Chris Henry says he's ready for a "big year"
Bengals receiver Chris Henry is in a contract year. And, as Chick Ludwig of the Dayton Daily News points out, Henry is predicting a big year for himself.
“It’s going to be a big year for me,” Henry predicted during the club’s recent minicamp. “I’ve been working hard. I feel like I’m at my best right now, and I’m going to do everything I can to help the team get to where we’re trying to get.”
In May, Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer praised the new-and-improved Henry while on Sirius NFL Radio at the same time he verbally bitch-slapped Chad Ochocinco.
“We've got Chris Henry … He's a guy that's had a great offseason, really turned his life around. I'm excited to watch him play. He's a guy that seems like he catches a touchdown every other ball that's thrown to him, he's that explosive. He's kind of taken over for Chad's position and he's a guy that, like I said earlier, does not want to give up that spot right now.”
However, Ochocinco has since showed up to off-season workouts and even vowed to spend this month with Los Palmers, much to dismay of Señora Palmer. That being said, Ochocinco says he's in great shape and has a renewed focus.
With injuries to Palmer and Ochocinco last year, the Bengals saw their offense drop from 23.8 (2007) to 12.8 (2008) points per game and from 348.0 (2007) to 245.4 (2008) yards per game.
In 2006 and 2007, the Bengals were a top ten offense. In 2008, their offense finished dead last in points and yards.
The Bengals have a lot of explosive (and volatile) parts to their offense. Ochocinco and Henry seem to have a renewed focus, Palmer seems to be healthy, Laverneus Coles is happy with his change of scenery and Cedric Benson finally produced at the end of last year like you would expect from a top-five pick by putting up 462 combined (rushing/receiving) yards in the Bengals' final three games.
So, with a perfect storm, the Bengals could be one of the top offenses in the NFL in 2009. However, the opposite could happen and the team could have a complete meltdown. As much as any other in the NFL, this group has as much of a chance to be either a monumental success or failure in 2009.
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