Chad Ocho Cinco, formerly Chad Johnson, of the Cincinnati Bengals sports his new name on his jersey prior to facing the Baltimore Ravesn in Baltimore, Maryland, on Sunday, September 7, 2008. (George Bridges/MCT)
The summer months are quickly approaching, which means training camps start for all NFL teams pretty soon. It seems we have quite a bit of drama this year. Between Browns wide receiver Donte Stallworth’s arrest for vehicular manslaughter and quarterback Brett Favre’s constant flirtations with the Vikings, the NFL has provided better drama than the soap operas my grandma watched religiously back in the day.
This week, yours truly decided to dive into the enigma, the riddle, the drama that is Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson. Yes, I call him Johnson because I refuse to give in to his “Call me 85” shtick. Below you will find my latest article, found on FantasyFootball.com, on the drama that constantly surrounds this character and where I think he should be drafted in all leagues.
Call him Ocho, Ochocinco or any other name you like, it seems to me that we can’t get through an offseason without Bengals wide receiver Ochocinco making some sort of stink and bringing attention to himself. This year has been no different. Hoping for a trade, which didn’t happen again, Ocho held out in the hopes that his drama would force the team to want to get rid of him. Didn’t happen. So instead of being the bigger man, Ocho decided to skip out on the beginnings of organized team activities, having showed up to voluntary mini-camps this week. This will mark the first time Ocho showed up to voluntary workouts since 2007. I hope I don’t sound too negative regarding Ocho’s fantasy value for this upcoming season, but I am worried a bit considering he opted not to get shoulder surgery for an injury that plagued him all of last season. So it remains to be seen whether he is fully recovered.
In Ocho’s absence, wide receiver Chris Henry has shown more maturity so far this offseason and has been playing Ocho’s spot in the offense. Henry could see more time on the outside, even with Ocho in the mix. So this is yet another strike against “85.” Losing wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh in free agency doesn’t help, either.
Owners will think of the 2008 season, where Ocho caught 53 receptions for a measly 540 yards and four touchdowns, but I am going to throw last year out the window if I am thinking of drafting Ocho. Between his shoulder and the absence of quarterback Carson Palmer, the odds weren’t in favor of anyone on the offense. Palmer was able to avoid elbow surgery and has looked good so far in practice, so that will help the fantasy value of everyone on the offense.
In conclusion: Looking at mock drafts and early redraft leagues, it looks like Ocho is getting drafted around the fourth or fifth round, which makes sense. He has too many question marks that drafting him as a WR1 would be crazy. He could be a decent WR2 in larger leagues, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable taking him if I absolutely didn’t have to. Draft him as a low-end WR2/high-end WR3 and hope that he can get his pre-2008 groove back.
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