By Adam Kiefaber
In the article below Loss of Irons- No Big Deal , I explain that the loss of rookie Kenny Irons isn’t the catastrophe that the Bengals’ media will lead you to believe.
What is a worse cliché, calling Rudi Johnson the workhorse?
-Or-
Calling Kenny Irons a nice ‘change of pace’ back?
Personally, I think the whole idea of labeling running backs in clichés is stupid.
But the Bengals ‘have to establish their running game’ and ‘stick to their game plan.’
Oh well, just in case if it is important to have a ‘change of pace’ running back, let me throw the name Skyler Green out there.
If you watched the Bengals’ first preseason game, you would’ve been impressed with Green’s performance.
When he was recruited out of high school, Rivals.com labeled him as a four-star running back. Scout.com had him as a four-star cornerback.
Green ended up playing wide receiver and returning punts/kickoffs, but did have 22 rushes for 211 yards (9.6 yards per carry) while at LSU.
While at Higgins High School, Green starred as the quarterback. He did his damage on the ground and not typically through the air. As a junior, he rushed for 1,050 yards and passed for 415. Then as a senior, on only 194 carries he rushed for 2,174 yards (that’s 11.2 yards per carry). That year, Higgins lost their first-round playoff game even though Green rushed for 224 and threw for 124 yards.
He definitely would be a ‘change of pace’ and has the arm strength to hold onto the football.
Technically, Green would save roster space since you could use him at wide receiver, in the backfield and in the return game.
Before training camp, it was hard to imagine that Green would make this team. However, after his impressive performance in the first preseason game he seems to be a lock.
In the preseason loss to Detroit, Green caught three passes for 33 yards. He had a drop on a hard thrown ball from quarterback Doug Johnson. But he did make two great catches on poorly thrown balls from Johnson.
Also, he returned three punts (averaged 15.7 yards per return) and three kickoffs (19.0 yards per return). Keiwan Ratliff led the Bengals in 2006 with 27 punt returns and only averaged 6.5 yards per return. Ratliff’s long was 38 yards. On one particular punt in Thursday’s game, Green returned a Nick Harris’ punt 37 yards to the Bengals’ 21.
On the Bengals’ website, Green is listed at 5-foot-9 190 pounds.
To see the type of playmaking ability that Green has, check out the video below which highlights Green’s college career at LSU.
4 comments ↓
[…] You know it’s bad when Bengals fans are expecting big things from this guy at running back. […]
I just seems silly to think Green will be able to hit the hole and move the chains in the NFL. I wouldn’t mind them adding him in a shotgun set where he is strictly a draw runner and a pass catcher though he’s small enough to fit in small places and explosive enough to grab chunks of yards and first downs.
I’m a Bengals fan and I think Skyler Green can be an asset to the team due to his versatility. But did you really just rattle off high school statistics as an argument for why Skyler Green should be the Bengals change of pace running back? And his 4 star rating from two bootleg websites? And his bulky 22 carries at LSU? And his one decent PRESEASON punt return? It’s clearly evident you know nothing about NFL football.
As an LSU fan, I was surprised Skyler didn’t make the team last year. This guy was a playmaker at LSU and, given the chance, will be one with the Bengals. I personally thought he was better than Joseph Addai, the Colts featured back.
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