The Bengals are loaded at running back for the 2007 season.  Rudi Johnson will be the lead back again this season.  He is a bruising type running back that almost always delivers a blow to the defender trying to tackle him.  He often wears down a defense by pounding on them.  He isn’t the fastest running back around but he always seems to be moving forward with the ball.  Johnson played in all 16 games (15 starts) last season for the Bengals and he carried the ball 341 times for 1,309 yards (3.8 ypc) with 12 TD runs.  He also caught 23 passes for 124 yards (5.4 avg).  Johnson has really made a nice career for himself in Cincinnati.  He has played in 70 games (50 starts) and he has carried the ball 1,271 times for 5,245 yards (4.1 ypc) with 45 TD runs.  He also has caught 88 passes for 478 yards (5.4 avg) with 0 TD grabs.  Look for Johnson to pad his career rushing totals with an outstanding 2007 season.

Kenny Watson wound up being the #2 running back on the Bengals due to injuries to Chris Perry and he did a decent job.  Watson played in all 16 games (0 starts) last season for the Bengals and he carried the ball 25 times for 138 yards (5.5 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also caught 23 passes for 213 yards (9.3 avg) with 0 TD grabs.  Watson also returned 10 kickoffs for 198 yards (19.8 avg).  Look for Watson to be busy again this season as it seems as if Perry won’t be ready to play when the season starts.  Watson has now played in 57 career games (4 starts) and he has carried the ball 167 times for 833 yards (5.0 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  He also has caught 80 passes for 637 yards (8.0 avg).  Watson has returned 53 kickoffs in his career for 1,047 yards (19.8 avg).

The Bengals surprised everyone on draft day when they selected Kenny Irons in the 2nd round.  Irons is a little on the small side at 5′11″, 200 pounds but that didn’t stop him from playing well at Auburn (same school as Rudi Johnson).  If you can run the ball well against SEC defenses you should have no problem graduating to the NFL.  It’s possible that Irons could pass up Watson on the depth chart at some point.

Chris Perry is still around despite all of the injuries he has suffered during his NFL career.  Perry definately is very skilled at both running the ball and catching it, but it doesn’t matter if you can’t stay healthy enough to play on Sundays.  Perry played in 6 games (1 start) last season for the Bengals and he carried the ball 10 times for 57 yards (5.7 ypc) with 0 TDs and he caught 9 passes for 42 yards (4.7 avg) with 0 TD grabs.  Perry also returned 21 kickoffs for 412 yards (19.6 avg).  Perry has had a very disappointing career despite being a first round draft pick as he is turing into another Ki-Jana Carter right before our very eyes.  Perry has played in 22 games (3 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 73 times for 337 yards (4.6 ypc) with 0 TD runs.  He also has caught 63 passes for 403 yards (6.4 avg) with 2 TD grabs.

The Bengals found out today that the NFL has extended Odell Thurman’s suspension to include the entire 2007 season.  Thurman better clean up his act soon or he will likely have to get into a new line of work.  This is a huge blow to the Bengals defense as they kind of expected Thurman to be re-instated for this season.

The Bengals might be on the verge of getting linebacker Odell Thurman re-instated for the 2007 season.  This would really help the Bengals if Thurman is focused and starts behaving himself off of the football field.  Thurman was outstanding as a rookie as he played in all 16 games in 2005 and he made 98 tackles, had 1.5 sacks, 5 interceptions (1 returned for a TD), defensed 4 passes, forced 4 fumbles and recovered a fumble.  Thurman is a big-time playmaker and that’s something the Bengals defense missed last season.

David Pollack will continue his recovery from a broken neck suffered in the 2nd game of last season against the Cleveland Browns but it won’t be on the field.  Team doctors have ruled him out for the 2007 season but it is possible that he could return as early as 2008 as long as he doesn’t have any setbacks.  Pollack has played in 16 games in his two seasons in the NFL and he has made 29 tackles, 4.5 sacks, defensed 1 pass and recovered 1 fumble.  It will be a great story if Pollack eventually makes it back to the football field.