Green-Ellis embraces fresh start in Cincinnati

[oldschooler]

As the Cincinnati Bengals work through the preliminary stages of their on-field preparations for 2012 and the name-tag stage of getting to know their new teammates, the one who might require a couple name tags is very much in the spotlight.

It’s a new spot for running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis, but it’s one he sees as exciting and one that he’s embracing.

After two seasons as the usual lead runner in a pass-first, run-by-committee offense in New England, Green-Ellis comes to Cincinnati and figures as the opening-week starter for a young and developing Bengals offense. Exactly how much of the load he carries remains to be seen, but the Bengals saw a proven, between-the-tackles runner with a nose for the goal line when they signed Green-Ellis to a three-year deal with a base value of $9 million in March.

“I felt like it was a good fit,” Green-Ellis said of signing with the Bengals. “We’re a young team with guys who want to win and feel like we’re ready to win. This was a playoff team last year, and we want to push that further. I wanted to go somewhere I can contribute, and I think this is the place.”

The Bengals had Green-Ellis with the first unit last week when on-field practice sessions began. There figures to be an interesting battle from now throughout training camp between Green-Ellis and Bernard Scott for the bulk of the touches.

Green-Ellis, who entered the league as an undrafted free agent in 2008, sees this as a fresh start and a chance to further establish himself. The Bengals let Cedric Benson (273 carries last season) walk via free agency and thought enough of Green-Ellis that they didn’t draft a running back until Ohio State’s Dan Herron in the sixth round.

Green-Ellis should feel fresh, too. Though he’s a veteran of four NFL seasons, 410 of his 510 career carries have come in the last two seasons.

“I just feel like this is a game that every year is going to beat you up,” he said. “Every year, there are new situations, new challenges. I don’t know if I’m feeling fresh or feeling tired. I just know I’m excited. We put in this work in the offseason to get ready, and I do feel like I’ll have the fresh legs this team needs me to have.

“Hopefully, I fit in here. I think I come in as a contributor, an experienced guy and someone who can help. I think guys can talk to me, and I think have some attributes that can help this team get where it wants to go. We’re all learning together right now.”

Green-Ellis ran for a career-best 1,008 yards (4.4 per carry) and 13 touchdowns in 2010, and 667 yards (3.7 per carry) and 11 touchdowns in 2011. What also attracted the Bengals to him was his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield (21 total receptions the past two seasons) and the fact he never has fumbled in an NFL game.

“My father told me that God put eyes in front of our head so we can look forward and not backwards,” he said last week. “No matter what’s happened or what my path has been, my past experiences are all behind me. All I can do with what I’ve done is just learn from it. The past is behind me.

“This is a new start. I’m anxious."




http://www.foxsportsohio.com/05/28/12/Green-Ellis-embraces-fresh-start-in-Cinc/landing_bengals.html?blockID=736716&feedID=3665

[fredtoast]

[quote name='oldschooler' timestamp='1338379700' post='1133048']What also attracted the Bengals to him was his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield (21 total receptions the past two seasons)
[/quote]

I like BJGE, but his pass catching ability was not why we signed him.

[The PatternMaster]

I like the addition of lawfirm but I think we need some more talent at the rb position, I would love for the team to trade for a guy like Jonathan Stewart.

[Bengals1181]

[quote name='The PatternMaster' timestamp='1338399564' post='1133119']
I like the addition of lawfirm but I think we need some more talent at the rb position, I would love for the team to trade for a guy like Jonathan Stewart.
[/quote]


He's making about $4 million in salary and bonuses this year, so I think for at least the 2012 season he's the starter.

[Oldcat]

[quote name='Bengals1181' timestamp='1338399922' post='1133120']
He's making about $4 million in salary and bonuses this year, so I think for at least the 2012 season he's the starter.
[/quote]

The early rounds of next year's draft is the time to add talent, if we are not thrilled with Scott/Herron/Peerman/LawFirm.

[The PatternMaster]

[quote name='Bengals1181' timestamp='1338399922' post='1133120']
He's making about $4 million in salary and bonuses this year, so I think for at least the 2012 season he's the starter.
[/quote]

He's definitely getting paid starters money but there is room to add another guy at his pay grade at that position. I would rather their be competition at the top of the rb depth chart than the bottom, meaning I would like to see more competition for the starting spot than the #3 rb spot. The running game has been lacking since 2006, imo. Never was a big fan of Benson, I always thought with the passing weapons we have our running game should be more explosive and give us more big plays and Benson isn't a big play back. It remains to be seen if BGJE can be a big play back but this offense needs one, that's for sure.

[Bengals1181]

[quote name='Oldcat' timestamp='1338400051' post='1133121']
The early rounds of next year's draft is the time to add talent, if we are not thrilled with Scott/Herron/Peerman/LawFirm.
[/quote]


yea if BJGE and/or Herron don't take off, I could see a back added early next year.

[Gorilla]

[quote name='fredtoast' timestamp='1338395765' post='1133098']
I like BJGE, but his pass catching ability was not why we signed him.
[/quote]

Yes it was. Gruden even said so. At least it was ONE of the reasons.

Green-Ellis is a very solid receiver out of the backfield. People just assume because he didn't have a lot of receptions in New England because he wasn't utilized in that way (they had other people who filled that role) that he isn't very good at it.

[Tigris]

[quote name='Gorilla' timestamp='1338401352' post='1133131']
Yes it was. Gruden even said so. At least it was ONE of the reasons.

Green-Ellis is a very solid receiver out of the backfield. People just assume because he didn't have a lot of receptions in New England because he wasn't utilized in that way (they had other people who filled that role) that he isn't very good at it.
[/quote]

Green-Ellis was working out with receivers this offseason... just a thought.

[EnglishBengal]

[quote name='The PatternMaster' timestamp='1338399564' post='1133119']
I like the addition of lawfirm but I think we need some more talent at the rb position, I would love for the team to trade for a guy like Jonathan Stewart.
[/quote]
X2
He's currently worth a 3rd rounder according to the Panthers.
But what would we give up in our current state for this guy?

[gatorclaws]

[quote name='fredtoast' timestamp='1338395765' post='1133098']
I like BJGE, but his pass catching ability was not why we signed him.
[/quote]

I read that line different than you. They're talking about why BJGE chose the Bengals. When they say the ability to catch out of the backfield, he means being allowed to here when he wasn't allowed in NE.

[T-Dub]

Scott will get plenty of carries whenever we need someone to fall down trying to turn the corner, get stuffed behind the line, fail to pick up a blitz on 3rd down, or drop an easy TD pass. So long as he takes a screen pass 30-40 yards through open field once a year, the fans will still want him to start over whoever is out there doing work for 20 carries a game..

[texbengal]

I think a lot of guys are discounting Scott, as I believe he's primed to do some good things this year. He didn't have a great 2011, for sure; his YPC numbers weren't good, but I just felt like the very arbitrary way in which he was used was largely ineffective. He's shown in the past that he's got ability, and I don't think he's lost a step or forgotten how to run.

I was certainly disappointed in his pass receiving (I overestimated his ability there), but he's a solid runner who, with better blocking and more consistent use, can be part of an effective RBBC. He's shifty, can quickly get through small creases, and he's a good open field runner.

Time will tell, and I may be eating my words - but I wouldn't sell him short this fall.

[Enon Bengal]

If he can pick up third and short or stuff it in on the goal line or both, I could care less about big play ability. Anything after keeping drives alive and scoring from in close is bonus for me.

[eva4ben-gal]

So has Hobson made the "GE turning the lights on in the Bengals run game" pun yet?

[texbengal]

[quote name='eva4ben-gal' timestamp='1338445325' post='1133267']
So has Hobson made the "GE turning the lights on in the Bengals run game" pun yet?
[/quote]

Not yet, but I'm sure he has plans for it.

Interesting point about BJGE playing with a FB with the Bengals - should be a nice change for him, and hopefully it'll reflect in his productivity. I do like Pressley - good, aggressive blocker who is always getting a hat on somebody.

[Bengals1181]

[quote name='texbengal' timestamp='1338466351' post='1133280']
Not yet, but I'm sure he has plans for it.

[b]Interesting point about BJGE playing with a FB with the Bengals - should be a nice change for him, and hopefully it'll reflect in his productivity. I do like Pressley - good, aggressive blocker who is always getting a hat on somebody.[/b]
[/quote]


hmm didn't even consider that. The Bengals also seem to use their TE's more in the run game too.

[Jason]

[quote name='eva4ben-gal' timestamp='1338445325' post='1133267']
So has Hobson made the "GE turning the lights on in the Bengals run game" pun yet?
[/quote]

Good one!

[Bengals1181]

[quote name='eva4ben-gal' timestamp='1338445325' post='1133267']
So has Hobson made the "GE turning the lights on in the Bengals run game" pun yet?
[/quote]



[b] Bennie's Law[/b]
[color=#393939]
Posted 9 hours ago[/color]


[color=#393939]
[b][url="http://www.bengals.com/team/roster/benjarvus-green-ellis/d809b273-f3c9-414d-b9b0-3fd185b8e017/"]BenJarvus Green-Ellis[/url][/b][/color][color=#393939]
Consistent and competent. Accountable and reliable. Serious and soft-spoken. It's pretty much unanimous when it comes to the man nicknamed "The Law Firm" with the game as precise as a legal brief.[/color][color=#393939]
The Law Firm. BJGE. Bennie and his 223-pound Jets. By any name there is a history and there is the future and while BenJarvus Green-Ellis says his "New England days are behind me," those last four years with the Patriots are why the Bengals wanted to make him co-chairman with [url="http://www.bengals.com/team/roster/bernard-scott/4743d5f6-4661-44c1-a6da-d2970031e393/"]Bernard Scott[/url] of their new running back committee.[/color][color=#393939]
He has yet to put on pads, but No. 42 has been as advertised in the first two weeks of voluntaries.[/color][color=#393939]
"He's an attention to detail guy," says running backs coach Jim Anderson. "When he does it well, he doesn't say much. When he doesn't do as well, he wants to know why and how he can improve."[/color][color=#393939]
"You don't know about guys until they put the pads on," says left tackle[url="http://www.bengals.com/team/roster/andrew-whitworth/3a81696e-e6b3-4abd-8dd0-85e8748fa086/"]Andrew Whitworth[/url]. "But from his history, that's what you need. Consistency and he's a consistent guy. People are always looking for dynamic, but sometimes all you need is somebody that is consistent. You can tell it means a lot to him."[/color][color=#393939]
"We'll see when we get the pads on. I know he's a consistent guy," says offensive coordinator Jay Gruden. "He works hard and he's an accountable guy. They didn't use him as much as he probably could have been used because they have the top quarterback in the history of the league throwing the ball. He's been everything we thought he'd be: A solid, steady guy. Good player."[/color][color=#393939]
There may be no aura of Tom Brady at quarterback, but Green-Ellis likes the zip of [url="http://www.bengals.com/team/roster/andy-dalton/9378c4ed-938c-434c-929d-4d45fe252101/"]Andy Dalton[/url]. There may be no Gronk at tight end, but BJGE likes the fullback. There may be no pads yet, but he likes what Gruden has in mind. He embraced Bill Belichick's Patriot Way and now he's full tilt into Marvin Lewis's Bengal Business.[/color][color=#393939]
"We're doing things in the run game I haven’t done since college," Green-Ellis says. "There's lot more running plays, so that a good thing."[/color][color=#393939]
Take the fullback, a non-entity in New England's spread stuff where tight ends play receiver and catch 17 TDs like Rob Gronkowski did this past season. Anderson isn't surprised BJGE likes the looks of fullback [url="http://www.bengals.com/team/roster/chris-pressley/15ff1db3-1df6-44f6-8c20-b61eae6f91b3/"]Chris Pressley[/url].[/color][color=#393939]
"Sure he does. It’s a different animal playing with a fullback than an F tight end," Anderson says. "Just the nature and the physique and the size of the position. That guy is a leverage guy. A tall, rangy guy is not. Sometimes the guys he's maybe been exposed to, they're not really physical blockers. They're more finesse guys that you're going to spread out. You've got one more guy to help you to or through the line of scrimmage."[/color][color=#393939]
The knock on The Firm and his career 4.0-yards per carry average is that he can't bust the long one, but that's where Scott comes in. Green-Ellis feeds the Bengals where they've starved the past two years.[/color][color=#393939]
While the Cincinnati backs have scored 17 touchdowns, Green-Ellis got into the end zone 24 times. While Cedric Benson lost seven of 12 fumbles, Green-Ellis has yet to fumble in 536 NFL touches. A total of 94 percent of his rushes have not lost yards. And, yes, he had Brady.[/color][color=#393939]
But those qualities stand up well in the punishing AFC North, where games more often than not are decided by turnovers and clock control in a division every defense finished in the top 10.[/color][color=#393939]
"He fits us well," Anderson says. "He knows the little things win games. That's why he doesn't mind doing windows."[/color][color=#393939]
Eric Ball, the club's director of player development who was the last Bengals running back to wear The Firm's 42 from 1989-94, approached Green-Ellis this week and said he thought he would be bigger because of how he played on TV.[/color][color=#393939]
"I'm 223 (pounds)," the 5-11 Green-Ellis assured him and Pressley observes, "He's strong and he's coming out of a program where they're taught to go 100 percent all the time and that's what he's done out here."[/color][color=#393939]
He'll have different challenges, Anderson says. Green-Ellis will be taking on those extra defenders that are now going to be in the box that were spread away from it against the Pats. But Anderson says he's comparably rugged and thick when stacked against division marquee backs like Ray Rice in Baltimore and Trent Richardson in Cleveland. [/color][color=#393939]
And if he doesn't have Brady, now Green-Ellis has a fullback, a change-of-pace partner in the speedster Scott, and a running game.[/color][color=#393939]
"I like to have that guy in front of me," Green-Ellis says of the fullback. "A lead blocker, things like that. From a run-game standpoint, it allows us to do different things. You have that guy who sees things through the same set of eyes. Whenever I make a cut, he's making a cut. That one guy that may be coming off his block, he's able to chip him back on. It kind of gives you some leeway."[/color][color=#393939]
Green-Ellis arrives at a fortuitous moment since Gruden, Anderson and offensive line coach Paul Alexander are looking at ways to improve a running game that finished 19th last season. The run is a big part of what Gruden has emphasized for improvement, which is short-yardage, red zone and what he calls "bigger shot plays." In fact, he said he was going to set aside Wednesday as a short-yardage day.[/color][color=#393939]
In one of his first duties as a club consultant this offseason, former NFL offensive line coach Jim McNally studied the run game in conjunction with this season's opponents and delivered a report.[/color][color=#393939]
"He's been a big help for us. He's brought some ideas from his experiences and we've added a lot of them to our concepts," Gruden says. "It's been good to have him. He does a good job breaking down future opponents for us, doing some preview work on other teams, which sometimes you don't quite have the time to be as thorough as he is, but he's as thorough as any coach I've ever seen.[/color][color=#393939]
"There are some entry points and issues we tinker with a little bit. Aiming points by the back and things of that nature. We've changed a few things with the way we're blocking some things. For the most part we're the same, but a little bit different."[/color][color=#393939]
Translation: If Gruden said any more, he'd have to kill us all. For his part, BJGE isn't thinking about how the lack of a Hall of Fame quarterback is going to change his game.[/color][color=#393939]
"We've got Andy, though," he says. "I like Andy, I like A.J. (Green) and Jermaine (Gresham) and (Andrew) Hawkins and all the receivers and tight ends. We're helping each other out. I feel like if we can see things through the same eyes and be on the same page, whether I'm picking up a blitz for them or if they're taking out a safety or the eighth man in the box for me by a receiver. We just want to make sure we have each other's backs."[/color][color=#393939]
He's noting how Dalton is running the offense.[/color][color=#393939]
"I like Andy. He's a young leader and his leadership role and the way he's taken command of the offense is good. You can see him improving every day. Putting zip on his passes, connecting with guys on long balls. Some things you would like to see in young guys. Not make the same mistake twice. That's one of the things we have to do as a young team. Learn from our mistakes and not do the exact same one twice. He does a good job, especially with the receivers and the backs, telling you where he wants us on the ball. He's showing us he's a real good leader so far."[/color][color=#393939]
At first blush, The Firm and The Rifle have the same demeanor. They go about their work quietly and leave quietly.[/color][color=#393939]
"When he's in the building," says Whitworth of Green-Ellis, "he's very serious. Getting to meetings on time, doing what has to be done. People like that are usually pretty successful."[/color][color=#393939]
Which is pretty much how Green-Ellis sees his new team.[/color][color=#393939]
"We're a bunch of young guys that are hungry," he says. "We come in and work hard. The guys here are attentive, they take care of their bodies like professionals and we're just getting ready for the next day, the next game. Now we're getting ready for tomorrow's practice."[/color][color=#393939]
Anderson knows there are just some things he won't have to worry about tomorrow.[/color][color=#393939]
"Let's not fool ourselves," Anderson says. "He wants to be good. That's part of his track record."[/color][color=#393939]
[url="http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Bennies-Law/66ebd42a-0c03-4355-abe3-c6a2ed376d17"]http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Bennies-Law/66ebd42a-0c03-4355-abe3-c6a2ed376d17[/url][/color]

[The PatternMaster]

[quote name='EnglishBengal' timestamp='1338401982' post='1133134']
X2
He's currently worth a 3rd rounder according to the Panthers.
But what would we give up in our current state for this guy?
[/quote]

At season end he will be a UFA and with DeAngelo Williams set to make 8 -10 million a year for the next three years I can see Stewart hitting the FA market. Trading for a guy who will likely become a UFA isn't how you win NFL Exec of the Year, but it does ensure that you get your man.

This will be interesting to watch and see how the Panthers handle this situation, imo. I think Stewart would be the ideal back for this system, he can run inside, outside, and catch the ball extremely well out of the backfield. Plus he's a stand up guy who you won't have to worry about getting arrested for beating up his gay lover in the offseason.

[eva4ben-gal]

I feel like all this talk about not fumbling is going to jinx BJGE and we are going to see him fumble at least once or twice this season. I mean the law of averages says he's due and the fact that they mention it in every story just feels like playing with fire.

[|Lucid|]

[quote name='eva4ben-gal' timestamp='1338480851' post='1133336']
I feel like all this talk about not fumbling is going to jinx BJGE and we are going to see him fumble at least once or twice this season. I mean the law of averages says he's due and the fact that they mention it in every story just feels like playing with fire.
[/quote]

I have been feeling the exact same way... I keep wishing everyone would shut up about that already.

[ButchWalkerRokks]

[quote name='eva4ben-gal' timestamp='1338480851' post='1133336']
I feel like all this talk about not fumbling is going to jinx BJGE and we are going to see him fumble at least once or twice this season. I mean the law of averages says he's due and the fact that they mention it in every story just feels like playing with fire.
[/quote]

Exactly. I think he'll fumble 2 or 3 times this year. Also, its not like he's never 'fumbled' the ball before...its just been recovered by teammates. I wont hold it against the guy after seeing Benson treat the ball like he was running with a live rattlesnake

[Jason]

[quote name='ButchWalkerRokks' timestamp='1338483181' post='1133339']
Exactly. I think he'll fumble 2 or 3 times this year. [b]Also, its not like he's never 'fumbled' the ball before...its just been recovered by teammates[/b]. I wont hold it against the guy after seeing Benson treat the ball like he was running with a live rattlesnake
[/quote]
No, he's never fumbled. In the NFL anyway.

[ButchWalkerRokks]

[quote name='Jason' timestamp='1338483603' post='1133340']
No, he's never fumbled. In the NFL anyway.
[/quote]

Good call. Something made me think that I've seen him lose it before watching some Patriots games. But you are right, ESPN says 0 fumbles and 0 lost (obviously).