Cincinnati Bengals: Don’t forget Darqueze Dennard

With Adam Jones suspended for the season opener, has he made enough room for Dennard to finally get his shot? if so, it could spell the end of Jones’ run in Cincinnati.

Frustration, Frustration, Frustration. If you were ever looking for one word to describe Darqueze Dennard’s career to date, there you have it. The former Michigan State shutdown corner has yet to have a shot at proving his worth in the league. And, honestly, it’s not his fault.

Back in the 2014 NFL Draft, the Bengals organization and fans felt like they had just snagged the best corner in the draft. The thought of pairing Dre Kirkpatrick with Dennard reminded fans of the good old days when Leon Hall and Johnathan Josephwere shutting down opposing teams in Orange & Black stripes.

From the start, Dennard was buried on the depth chart. Even Kirkpatrick was barely sniffing the field. Terence Newman, Adam Jones and Hall manned the starting positions. Three years later and the names have changed, but Dennard’s position has not.

Injuries sidelined him for his first few seasons and the Bengals continued to do what they do best: draft first round cornerbacks. Hey, you can never have too many good cornerbacks. The Bengals took that philosophy and held true to it, when they selected William Jackson III in the 2016 NFL Draft and Josh Shaw in the 2015 NFL Draft.

Despite Jackson being out for the season due to a training camp injury, Shaw proved that he could man the slot corner position–a position that was supposed to be Dennard’s. However, one thing needs to be made clear. Just because an athlete plays corner does not mean they will be a good “slot” corner. Dennard is a boundary corner. He was a shutdown corner at Michigan because he played on the boundary. Wide receivers can only go two different directions on the boundary and Dennard plays them really well because of it.

Apparently, it has to do with a pecking order for the corners or the position doesn’t suit Dennard’s skill set. That brings us to the beloved Jones.

Boy oh boy. You either love and accept Jones or you hate him and want him gone. There’s no in-between. I, for one, am a Jones lover. I love the energy, anger and aggressiveness he brings to the Bengals. Jones paired with Vontaze Burfict you have to wonder who’s Martin Lawrence and who’s Will Smith because those two are the Bad Boy Bengals.

Although, with his latest incident, Jones has been suspended for the season opener. This made me wonder. Is Pacman’s Cincinnati run coming to an end? And if so, is it finally time to see Dennard on the outside?

The Bengals picked up Dennard’s fifth-year option, which is a strong indication that his time may be coming. Looking at Kirkpatrick’s career, it’s been similar to Dennard: buried on the depth chart, slow start due to injuries, contract option picked up before he really proved himself and now the Bengals No.1 corner.

If Kirkpatrick’s career is any indication–paired with Jones suspension, contract and age–Cincinnati could be seeing a lot out of Dennard this season. Hopefully, he maximizes his opportunity. One thing is for sure, William Jackson III will be working for the spot as well. We’ll see, during training camp, who’s ready.

Darqueze Dennard hosts celebrity basketball game at Twiggs County High School

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ga. — Cincinnati Bengals cornerback and Twiggs County alum Darqueze Dennard hosted a celebrity basketball game at Twiggs County on Firday night.

Many high profile NFL players were in attendance including Adam Jones, Vontaze Burfict and Mohamed Sanu.

Mason Prince was there to capture the sights and sounds from the game.

Bengals roster breakdown, 90-in-90: Darqueze Dennard

Darqueze Dennard has had a mysterious NFL career so far. The Cincinnati Bengals drafted Dennard in the first round in the 2014 NFL Draft, but he hasn’t been on the field as much as you’d hope from a first round pick entering his fourth NFL season.

Despite this, the Bengals decided to pick up the very expensive fifth-year option on his rookie contract. Dennard isn’t going to be handed a starting role by any means, but his spot on this roster is certain after the team picked up his option.

Darqueze Dennard

Height: 5’11”

Weight: 198

Position: Cornerback

College: Michigan State

Hometown: Dry Branch, GA

Experience: Fourth-year player

Cap Status

Dennard is heading into the fourth season of a five-year deal, after the Bengals picked up his fifth-year option this offseason. Dennard will make $1.5 million in 2017 with a $2.5 million hit against the cap. That discount ends next season when Dennard’s fifth-year option gives him $8.5 million in 2018. Dennard is set to become an unrestricted free agent in 2019, according to Sportrac.

In 2018, Dennard will be tied for the 12th highest paid corner in the NFL with other first round corners from 2014, Jason Verrett and Bradley Roby. He will be paid more than corners like Desmond Trufant, Stephon Gilmore and Chris Harris. He will also be the highest paid corner on the Bengals’ roster, ahead of both Dre Kirkpatrick and Adam Jones who will make $4.75 million and $5.3 million respectively in 2018. Though, Jones’ 2018 contract is an option for the Bengals.

Background

Dennard played four seasons at Michigan State and became one of the top corners in the nation before making his way to the Bengals. His senior season was easily his best. He had a career high four interceptions, and also defended 10 passes. He was a Consensus All-American and won the Jim Thorpe Award, given to college football’s best defensive back.

It was quite the surprise to have Dennard fall all the way to the Bengals and the No. 24 pick, but the run on corners that was expected to occur early in the draft never happened.

Dennard’s first two seasons were full of injuries, and the team still had Leon Hall who was very productive in the slot. Since then, he hasn’t seen the field very consistently—with injuries still getting in the way—but he has shown a few flashes of the player he was expected to be.

One observation analysts have made is Dennard is better suited to play on the outside, but with Kirkpatrick and Jones on the roster, Dennard has been forced to play the slot if he wants to see the field at all. The Bengals added fellow first round pick, William Jackson III last year, and he too is going to challenge for playing time on the boundary. Dennard is just better suited to get up in a receiver’s face on the outside, where they can only really go inside or straight up field. It’s part of why Josh Shaw ended up taking the majority of the time in the slot last year, leaving Dennard on the bench. A third year of suffering through a training camp/preseason injury also set Dennard back in 2016, paving way for Shaw to take his anticipated spot in the slot. In 2017, it’s up to Dennard to figure out a way to get onto the field, whether it’s in the boundary or slot.

Roster odds

Dennard is clearly in the Bengals’ plans for the future as they picked up his fifth year option. Jones will be turning 34 late in September, and his time with the Bengals could be coming to an end. The Bengals chose to re-sign Kirkpatrick this offseason and Jackson is coming into training camp healthy.

Dennard could conceivably be competing with Jackson for the No. 1 outside cornerback backup spot. And, if Jones receives a suspension from the NFL for his offseason arrest, that person could step into a starting job for some duration of time. The Bengals may also be content with keeping Dennard in the slot and moving Shaw to safety instead of having him as the slot corner. Though, Shaw may be the best option for the Bengals inside. Bengals defensive coordinator Paul Guenther seems to still be high on Dennard as the former first round pick enters his fourth year in the NFL.

“Every time he had an opportunity, something happened,” Guenther said of Dennard. “I still think he’ll be a good player in this league. I still think he can play and he can be a starting corner. I don’t feel any different about him than I did last year at this time.”

Don’t expect Dennard to be leaving the Queen City this offseason. At the very least, he will be riding the bench, but at best, he could be starting opposite Kirkpatrick.

Roster odds: 99.99%

Another successful football camp in the books for Cincinnati’s Dennard

JEFFERSONVILLE, GA — Saturday morning capped a big weekend for Darqueze Dennard.

After putting on a celebrity basketball game Friday night at his alma mater, the Twiggs County alum continued the fun with his annual football camp at the Cobra Pit. It was all part of a big thank you back to his hometown.

“It’s been great just being able to come back to the community that did so much for me,” Dennard said.

The Cincinnati Bengals Cornerback wasn’t the only big name in attendance. Former teammates at Michigan State now NFL stars like Jeremy Langford, Tre Wayans and Bennie Fowler made the trip to help out with the camp. The professionals make it a point to help out with the camp to teach kids future success on the field.

“I’ve been doing this for three years and it’s always great to come back and educate the youth and give back,” said New York Jets Safety Calvin Pryor. “We want to show these guys what it takes to succeed on the next level.”

This is the third installment of Dennard’s camp and he only sees it growing in the coming years.

“The past three years have been better and better and we plan on getting bigger and bigger every year,” Dennard said.

Bengals CB Darqueze Dennard gains confidence from fifth-year option

Votes of confidence have been few and far between for Darqueze Dennard since being selected 24th overall by the Bengals in 2014.

He’s seen injuries derail opportunities, only four starts and two separate veteran corners receive lucrative extensions rather than an open spot for the 25-year-old.

That’s partly why he was curious to hear the club exercised the fifth-year option on his rookie deal, which extends his contract with the team another year through 2018. Prior to receiving the call Friday morning, the Bengals stamping the $8.53 million vote of approval was in limbo.

“Definitely a confidence boost,” Dennard said. “Just thankful for the organization, the Brown family and coaching staff still believing in me. Knowing I can play this game. I’m really grateful. The last three years I haven’t played healthy. Unfortunate injury situations you can’t prepare for. For them to still believe in me and know the capability that I have and flashes I showed here and there means a lot.”

It also means a lot of money locked up in the cornerback room. Kirkpatrick just inked a five-year, $52 million deal. The Bengals own a team option on the final season of Adam Jones’ contract, but could certainly exercise that to complete his three-year contract.

With all three around in ’18, that would mean three of top seven cap hits on the club would be corners. And a fourth would be a 2016 first-round pick in William Jackson III.

Bengals beat writers Jim Owczarski and Paul Dehner Jr. recap the team’s 2017 draft. The Enquirer/Kareem Elgazzar

A total of 23 of the 32 2014 first-round picks have already had their options activated with the deadline being May 3. As much as this decision was about money, it’s not for Dennard, who took 334 defensive snaps last year. That’s only 30 percent of possible plays, but topped the combined number of snaps from his first two seasons.

“I just want to play football,” Dennard said. “The money is going to come. I was always told you work hard, do the best you can do. I really wasn’t focused on that. My priority this offseason is me being healthy and compete and try to help us get where we need to be at.”

Dennard doesn’t need to look far to understand how the process can work out for him both on the field and in the bank. Kirkpatrick hadn’t played much when the Bengals picked up his fifth-year option. He followed with two years in which he improved both seasons and landed the biggest contract the Bengals handed out this offseason.

When hearing of Dennard’s news, Kirkpatrick was quick to post a congratulatory and reach out.

“For me, I’m very happy for him because I know he was dealing with a lot last year,” Kirkpatrick said. “I always try to talk to him because at the end of the day who could tell him best? I went through it my first three years here. I told him keep pushing and it will always work out for you when you work hard.”

Even if the Bengals chose to decline to option, Dennard could have followed in the recent footsteps of Oakland’s Bruce Irvin and New Orleans’ Nick Fairley who still cashed in large contracts the following season after having their options declined.

Plus, the quicker any player can reach free agency the better. From a money standpoint, there’s nothing wrong with a fully guaranteed check for $8.6 million, but there were advantages if the decision went the other way.

“Yeah, it didn’t matter at all,” Dennard said. “Just a little bit more comfortable knowing you know where you are going to be and what the Bengals feel about you.”

The timing of the call coming the morning after the first round of the draft is interesting. It suggests had a corner ended up the pick on Thursday, the option would not have been picked up. Of course, the Bengals could have had consensus on top corner Marshon Lattimore if they wanted at No. 9. He went two picks later to the Saints.

In essence, they placed their chip on Dennard instead.

“We have talks throughout the course of these past three years,” Dennard said. “I had games I played really good then I’d have something happen unfortunate. It’s definitely a confidence boost and a blessing for the coaching staff to just believe in me.”

Bengals’ Dennard starts Big Plays For Kids

Bengals defensive back Darqueze Dennard is teaming up with City Gospel Mission to help Greater Cincinnati’s at-risk kids through his new “Big Plays For Kids” initiative.

“Big Plays For Kids” raises money to help at-risk students get the tutoring and mentoring they need through City Gospel Mission’s Whiz Kids program, which helps over 1,100 kids a year.

Fans can help break the cycle of poverty in many of these kids’ lives by making an online pledge for every turnover the Bengals force this season. To pledge, visit https://pledgeit.org/darqueze-dennard.

“I am very excited to partner with City Gospel Mission to help kids in Cincinnati reach their full potential in school,” Dennard says. “Whiz Kids is an outstanding program that provides kids with valuable tutoring and mentoring, and I am honored to support them and the great work they do. This pledge campaign is a great way for fans to join me in this support. Now, every time we get a takeaway, it helps the Bengals and all the kids that Whiz Kids serves.”

• With a pledge of $10 or more per turnover or a flat donation of at least $250, you will receive a special invitation to a Champions Reception Nov. 21 at Anderson Pavilion, where you will meet Darqueze and some teammates. Attendees will receive a special autographed gift and photo. The event includes complimentary food and drinks, a raffle and a silent auction filled with unique memorabilia and experiences. (Minimum donation of at least $250 for the season to attend the reception).

• With a pledge of at least $1 per turnover or a flat donation of $25 or more, you will be entered to win a signed helmet.

Formerly known as Monday Night Feast, the event has become one of the premier annual events for fans, who get to talk football with the pros while watching Monday Night Football and eating premium food.

Over $62,000 has been raised the past three years to help the city’s neediest kids. Funds are used for tutoring supplies, snacks/meals, group outings and other program needs. The program is always free to students and schools.

For questions, contact Paul Spence at pspence@citygospelmission.org or 513-345-1048.

Tim Curtis is the Communications Director for City Gospel Mission. He can be reached at tcurtis@citygospelmission.org.