Marshall Back With Lewis; Back in Cincinnati

By Adam Kiefaber

The team needed a linebacker. And they got one on Thursday.

Some Bengal fans wanted the team to sign Jeremiah Trotter. However, today the Bengals signed former St. Xavier local product Lemar Marshall.

Marshall was a cornerback at St. Xavier and came into the NFL as a safety.

The move makes sense due to the recent injury to linebacker Eric Henderson, who is out for the season.

Like fellow free-agent signee Ed Hartwell, Marshall played for coach Marvin Lewis with a team besides Cincinnati.

Marshall recorded his first NFL tackle while Marvin Lewis was the defensive coordinator for the Washington Redskins.

Marshall played for the Redskins from 2001 through 2006. He saw his playing time increase the last three seasons.

In those three seasons, Marshall has started 45 games. Last year, he finished the year with 104 tackles. In 2005, he had 98 tackles (132 according to one source) and had four interceptions.

Marshall will add much needed depth at linebacker and should make an impact on special teams.

Recently, Marshall has been the starter for the Redskins at the middle linebacker position. Which coincidentally is one of the positions where the Bengals have a huge question mark (see Ahmad Brooks). In 2004, he started at the outside linebacker spot when LaVar Arrington was sidelined because of an injury.

Marshall became expendable after the Skins signed London Fletcher-Baker in offseason. There were questions about Fletcher-Baker’s age, 32, but he has looked this preseason. In the team’s first preseason game against the Tennessee Titans, Fletcher-Baker recorded six solo tackles.

So far this preseason, Marshall had two tackles in last weekend’s game against Pittsburgh and added four tackles in Washington’s first preseason game.

Marshall doesn’t have Trotter’s name, but he is a dependable linebacker, who can contribute at all three linebacking positions. That is something that this defense could never have enough of.

Also, the team released tight end Erik Jensen. Jensen signed with the team on August 3rd.