FanHouse Bobbie Williams

Training camps are underway, the NFL season is a month off, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Quarterback: If there is one constant on this team, it is Carson Palmer. Sure, Palmer didn't have his best season a year ago, but his off seasons are better than many QBs best years. In reality, other things factored into his poor season (injuries to the line, injury to Rudi Johnson, receivers pouting). The only issue here is what happens in Cincinnati if Palmer gets hurt. They have no one groomed to come in. Ryan Fitzpatrick and Jeff Rowe are in their second seasons with the team and Carson's brother, Jordan, is fighting for a spot. Heat Index: 8

Running backs: Injuries have hurt this unit in the past couple of years. Workhorse Rudi Johnson finally hit a wall; Kenny Irons blew out his knee in his first preseason game; Chris Perry has never been able to stay on the field. Well, Rudi and Perry are healthy again, with 2007 surprises Kenny Watson and DeDe Dorsey around to give the offense a different dynamic. Cincy needs this unit to get back to form to allow the entire offense to explode. Heat Index: 4

Receivers: Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh are one of the best receiving combos in the NFL. T.J. tied for the lead in receptions; Chad was third in receiving yards. However, this could be the last season either is in Cincinnati. Johnson's issues with the team are well documented. T.J. is in his final contracted season. Chris Henry is finally gone and there are several guys trying to step into that #3 spot. Rookie Jerome Simpson will get a strong look, as will Andre Caldwell and Antonio Chatman. Chatman is the only one with experience and could get the nod. Heat Index: 8

Mark Curnutte reported on Monday that Bobbie Williams, out with appendicitis, should be back this Sunday against the Raiders. Stacy Andrews has been Williams replacement, and he's done an excellent job of it, but having Williams back is certainly a good thing. He participated in practice yesterday, so it seems as if it's a lock that he'll be starting.

Other injury notes:

• Kelley Washington, Brian Simmons, and Deltha O'Neal all practiced. I can't wait to see O'Neal and Washington back on the field, particularly Deltha. The Bengals defense will only get better when he returns.
• Eric Ghiaciuc is off crutches and said to be doing better. My guess is that Ben Wilkerson will play this Sunday, and then we'll see Rich Braham back for Indy in two weeks, but that's only my guess. If the Bengals get Braham back for the final three games that'd certainly be a big boost.
• Tab Perry said his hip injury isn't as bad as Bo Jackson's, so yeah, that's good news.

Last year I honestly think the Bengals peaked a little too early, but we might be seeing the reverse this season. The Bengals have been playing their best football of the year lately, and they seem to be getting healthy right on time.

More: Post-practice notes from the locker room - Mark Curnutte's Blog

For the first time in quite awhile the Bengals prospects are looking pretty damn good.

They're 7-5, just a half game out of the Wild Card race, and they're looking at ten days off after playing (and winning) three games in just twelve days. That's awesome news for a team that's been as banged up as the Bengals. Here's the early health outlook for Oakland:

• Eric Ghiaciuc (pictured at right) was the only Bengals injury last night. He suffered a sprained knee and was replaced by Ben Wilkerson, who saw his first NFL action last night, and performed extremely well. Ghiaciuc is questionable for Oakland, but that's not as bad as it sounds because Rich Braham will almost certainly be back by then, and the aforementioned Ben Wilkerson looked more than capable. Plus it's Oakland. If Ben Wilkerson has to play against anybody Oakland is a pretty good opponent.
• Bobbie Williams will be back from his appendix surgery. He's been replaced by Stacy Andrews, a guy who's 6'7, 350 pounds. Andrews has played like a monster, but Williams is a capable vet. The Bengals are pretty much fine here with either guy, and the upside to Williams getting hurt has been the discovery that Andrews is good enough to see game time.
• Deltha O'Neal will be healthy. The defense has been great the past two games, but it's going to be even better when Deltha O'Neal lines up opposite of Jonathan Joseph instead of Tory James. I'm sure James will still see plenty of playing time, but it'll be less than he sees with O'Neal hurt, and that'll only help the Bengals. James is a lot more palatable an option when he's only playing part time.
• Kelley Washington will be back. Maybe he can get some of Chris Henry's playing time, since Henry seems to be afraid of getting hit lately.
• John Thornton will be back. Not really sure if this is a plus though. The defensive line was outstanding last night without him.
• Rich Braham is questionable, but my guess is he'll be ready for Oakland or Indy. Holding him out until Indy might not be a bad idea if he's not totally healed up.
• Levi Jones is still questionable. Whitworth has been a great replacement, so I'd rather not see Levi back until he's 100%. No reason to risk further injury, and Levi should be a big boost down the stretch.
  

Things are looking up. I'm going to have a good time settling in and watching all the teams the Bengals are chasing this weekend, secure in the knowledge that the Bengals already did their part for this week.

The injury reports obviously come a little earlier this week with the Thursday game, so let's get right to things. Here's who's banged up heading into Baltimore Week ...

• John Thornton is doubtful with a knee injury that he suffered on Sunday. No, not during the game, during pre-game warm-ups. That's pretty much how the Bengals roll this season. He actually has a fairly impressive consecutive games streak that's probably going to end Thursday. Thornton's played in 59 games in a row.
• Levi Jones is still out. Maybe next week.
• Bobbie Williams is also still out. Should be awhile for him still, but I'm pretty happy with the way Stacy Andrews has filled in.
• Rich Braham has been elevated to questionable, and could actually play on Thursday night. This one could be huge.
• Deltha O'Neal is questionable. It'd really help if he could play, since that would probably mean a little less of Tory James on the field.
• Kelley Washington is also questionable. I'm hoping he comes back fairly soon, because Cincinnati's fourth wide receiver is an undrafted free agent at the moment. I don't have anything against Glenn Holt, but I'd rather see Washington doing that job.
• Sam Adams is probable, but not practicing, which is standard operating procedure for him. He might want to consider practicing so that he'd be a little less of a fat ass, but whatever works I guess.
• Brian Simmons is probable, which is huge. The linebacking corps has been absolutely decimated this season, and getting Simmons back into the rotation can only help.

Just to illustrate how bad off the Bengals are this year, the Ravens injury list features three players, all of whom are questionable, but all of whom will almost certainly be on the field Thursday night. Three injured players against eight, and that's not even counting all the guys on IR (Tab Perry, Chris Perry, Bennie Brazell, Antonio Chatman, Frostee Rucker, David Pollack, etc. etc.) The Bengals are incredibly fortunate to even have a shot at the playoffs with the bad injury luck they've had this season.

There are years when you catch all the breaks, and there are years where you don't. The Bengals haven't really caught a break all season, and that continued today with the announcement that Bobbie Williams will miss the next 3-4 weeks because of an appendectomy.

Weirdly, Williams is the third Bengal this season to miss time because of an appendectomy. Anthony Wright and former practice squad player Kyle Takavitz both had the procedure earlier this season.

Williams becomes the third offensive lineman to miss time this season, which is absolutely incredible. Stacy Andrews will be starting for Williams, which is horrendous news. Andrews has never started a game at any level. He didn't start playing football until his senior year of college, but he'll be playing right guard for the Bengals this Sunday.

Good teams overcome adversity, but even the most stable teams can only handle so much. The Bengals aren't really all that stable, and I think they reached their adversity limit quite some time ago.

Sometimes the year picks you, but it doesn't always pick you to do well.

More: Offensive line shuffles again - Bengals.com