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A few weeks ago, I tabbed Antonio Bryant as a Man of Intrigue, listing several teams that could look to add the talented, mercurial receiver. Cincinnati was first on my list, and that scenario came to pass. The Bengals have signed Bryant to a four-year, $28 million contract, immediately giving the passing game a huge boost.
Last year, the Bengals had to make do with Laveranues Coles and Andre Caldwell in the spot opposite Chad Ochocinco. Predictably, defenses showed no respect to that group or to the Bengals' tight ends. While Ocho's numbers were still fine from a fantasy standpoint (1,000-plus yards and nine TDs), the entire passing game was mediocre, and the entire team suffered.
At 29 years old, Bryant is a much better fix than Coles was last year. He gives the Bengals a legitimate deep threat and should help the Bengals stretch the field on every down. Forget about Bryant's 600-yard season in 2009 -- that came with a carousel of underwhelming quarterbacks throwing him the ball, or at least throwing it in his general direction. Check out 2008, where Bryant totaled 1,248 yards and seven TDs with Jeff Garcia at the helm.
Besides Bryant, the man that gets the biggest boost in value is the Cincinnati quarterback. Bryant and Carson Palmer should benefit greatly from each other. Palmer's 6.6 yards-per-attempt mark paled in comparison to the 7.2, 7.5 and 7.8 numbers he posted in the three years prior to his injury. With two legitimate weapons on the field, the Bengals should look to the air more often, so expect Palmer's 466 attempts to also rise back over 500.
Bryant's signing will also open up the field for Ochocinco. He'll likely never return to the fantasy level he reached when paired with T.J. Houshmandzadeh, but at worst we should expect a repeat of last year's solid stats.
In all, the Bengals' offense takes a nice positive shift in value with Bryant in town. Don't be afraid to gamble on the new Cincinnati receiver as your WR3. Ochocinco is locked in as a WR2, and Palmer could rise to QB1 status again.
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