23-year old rookie QB Andy Dalton has brought his team back to beat the Bills and Jaguars in the last two weeks as he is really proving to be a leader on the team already.  Dalton has played in all five games for the Bengals so far this year and he has completed 93 of 157 passes (59.2%) for 1,047 yards with 6 TD passes and 5 INTs (78.7 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 6 times for 20 yards (3.3 ypc) so far this year.  Let all of the “experts” keeping yapping about the 1-4 Cam Newton of the Panthers, because Andy Dalton is already 3-2 as a starting QB in his NFL career.

23-year old rookie WR A.J. Green caught 4 passes for 118 yards (29.5 avg) last weekend in the win against Buffalo.  It was his 2nd 100+ receiving game of the year for the Bengals already!  Green has now played in four games for the Bengals this year and he has caught 19 passes for 312 yards (16.4 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  He is already Andy Dalton’s go to man in the passing game and both of these guys have very bright futures.

23-year old WR Brandon Tate has played in all 4 games for the Bengals so far this year but he hasn’t caught any passes.  He has been doing all of his work on special teams for the Bengals so far this year.  Tate has returned 9 kickoffs for 208 yards (23.1 avg) and 16 punts for 144 yards (9.0 avg) so far this year for the Bengals.  I can see the Bengals letting Tate go out for some passes later this year, but for now, they are content to let him return kickoffs and punts.

23-year old rookie QB Andy Dalton is making an outstanding first impression for the Bengals.  He has played in both games so far this year for the Bengals and he has completed 37 of 56 passes (66.1%) for 413 yards with 3 TD passes and 0 INTs (105.7 QB Rating).  Dalton also has carried the ball 2 times for 3 yards (1.5 ypc) for the Bengals so far this year.  Dalton showed me a lot by coming back and having a big game for the Bengals after getting beat up pretty good by the Browns in the season opener.  He looks like the real deal.

28-year old RB Cedric Benson wants to get a lot of work this year and he isn’t going to be disappointed.  Benson carried the ball 25 times for 121 yards (4.8 ypc) with 1 TD run against the Browns last week.  He also caught 1 pass for 2 yards.  Benson is going to get some help from Brian Leonard and Bernard Scott behind him, but he’s going to be the man main in the running game for the Bengals in 2011.  With Andy Dalton and Bruce Gradkowski at QB, the Bengals are going to be a running team, plain and simple.

With Chad Ocho Cinco and Terrell Owens’ years being over the Bengals have had a couple of young WRs step up.  25-year old Andre Caldwell has caught 8 passes for 176 yards (22.0 avg) in the Bengals’ last two games.  This really came out of nowhere.  Caldwell has played in 14 games so far this year and he has 18 catches for 251 yards (13.9 avg).  24-year old WR Jerome Simpson has caught 8 passes for 154 yards (19.3 avg) with 2 TD grabs in his last two games for the Bengals and those are his only catches in 4 games this year for the Bengals!

Caldwell has now played in 37 games in his first three years with the Bengals and he has caught 80 passes for 761 yards (9.5 avg) with 3 TD grabs and he has also carried the ball 9 times for 73 yards (8.1 ypc).  Simpson has now played in 12 games in his first three years with the Bengals and he has caught 9 passes for 156 yards (17.3 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Caldwell & Simpson stepped up at the perfect time as Terrell Owens and Chad Ocho Cinco are both likely on their way out of town after Sunday’s game with the Ravens.

WR Jordan Shipley (3rd round out of Texas) and TE Jermaine Gresham (1st round out of Oklahoma) have given Carson Palmer two solid targets other than Chad Ocho Cinco and Terrell Owens.  Shipley has been doing the dirty work over the middle of the field for the Bengals so far this year.  He has played in 10 games so far this year and he has 40 catches for 518 yards (13.0 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  Jermaine Gresham has given Palmer a big, physical target.  He has played in 11 games for the Bengals so far this year and he has 44 catches for 366 yards (8.3 avg) with 3 TD grabs so far this year.  Shipley & Gresham are going to be big parts of the Bengals’ offense both now and in the future.

26-year old RB Bernard Scott is Cedric Benson’s caddy.  But it seems like almost every time he touches the ball…..good things happen.  Scott has played in 6 games for the Bengals so far this year and he has carried the ball 18 times for 92 yards (5.1 ypc) and he also caught the ball 8 times for 58 yards (7.3 avg).  Scott has also returned 13 kickoffs for 262 yards (20.2 avg) so far this year.  Scott has now touched the ball 39 times for 412 yards (10.6 avg) so far this year.  The Bengals need to throw Scott a bone once in a while and give him a few more touches.

The Bengals gave 28-year old Mike Nugent (from Ohio State) a shot to win the kicking job in training camp and that’s exactly what he has done.  Until this year, Nugent has been a pretty poor kicker.  He has played in 5 games for the Bengals so far this year and he has connected on 12 of 13 field goals (92.3%) and he has made 8 of 8 extra points as he has 44 points on the year.  The Bengals need him to keep up the good work because they can’t afford to leave points on the field.

WR Jordan Shipley was a third round pick last April out of Texas and he is making his mark with the Bengals so far.  In his first three games of his NFL career, Shipley has caught 13 passes for 161 yards (12.4 avg).  Shipley makes his money going over the middle and he’s a tough guy with good hands.  TE Jermaine Gresham was a first round pick out of Oklahoma last April and he has been playing really well also.  Gresham has caught 13 passes for 99 yards (7.6 avg) with 1 TD grab so far this year.  Shipley and Gresham are a big part of the Bengals’ future on offense but they are also a big part of the right now as Terrell Owens and Chad Ocho Cinco draw most of the coverage giving the rookies room to operate.