Bengals Release Kenny Irons; Waste Yet Another High Draft Pick

Usually when I am critical of the Bengals organization, three things come to mind: their lack of a real scouting department, their inability to judge character and the wasting of draft picks.

If you noticed, all three things involve how they bring in personnel.

It happened again as the Bengals released RB Kenny Irons, a second-round pick from Auburn. Yeah, this was a fluke bad pick since Irons blew out his knee in Cincy's first preseason game in 2007 and failed the team's physical ... but it adds onto the pile of high end picks that aren't with the team anymore.

The Bengals have already rid themselves of Irons (2nd round, '07), David Pollack (1st round, '05), Odell Thurman (2nd round, '05), Chris Henry (3rd round, '05), Keiwan Ratliff (2nd round, '04), Madieu Williams (2nd round, '04), Caleb Miller (3rd round, '04) and Landon Johnson (3rd round, '04). Those names add into all those previous blown picks like Peter Warrick, KiJana Carter, David Klingler, etc.

Yeah, every team has bad picks and some of those names about had devestating injuries which kept their career from getting off the ground. Still, besides the 2008 draftees ... the Bengals have none of their 2nd round picks they've ever made on this roster.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

7-26-2008 @ 10:23AM

Vincent (Toronto, Canada) said...

Correcting the Mis-Information:

Cincinnati Bengals NFL Draft History
(Since Marvin Lewis took over)

I’ll let the actually draft states since 2003 speak for themselves and you can decide if Sportz Assassin id full of crap.

overview since 2003:
21 contributing players who are still on the Bengals Roster
19 players no longer with the team for various reasons

2008
1 - Keith Rivers LB Projected Starter
2 - Jerome Simpson WR Projected Replace. for Chad
3 - Pat Sims DT Projected DT
3 - Andre Caldwell WR Projected Replace. for TJ
4 - Anthony Collins T Potential OL
5 - Jason Shirley DT Potential DT
6 - Corey Lynch DB Potential DB
6 - Matt Sherry TE Villanova Potential TE
7 - Angelo Craig LB Cincinnati Potential LB
7 - Mario Urrutia WR Louisville Potential Replace. for Henry

2007
1 - Leon Hall DB Starting CB
2 - Kenny Irons RB Auburn Released (injury)
4 - Marvin White DB Starting FS
5 - Jeff Rowe QB Ne QB of Future
6 - Matt Toeaina DT Released (skill)
7 - Dan Santucci G C of Future
7 - Nedu Ndukwe DB SS of Future

2006 (supplemental)
3 - Ahmad Brooks LB Backup LB

2006
1 - Johnathan Joseph DB Starting CB
2 - Andrew Whitworth T Starting OL (Signed new deal)
3 - Frostee Rucker DE Backup DE
4 - Domata Peko DT Starting DT (Signed new deal)
5 - A. J. Nicholson LB Released (turd)
6 - Reggie McNeal QB Released (skill/turd)
7 - Ethan Kilmer WR Special teams ace
7 - Bennie Brazell WR Released (skill)

2005
1 - David Pollack DE Retired (injury)
2 - Odell Thurman LB Released (turd)
3 - Chris Henry WR Released (turd)
4 - Eric Ghiaciuc C Starting C
5 - Adam Kieft T Backup OL
6 - Tab Perry WR Released (injury)
7 - Jonathan Fanene DE Backup DL

2004
1 - Chris Perry RB Backup RB
2 - Keiwan Ratliff DB Gone (Free Agent)
2 - Madieu Williams DB Gone (Free Agent)
3 - Caleb Miller LB Gone (Free Agent)
3 - Landon Johnson LB Gone (Free Agent)
4 - Matthias Askew DT Released (skill)
4 - Robert Geathers DE Starting DE
4 - Stacy Andrews T Starting RT
5 - Maurice Mann WR Released
6 - Greg Brooks DB Gone
7 - Casey Bramlet QB Released

2003
1 - Carson Palmer QB Furture HOF
2 - Eric Steinbach G Gone (Free Agent)
3 - Kelley Washington WR Gone (Free Agent)
4 - Dennis Weathersby DB Gone
4 - Jeremi Johnson RB Starting FB
5 - Khalid Abdullah LB Gone
6 - Langston Moore DT Gone
7 - Scott Kooistra T Backup OL
7 - Elton Patterson DE Gone

21 contributing players who are still on the team
19 players no longer with the team for various reasons

7-26-2008 @ 12:41PM

PalmerFan said...

Vince, if you see in the article it says high end picks. There have been some wasted picks in there. Also Kieft was released, Rowe won't be more than a third stringer, Rucker has played in four games during his 2 year career, Chris Perry has been good in the very very limited amount of time he has played.

7-26-2008 @ 1:11PM

Thanks for replying.

I agree with the assessment of some wasted early picks, the off-field problems of Henry and Odell are inexcusable. I think Rucker still has a chance to make something of his career, Brooks was a desperation pick because Odell let them down, so I don't blame them for trying. Adam Kieft was released due to injury, much like Irons. Chris Perry might finally be ready to contribute because I cannot see them letting go of Irons otherwise.

I wanted to point out the scouting department cannot be that bad if their finding the later round gems, who have excelled and are still on the team. some of which I think compensate for some of the early round failures. You cannot fault them for picking a guy who can't play because of a major injury. I think they should just stay away from RB in the early rounds because they seem to be unlikely with them.

V

7-26-2008 @ 12:48PM

Sportz Assassin said...

As you can see in my post, Vince, I said "high end" picks ... which to me is the "first day" picks or Rounds 1 through 3.

So, since 2003 (not counting this year's guys), you still have Carson Palmer (a no brainer), Chris Perry (who is always injured), Andre Whitworth (good pick), Jonathan Joseph (jury is still out), Frostee Rucker (who has barely played), Ahmad Brooks (who has barely played) and Leon Hall (who I like a lot).

Seven guys in five drafts ... with Brooks, Rucker and Perry barely on the field.

Doesn't seem like a great amount gained over the last several years.

If you've followed my blogging here, you'd know that I've been critical of Cincinnati's high-end picks but I've applauded their ability to get great late round finds (like TJ, White, Nedu and a couple guys they got this year). However, that is an awful lot of high end draft picks out the door for a team that has made the playoffs ONCE during that time frame.

7-26-2008 @ 1:48PM

Vincent (from Canada) said...

Thank you for responding.

what upset me the most is that you went back as far as to mention Peter Warrick, KiJana Carter, David Klingler... but you conveniently left out the good picks like Willie Anderson (1st rd) Chad Johnson (2nd rd), Levi Jones (1st rd), Andrew Whitworth (2nd rd).

also some of the early round picks were serviceable players for the 4 or 5 years they were here, they were just paid way too much money in Free Agency to go somewhere else (or the traded them away). I applaud the Bengals for not wasting money early round serviceable players and instead using it to sign long term contracts for later round picks.

serviceable players:

2 - Keiwan Ratliff DB Gone (Free Agent)
2 - Madieu Williams DB Gone (Free Agent)
3 - Caleb Miller LB Gone (Free Agent)
3 - Landon Johnson LB Gone (Free Agent)
2 - Eric Steinbach G Gone (Free Agent)
3 - Matt Schobel Gone (Free Agent)
1 - Justin Smith DE Gone (Free Agent)
1 - Takeo Spikes LB Gone (Free Agent)
1 - Brian Simmons LB Gone (Released)
2 - Corey Dillon RB Gone (Free Agent)
1 - Dan Wilkinson DT Gone (Free Agent)
2 - Carl Pickens WR Gone (Free Agent)

once again if the scouting department was that bad they would not be able to locate any talentlater round talent that they have over the years. so I do not think you are fully justified in your criticism. I do however agree with you that there are a lot of "first day" picks that have been wasted, some of which were for poor drafting decisions (i.e., character issues), others were no fault of their own (i.e., major injuries)

7-26-2008 @ 9:16PM

That is what baffles me about the Bengals: the fact that they do hit on more late round picks than they do early round picks (they seem to shine in the 4th round).

I have no idea how they do this. The freak injury thing isn't their fault (for example, I loved the Kenny Irons pick when they made it) The 2005 draft could have been their best had bad decisions and a horribly freak accident happen. The Pollack thing could not have been avoided, but better scouting may have revealed some issues with Henry and Thurman.

This team's front office structure is Marvin Lewis, Mike Brown, Mike Brown's daughter and Mike Brown's daughter's husband. They have no GM and their scouting department is the smallest in the league.

This team is not big into free agency ... which means they need to build from the draft. These draft picks are waaaay to valuable for them to throw away. Even the ones that work out tend to leave and the Bengals get nothing in return (maybe a supplemental pick here and there). TJ is probably done as a Bengal this year -- or after next year if the team franchises him. Things like that cannot happen and the fact that the team is moving slowly on this has to rip your guts out.

Let me say this about Bengals fans: they deserve better. They are loyal to a fault (getting reemed on the PBS deal, looking the other way from scummy players, the 1990s) and have one of the best quarterbacks in this league. I think Marvin Lewis is a helluva guy. I just think the structure of this franchise is doomed to fail unless they invest more into the personnel side of the business. Chad's already pissed; TJ is getting there; How much longer before Carson is through?

Of course, we are discussing all of this as if it would ever change under Mike Brown.

Thanks for the discussion, Vince!
-Sportz

7-31-2008 @ 1:17AM

Update: Kenny Irons cleared waivers Monday and the Bengals re-signed him to the teams season-ending injured reserve list for the second time in his two-year career. There might still be hope for his return next year.

http://www.bengals.com/news/news.asp?story_id=6903

Has anyone ever herd of the "Bengals Curse of Bo Jackson"?