Grant Halverson - Getty Images
7 months ago: NASHVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 06: Kelly Jennings #23 and Geno Atkins #97 of the Cincinnati Bengals stop quarterback Matt Hasselbeck #8 of the Tennessee Titans short of a first down during play at LP Field on November 6, 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee. The Bengals won 24-17. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
Former Bengals defensive tackle Clinton McDonald didn't have a place on Cincinnati's 2011 roster. With eight players eventually surviving final cuts on the defensive line, most of whom produced valuable and significant contributions, McDonald became expendable. So the team shipped him to Seattle for cornerback Kelly Jennings, a former 2006 first round selection, in a late-August trade. For his part McDonald, who played 436 defensive snaps for Seattle, proved to be an effective run stopper for a Seahawks defense that played very well against the run in 2011.
Jennings on the other hand struggled.
Jennings allowed an opposing quarterback rating of 90 or better in his first five games against receivers he covered. Eventually he settled down, only allowing six of 12 receptions in Cincinnati's final four games (including Cincinnati's wild card loss to the Houston Texans). For the season Jennings allowed three touchdowns, a 60.8 completion percentage and an opposing quarterback rating of 106.2.
However when a receiver caught the football, Jennings was the most reliable and sure-tackler in the NFL this year. According to Pro Football Focus, Jennings only missed one of 32 attempted tackles in 2011, giving him a tackle efficiency of 32.0 (a minimum of 25 attempted tackles required for inclusion).
Jennings is one of 20 Bengals players entering free agency as an unrestricted free agent.
0 recs | 64 comments
keep him
hall, clements, ghee, jennings, draft a first rounder or go after a big FA.. I’ll take kelly as a backup. why not?
cincybengals - February 12, 2012
Well...
He didn’t have many attempts and I wasn’t impressed with his coverage skills. However, given his speed and apparent tackling ability I suppose he’s worth keeping if we have to.
Tampa_Bengal - February 12, 2012
He isn't bad to have on the roster as CB depth.
But when he’s starting, that’s a problem.
sexsalad - February 12, 2012
Yes, key word is depth with Jennings.
A good guy for nickel or occassional rotation when necessary.
The Van Buren Boys - February 12, 2012
Keep for special teams ONLY. What’s point of being a cb if u can’t cover? We need cb that can actually stop WR from catching ball period. And being honest in my opinion he was our worst tackler in secondary…
pray4gm11 - February 12, 2012 via mobile
Did you even read the article?
Cry - February 12, 2012
worst tackler, by far
or not.
He has this weird habit of putting his arms around people when he tackles. Mysterious.
Many others, including on our team, like to throw a shoulder in there and see what happens.
supergrover - February 13, 2012
THIS
Man I wish Zimmer would spend a few weeks drilling tackling basics into guys like Rey. Just diving and hoping for the best doesn’t cut it.
indesignkat - February 13, 2012
hell i miss the days of the tomahawk chop during the tackle
wish we had a player or two with those instincts. i do respect what nate clements does during tackling. watch him, almost every play he puts a mitt on the ball and rips at it once.
palewook - February 13, 2012
U cant tomahawk chop anymore?
njbengalstat - February 13, 2012
you can, its legal
people just dont do it in the nfl
palewook - February 13, 2012
Ur right i havent seen it in a couple years
I think m williams was the last bengal
njbengalstat - February 13, 2012
I havent seen it in a couple years
I think m williams was the last bengal
njbengalstat - February 13, 2012
I think it was on larry johson on the chefs
And it went off his leg and ended up being a safety
njbengalstat - February 13, 2012
If he covers the WR or blocks the ball in the air
he wont have to make so many tackles.
Bengalsfan024 - February 13, 2012
definitely...
a descent back up. we should try to keep em.
bengal4life68 - February 12, 2012
had a hamstring early and probably didn't fully recover. Lets give him a chance after off season healing. I say keep him, cut Ghee.
sofakingood - February 12, 2012
How is a decent back-up when QB have a 105+ rating against him? That’s shouldn’t even be on feild skills. If him and Crocker back in that secondary its gone be a long year.
pray4gm11 - February 12, 2012 via mobile
small sample size, for that
A couple plays and the numbers are way off. He got burned, bad, early and played well otherwise.
supergrover - February 13, 2012
Teams didn’t need to pass on us late in season. Whenever they did throw is way he couldn’t cover nobody. Didn’t see him do nothing all season.
pray4gm11 - February 13, 2012 via mobile
Small sample size for the tackles as well
I cannot even beleive this is a debate. He was terrible!!!! I’m ussually one of the most optimistic people on this site and even through rose colored glasses I think he sucks!!! I think Clements is really good Ghee has potential, Pacman is serviceable but I will not be sold on Jennings. I’ve watched the tapes and even when he was supposely playing better he was still get burnt it just so happens they didn’t throw to his man or the QB missed made a poor throw and we got real lucky!!!
biggie22 - February 13, 2012
I don't like Jennings he sucks, but i don't think Ghee is any better.
I’d re-sign PacMan & Clements…& draft a CB (Dre Kirpatrick)..& maybe re-sign Jennings..
Bengal4ever - February 12, 2012
Jennings played decent last year. Cincy should bring back him and Pac man jones
lightskin350 - February 12, 2012
check this out for a pretty decent draft prediction
i find it quite a big reach but i liked this draft analysis, it definitely would be an amazing draft in my book, it covers the RB, secondary situation very nicely also adds a lot of good depth to our quit visible defensive & offensive linemen needs and adds a good receiver in the later rounds for depth, from a pretty reliable source too i must add…. bleacher report, though i think its more of a dream draft..
ARoo - February 12, 2012
sorry... here's the link
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1051258-2012-nfl-mock-draft-cincinnati-bengals-full-7-round-predictions-first-edition#/articles/1051258-2012-nfl-mock-draft-cincinnati-bengals-full-7-round-predictions-first-edition
ARoo - February 12, 2012
That would be awesome, but it's a bit of a pipe dream.
Animal_Like_Football - February 13, 2012
Re-sign Jennings and Pacman
Draft a first round CB,
I believe that Clements is under contract,if not sign him
Pray that Hall returns to form
keithp - February 12, 2012
this is the most likely scenario I think
keithster - February 12, 2012
I see him as a decent (if cheap enough) backup
He has no ball skills at all, but he does have the ability to run with just about anyone and at least make it look like they’re covered.
indesignkat - February 12, 2012
This is the best description of him I've seen
Wonder if this was in the small print the Seahawks didn’t read in his scouting report
messjunk - February 13, 2012
seahawk fans described him to us that way after the trade
if he’s starting for your team as the number 1 or number 2 cb, something went wrong with your team, your season, or your front office. as a number 3 or number 4 cb, he’s not that horrible. you could do worse. i wouldn’t break the bank for the guy, if he’s willing to be reasonable and take a deal under 2 million a year with a few incentives tossed into the contract, i’d resign him.
he’s already done more on the field in a bengals uniform in 1 season than ghee has done in 2 seasons here.
palewook - February 13, 2012
U a give him 2mil? No NFL team will give him more than vet min.
pray4gm11 - February 13, 2012 via mobile
really?
considering he made 1.965 million in 2011, shows two nfl teams already have paid jennings that much in the past. the bengals and the seahawks.
palewook - February 13, 2012
Still working on his rookie 1st rd pick salary… Let’s see if he gets another 2mil is what I said.
pray4gm11 - February 13, 2012 via mobile
That’s ONLY thing he brings to table is sticking with receiver. But this ain’t track u gotta be able to do more than run, run, run.
pray4gm11 - February 13, 2012 via mobile
Having Clinton McDonald would have been great when Sims went down.
We lost two great DTs before the season started. Him and Shirley.
Cry - February 12, 2012
we'd have to needed to carry 9 d-line then
mcdonald wouldn’t have lasted on the practice squad. in hindsight, easy enough to say, “we should have cut peerman and kept mcdonald.” thinking back to the preseason in 2011, did we really see a way to keep mcdonald around?
we were really deep on the d-line and he lost the numbers game. we managed to turn him into another position player we could use for the season, rather than get nothing for him when another team snatched him off the practice squad.
palewook - February 13, 2012
Please do not bring him back
He is terrible!!! He was only a part time cb who was really only in on passing situation. He better make the tackle after he gives up a completion. It’s not like he’s tackling any rb’s. The biggest issue is he cannot cover his own shadow!! Even later in the year when he was “playing better” thank god we were playing back up or 2nd rate qb’s because there were numerous times he was beat and we were lucky the qb missed the throw. If you have the games dvrd go back and watch and you’ll see there is no way we should resign him
biggie22 - February 12, 2012 via mobile
He get out of the running back way when he see him coming. Can’t tackle or cover
pray4gm11 - February 12, 2012 via mobile
Rod Jones
Nicknamed himself “Blanket”, I think. Everyone else called him “Toast”.
Remember him? Great tackler. Got lots of practice, too.
That said, Jennings is better than Jones by far. I know his numbers are bad, but his positioning and play are good enough to start on some teams. I’m okay with him being a backup, injury starter.
supergrover - February 13, 2012
I thought he improved as the season went on
featherman - February 13, 2012
i'm also curious to see what another year of zimmer can do for jennings
jennings has the tools to be successful in the nfl, his technique is the issue.
palewook - February 13, 2012
True, I think another year of zimmer coudn't hurt.
I think the question is. Who would you rather have? Adam Jones or Kelly Jennings.
We only need to sign one CB to complete our roster. And I think we will go with Jones pending on if he gets suspended. We still have Clemments, Ghee, and Hall. Plus, we are going to get a pro ready CB in the draft. Not to mention all the other options in FA.
AMAS85 - February 13, 2012
I’m getting back in shape. Hell for 2mil if u just want me to run side by side with receiver I could do that. Our secondary was HORRIBLE. Folks Clements had bad season being honest and he 100x better than Jennings. Clements can’t comeback as our 1 or 2 cb. If Clements starting and Jennings/Crocker still on roster we would not make playoffs next year. We play elite qbs next year that a have feild day with our secondary. We didn’t play not one top 5 passing qb this year, we let journeymen and back ups pick us apart this year. I don’t know if it was coaching or players but it MUST get fixed…
pray4gm11 - February 13, 2012 via mobile
Clements was usually pretty good
It’s the 2 or 3 times he got juked and fell down, letting the receiver run wide open, that really hurt. Embarrassing as those are, he was very solid aside from those few plays.
indesignkat - February 13, 2012
apart from that Mrs Lincoln
how did you like the play?
occams_tiger_teeth - February 13, 2012
nice
indesignkat - February 13, 2012
The 2nd cleveland game comes to mind
He tried to come out of his back peddle to turn and run then slipped. It happened twice giving up a TD on one. It was wet that day of I’m not mistaken. Clemens is a decent #2, we could get better but we could be worse. With Hall in limbo we have no other choice but to count on him next year. After that hopefully he’s willing to be a safety.
Bigcatdaddy - February 13, 2012 via Android app
Quit saying he’s a decent #2…. What game did he mainly guard the teams #1/2 wr?
pray4gm11 - February 13, 2012 via mobile
What?
What game wasn’t he at least on the #2. He was on the field all the time. He didn’t play nickel abd he shore as hell didn’t cover the TE unless they were playing zone and the came in his area. If he didn’t cover the #1 or 2 receiver then who did he cover?
Bigcatdaddy - February 13, 2012 via Android app
clements was solid enough
i’m a little concerned with his age and play style. every step in speed he loses makes him more susceptible to being burnt and juked by younger faster players. he’s losing his ability to close gaps with his legs.
however, nate has great field awareness and vision. he’s less of a cover guy now and more of a zone guy. he’s still playing like a cover guy though. wish someone could talk him into accepting the SS job. he’d be awesome at SS until he was ready to retire. nate’s instincts could extend his career another 4 years or so at SS.
palewook - February 13, 2012
+1
biggie22 - February 13, 2012
+1
I think that’s one of the reasons Marvin said they were going to tum more zone next season. We just don’t have the personnel to play man D right now. Man coverage gives you the best chance at a pick but getting beat to.
Bigcatdaddy - February 13, 2012 via Android app
Didn’t see it. When ur pretty good cb teams don’t pick on you 3rd downs. He was always getting beat on 3rd downs ALL YEAR. Little for Cleveland could’ve had 200yds against him if it wasn’t for drops. And how horrible Jones/Jennings were they still stuck teams 1-2 receivers. Clements only has speed for Shipley/Welker type guys.
pray4gm11 - February 13, 2012 via mobile
Shipley and Welker
Might have more speed than alot of teams #2 receivers. Just because they’re small and white doesn’t mean they’re not fast. Sometimes I worry about you pray;-)
Bigcatdaddy - February 13, 2012 via Android app
everyone perceives moments different
pray does see somethings that most of us don’t witness. he never fails to keep the chats on here lively though.
palewook - February 13, 2012
Maybe we can finally start to see some stuff done
Oregonbengalsfan - February 13, 2012
where did you get that from?
palewook - February 13, 2012
Bengals twitter
Oregonbengalsfan - February 13, 2012
found it
official bengals twit on the hiring
palewook - February 13, 2012
Hobson
Tweets here and here
Oregonbengalsfan - February 13, 2012
Nice Anyone is better then coyle
njbengalstat - February 13, 2012
Well
When you gave up as many receptions as he did you are bound to have more than ample opportunity for tackles.
all kidding aside……….
He actually wasn’t that bad, but we still need major improvement.
Yarin - February 13, 2012
+1
AMAS85 - February 13, 2012
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