NFL – The Surprise

The Bengals

Cincinnati managed to a make the play-offs last year in a really tough division with a very inexperienced QB at the Helm. Dalton, who had his rookie year last year, had a completion percentage of 58 and threw for nearly 3400 yards.

Perhaps his most impressive stat was that he only threw 13 interceptions in 16 games compared to 20 touchdowns. This likely means that he is a quarterback who will make good decisions in the heat of the moment a characteristic which is extremely important for any QB.

I fully expect Dalton to improve this year and with Benson and Green by his side Cincinnati should be able to win 10 games or more in a really hard hitting division. Along with some impressive players making their début last season Cincinnati also had a very impressive draft (which can largely be attributed to the very shrewd trade which sent Palmer to Oakland last year).

Dre Kirkpatrick and Kevin Zeitler are certainly two of the best at their position from the 2012 draft and they could even begin there NFL carriers as starters.

Others who could make sizeable contributions throughout the season are Mohamed Sanu, the Rutgers wide receiver and Dan Herron the Ohio St Running back. Sanu was breaking records at Rutgers left right and centre and took his leave from college football earlier than most but he certainly had good reason to think that he can compete with the big boys right now.

Herron can take some of the weight off Benson at the running back position but I do not see this as a shared system, Benson will almost certainly be the number one RB but, that being said, Herron could be a viable replacement and depth at the RB positions is extremely important due to the high injury rate.