Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green has had a rough go lately.
He missed all of the 2019 season due to an ankle/foot injury and only played in nine games the season prior in 2018. That said, Green has still only played under the Bengals’ former coach, Marvin Lewis, despite the team bringing in Zac Taylor as a replacement for the 2019 season.
Green Has Appeared in Every Career Game
Green has missed games for injuries before, but that hasn’t stopped him from having a stellar career. The 31 year-old receiver has started all 111 games of his career up until the injury, playing in eight seasons. In all those games played Green has caught 602 balls for 8,907 yards, averaging about 14.8 yards per catch. Along with that came 63 touchdowns and a reception of 82-yards for his career long.
Cincinnati Using Green Poorly Resides With Marvin Lewis
Unfortunately, the Bengals haven’t exactly utilized the elite receiver they have in Green. Despite Cincinnati making the playoffs for the first five years of Green’s career it has yet to win a playoff game. It hasn’t won a postseason game since 1990 and haven’t had a winning season since 2015. Lewis went 0-7 in his postseason career and has been no help to Green in hopes of him attending the ‘big dance’. All that said, Green has made the most of what he’s had to work with in Cincinnati.
Miami, Cincinnati Meet Again in 2020
The Miami Dolphins will play hosts to the Bengals in week 13 of the NFL’s regular season.
Defensive Unity Key if Dolphins Want a Victory
The Dolphins had a lackluster defense during the 2019 season under their rookie head coach, Brian Flores. Flores will have to bring his defense together if he hopes to stop Green and a growing offense up in Cincinnati. The addition of quarterback Joe Burrow can only bolster a talented WR like Green, if he’s healthy enough and is post-recovery. With rumors of Green being a game-time decision in the final weeks of the 2019 season, Green should be a green light.
Parker Below Green’s Elite Numbers
Dolphins’ WR DeVante Parker will also have to make his own performance on the opposite side of the ball in order to keep his team in it.
The 27 year-old receiver has 235 career receptions for 3,419 yards with 18 touchdowns to top it off. The five-year veteran has played in 69 games and started 45 of them. Parker hasn’t had quite the career Green has had, only averaging 49.6 yards per game compared to Green’s 80.2, but the Dolphins also haven’t given Parker the support.
Miami has only made the playoffs once in Parker’s career where it suffered a 18-point loss in Pittsburgh to the Steelers. The Dolphins have also had him play under three different coaches in just his five-year career as well.
Consistency, Opportunity Work Against Parker’s Career
While Parker’s numbers are lower than Green’s he hasn’t been given the consistency that Green has. The case could be made that the two are equal caliber receivers. With a rookie quarterback added to the Dolphins’ roster, a change in Parker’s numbers could be on the horizon to bring him closer to Green. Even if QB Ryan Fitzpatrick plays a full season, the rapport he and Parker shared is enough to believe Parker can realistically break the 1,000-yard mark again and cross the double-digit TD plateau.
With the spike in a breakout season for Parker and an unknown Green that will take the field again, it’s a safe bet as of now to see both WRs closer in tiers.
– Christian Chappell is a Sports Contributor for Full Press Coverage Miami Dolphins. Like and follow on Follow @cmoneypc Follow @FPC_Dolphins and Facebook.
