincinnati Bengals

The ranking of players from different eras and generations is always interesting and subjective. It is a fascinating subject that rightfully promotes debate and discussion on the different players, their role and status in the history of the game. Here we will document some of the best running backs that have played for Cincinnati Bengals over the years.

Corey Dillon

When you sit down to make a list for the best running backs to have played for Cincinnati Bengals across the years then it is likely that most of the people will have Corey Dillon right there at the top of their list. And when you look at this record and numbers as well as impact then it not difficult to understand why that’s the case.

Right from the moment when he was drafted in the team, Dillon has been a force to reckon with in running game. In his very first season, Dillon produced 1000 yards campaign and did it while hitting the double digit touchdown numbers on runs. That was the first of his six straight on the bounce 1000 yard campaigns. When it comes to scoring runs the numbers weren’t always as consistent however Dillon did reach double figures for the 2nd time and amassed a total of 45 with the franchise or the team. When it comes to career totals his numbers are extra-ordinarily impressive. The 8061 yards on the ground produced by him are by far, beyond any doubt the best numbers that has been produced by any of the Cincinnati Bengals running back. The per game average of Corey Dillon is 75.3 which eclipses every other running back or runner that the franchise has had on its roster. Dillon is exclusively amongst the 3 players to eclipse and clear the 70 yards for each game. The 45 rushing touchdowns produced by Dillon ranks 3rd in the history of the team. He leads the chart when it comes to the total carries and has fumble rate of 93.3 carries for each fumble which ranks 3rd amongst Cincinnati runners who have at the very minimum 700 rushing attempts in their career.

The season that best exemplifies and describes Dillon is the 2000 season. During this season Dillon had the best total of rushing as the Bengal (1435) yards and averaged 4.6 yards for each carry. Added to these impressive numbers is the good number of touchdown scores which were 7. Despite his impressive performances and efforts the team ended on 4-12 for the year because Dillon didn’t get a lot of support from the team mates and the franchise. However, when it comes to running backs since Corey Dillon the Bengals have been singin’ the blues.

Rudi Johnson

The Cincinnati Bengals franchise have had a lot of Johnsons on their roster and Rudi Johnson is pound for pound one of the best running backs that the team had. Rudi Johnson played for seven season at Cincinnati Bengals and had a pretty impressive record much like Pete Johnson who also played seven seasons in the team. In terms of numbers Rudi Johnson had rushing yards of 5742 and as the receiver had 101 receptions at 588 yards and one touchdown. In terms of rushing touchdowns Rudi Johnson had48 touchdowns. In the seasons between 2004 to 2006, Rudi Johnson had the most carries of all the players which totaled at 1039. Rudi Johnson had an impactful tenure at Cincinnati Bengals in his short spell and that makes him one of the most influential and significant running back in the history of the franchise.

Pete Johnson

In the history of the NFL league the fullback or the running back position has long been an important component of the offensive plans. The fullbacks were crucial in making the attacks effective whether it involved blocking, short yard skills or finishing the long drive with plow-through touchdown. The importance of that position is evident from the impact that Pete Johnson had on the Cincinnati Bengals franchise during his time there. Some of his stats are very impressive that includes a minimum of 153 carries in every season which is phenomenal by modern standards. No other fullback has had more than 100 carries since Tolbert produced 101 in the year 2013.

Apart from these some of the other notable mentions when it comes to Cincinnati Bengals running backs are James Brooks, Bobby Clark, Archie Griffin, Harold Green and Charles Alexander.

Cincinnati Bengals Coaching Staff

The Cincinnati Bengals is one of the most popular franchises in American football and thus there is always great buzz and interest in various developments that happen around the franchise from time to time. The franchise has a very good coaching staff that keeps getting updated with the passage of time. If you are a fan of the Cincinnati Bengals franchise or even if you are NFL aficionado and want to know more about their coaching staff in more detail then read along. The coaching staff typically involves multiple designated roles that are assigned to different individuals based on their expertise. Let us have a detailed look at the current coaching staff of the Cincinnati Bengals franchise.

Detailed breakdown of the Cincinnati Bengals coaching staff

The coaching staff of any team or franchise in the NFL typically includes head coach, co-coordinators, assistant coaches, strength and conditioning professionals and football operations officer. All of these staff perform different operations and co-ordinate as well as report to the head coach on the different aspects as well as requirements of the team.

Head Coach: Zac Taylor

When it comes to head coach, Zac Taylor has been appointed as the leading man thus becoming the10th coach in the history of the Cincinnati Bengals franchise. Taylor comes into the job of the coaching Cincinnati Bengals with some experience as he was with L.A Rams for 2 seasons where served in the capacity of assistant wide receivers coaching and then became the quarterbacks coach in the year 2018. In the very same year Taylor helped the quarterback of the Rams Jared Goff to the career high in almost every major passing metric which includes completions, attempt, passing yards, passing TDs, completion percentage, yards per attempt and the passer rating. Goff was ranked overall 4th in the passing yards for NFL and 8th in the overall passer rating. The quarterback of the Rams was the key component and played a vital role in their offense that completed the season with being 2nd in NFL in the total net yards, 5th in the net passing yards, 2nd in the scoring, first in the first downs and fifth in the third down percentages. LA won NFC west with 13-3 record in regular season and then advanced to the super bowl facing New England Patriots.

In the year2017 Zac Taylor guided the emerging Rams offense of passing which was ranked 10th in NFL in the passing yards per game. Taylor helped in directing the young receiving corps of the Rams which was headed by Cooper Kupp, and had finished the season with the 62 catches, the team high of 869 receiving yards and the 5 TDs. Before his stint with Rams, Taylor had spent one year in college ranks serving as the offensive coordinator and the coach of the quarterbacks at University of Cincinnati in the year2016. Taylor who was serving under the head coaching of Tommy Tuberville, helped in guiding the offense of Bearcats that had an average of 255.9 passing yards for each game and 118.3 yards of rushing.
Taylor got into coaching in the NFL in the year 2012 and his first stint was as an assistant coach of the quarterbacks for the Miami Dolphins. He was then gradually promoted from the assistant coach to the quarterback coach during 2013-15. Later in the 2015 season the team made alterations to the coaching staff and Taylor then served as the primary play-caller and the offensive coordinator on the interim basis. During his stint with the Miami franchise, Taylor was crucial in developing the quarterback Ryan Tannehill who was draft pick in the 1st round of 2012.

When it comes to the coordinators of the Cincinnati Bengals franchise then the team has Brian Callahan as the defensive coordinator with an experience of 10 years, Lou Anarumo also a defensive coordinator with an experience of 7 years and Darrin Simmons as special teams coordinator with an experience of 15 years.

In terms of assistant coaches the Cincinnati Bengals franchise has a team of 16 competent assistant coaches with good experience and skills to deal with the operations of the team. These assistant coaches team of staff includes Bob Bicknell with an experience of 10 years in the game, James Casey with an experience of 1 year, Gerald Chatman who serves as a defensive assistant with an experience of 1 years.

Moving along Brayden Coombs serving as assistant special teams with an experience of 6 years, Mark Duffner the senior defensive assistant with experience of 22 years, Nick Eason working on defensive line with an experience of 5 years. Besides this you also have ten other extremely professional and hardworking assistants who serve in different capacities.

The Cincinnati Bengals has strength and conditioning team of 3 skilled professionals and one director of football operations in the form of Doug Rosfeld to look overall the business matters of the franchise.

Best Cincinnati Bengals Quarterbacks

The quarterback is one of the most important positions in American football. The quarterback also known as the “signal caller” is a vital offensive position in the team lineup. The quarterbacks are part of the offensive lineup of the team and they take up the position directly behind offensive line. For any team or franchise to be successful it is important to have good and efficient quarterbacks that will lead the offensive line successfully. The Cincinnati Bengals is one of the most popular franchises in American football and they have a history of some of the finest quarterbacks on their roster for a period of time.

Documenting the best Cincinnati Bengals quarterbacks

In every decade the Cincinnati Bengals have had notable quarterbacks that have made an impact with the exhibition of their skills. Let us have a look at some of the most remarkable quarterbacks in the history of Cincinnati Bengals

Jeff Blake

The Cincinnati Bengals had to endure one of the toughest phases in their during the 90s decade and their struggles can be documented as one of the worst faced by anyone in professional sports history. However even then they had some in the form of Jeff Blake to look forward and his contributions to the team. The record for the Cincinnati Bengals under Jeff Blake was 32-45 which, while not impressive, is a lot better 7-23 record they had without Blake. Jeff Blake had a stunning season in 1995 where he boasted an impressive 3822 passing yards, a 57.5% completion rate, 28/17 TD/INT ratio, 238.9 yards every game and the 82.1 QBR. The next season for Jeff Blake, which was 1996, was almost as good as the 1995 one in all the categories. However the subsequent issues with consistency caused a derailment in his career. Jeff was particularly renowned for throwing some of the most prettiest and outrageous deep balls in history of NFL. The long time and ardent Cincinnati Bengals fans will even recall Shake ‘N Blake song which was inspired by the exciting and impressive season for Jeff Blake in 1995.

Carson Palmer

Whether you are an admirer or a cynic you can’t deny the fact that Carson was a huge talent and played a stellar role in altering the fortunes of the franchise from the awful period that it endured between 1992 to 2002. The Cincinnati Bengals franchise picked Carson Palmer as the 1st overall pick in draft after the worst 2-14th season in the year 2002. This led to the first franchise winning record, a playoff berth for the 1st time in 15 years, a division title victory after 15 years as Carson Palmer played his first full 16 game season in 2005. After leaving the franchise of Cincinnati Bengals, Carson Palmer has been a more consistent performer and contributor to other teams however he still provided the Bengals franchise with some stellar years in which he provided a total of 22,000 yards of passing, touchdowns that totaled 154 and two seasons of pro bowl. A lot of the people thus rightfully do recognize Carson Palmer as one of the most talented and gifted players to come through the Cincinnati Bengals franchise. However one of the reasons why Palmer never truly recognized his true potential at the Cincinnati Bengals franchise was because of the poor attitude, ethics and leadership and that ultimately resulted in him leaving the franchise on a sour note with the fans as well as the staff. Injuries also played a part in hampering the overall impact that Palmer could potentially have on the franchise.

Ken Anderson

There is potential for an argument that Ken Anderson is right at the top when it comes to quarterbacks that played for the Cincinnati Bengals. The statistics and his numbers with Cincinnati Bengals are impressive and a proof that Anderson was one of the best quarterbacks to ever play for the franchise. Just have a look at these numbers passing yards totaling 32,838, TD/INT ratio of 197/94 and the career QBR of 81.9 which means that Ken Anderson should rightly end up in hall of fame some day. Ken Anderson is also only one of the two quarterback players to ever win a playoff in the history of the franchise. The 1981 season saw Anderson winning offensive player of the year, most valuable player of the year and comeback player of the year awards.

Boomer Esiason

When it comes to clutch players and winning in the key moments no player in the history of Cincinnati Bengals was better than Boomer Esiason. He is the only quarterback in Cincinnati Bengals history that managed to win playoff game in the two different seasons. Some of the honors that Boomer won includes super bowl appearance and the most valuable player in 1988. Boomer was known as the undisputed and unarguably the master of play action pass.