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WR Chad Ochocinco, Cincinnati Bengals

HT: 6-1, WT: 190, Born: 1-9-1978, College: Oregon State, Drafted: Round 2

2009 Projections

Average draft position

Current as of June 29th. [Full ADP list]

Overall: T Romo (47), K Moreno (48), Chad Ochocinco (49), J Addai (50), A Gates (51)
Position: B Edwards (45-WR16), R Williams (46-WR17), Chad Ochocinco (49 - WR18), V Jackson (55-WR19), A Bryant (58-WR20)
Click here for a comparison of these players.

Best Case

Is it really so hard to believe that Chad Ochocinco might actually return to greatness this season? He's back and feeling better than ever. Carson Palmer is also reported to be 100 percent and ready to begin the season. T.J. Houshmandzadeh is gone, replaced by Laveranues Coles who will keep defenses honest, but not compete with Ochocinco for the title of #1 WR.

Worst Case

The Bengals kept the wrong guy. Ochocinco showed signs of wearing out his welcome last season with his off the field antics and on the field flame-out. A shoulder injury bothered Ochocinco for most of the year, and he finished with pathetic numbers.

Outlook

Now healthy and poised for a comeback, Ochocinco might just surprise everyone this season. Cincinnati is a bad team, and their defense can't stop anyone. They're going to have to throw to win. A healthy Palmer means improved chances for Ochocinco to shine. Look for Ochocinco to return to his former self and possibly finish in the Top 10 for fantasy WRs this season.

Relevant Articles

Why he is undervalued

Anthony Borbely - Ochocinco suffered a shoulder injury in preseason and never looked healthy all year. That, combined with the injury to QB Carson Palmer, helped send Ochocinco to his worst season since he was a rookie. In the five seasons before, he averaged over 90 catches, 1,374 yards and totaled 43 TDs, finishing in the Top 10 every year. With Palmer returning and Ochocinco healthy, I see him returning to form and becoming an elite fantasy WR again. When you can get a proven player like Ochocinco at WR20, it makes your entire team stronger.

Colin Dowling - I'm a little confused as to how a guy who has put up stellar numbers and stellar fantasy finishes like Chad Ochocinco is being selected after 22 other receivers and four tight ends. Ochocinco is healthy, Carson Palmer is healthy, and no other received on the Bengals looks like they can supplant him as the go-to guy. He may not finish in the Top 6 like he has four times in the past, but 23rd among receivers is ludicrous.

Will Grant - Last season, Chad Ochocinco was a victim of terrible QB play and a off-season filled with distractions. Ochocinco has recently admitted that he phoned it in last year. When Carson Palmer went down, Ryan Fitzpatrick took over and the team spiraled into the ground. This year, Palmer is back and hungry to prove himself again. Ochocinco is also back to full strength this year, with a new partner on the other side of the field. Don't buy into the typical fantasy backlash against Ochocinco this season. He's going to put up Top 15 numbers without much effort. He's a No. 1 quality WR at a WR2 price.

Jeff Haseley - Ochocinco's current ADP is surprising, considering he is now healthy, his pro-bowl QB is now healthy and his reception-stealing teammate (T.J. Houshmandzadeh) is now with Seattle. Before last year's injury-filled chaotic season, number 85 had five consecutive Top 10 seasons. He is more than capable of producing another big year. He should definitely finish higher than his current ADP of WR20.

Marc Levin - Regardless of whether the Bengals improve or decline as a team, one thing is clear. Carson Palmer will be throwing a significantly greater number of passes to Chad Ochocinco in 2009 than last year. The loss of T.J. Houshmandzadeh, replaced by Laveranues Coles, means Ochocinco is virtually assured of a return to the 150+ targets he received from 2003-2007. Ochocinco finished no lower than WR9, and had 3 top-5 finishes over that time period. That's nice upside potential for the WR24.

Matt Waldman - Last year Ochocinco played the season with a partially torn labrum and his production plummeted. Ochocinco averaged 10 yards per catch in 2008, down from his career average of 14.96. Although the Bengals lose T.J. Houshmandzadeh they did an adequate job getting Laveranues Coles as his replacement. Ochocinco may remain disgruntled in Cincy, but he takes great pride in his craft and will be out to prove 2008 was a fluke. From 2006-2008, an average of 16.67 WRs were new to the final Top 36 at the position and a healthy Ochocinco should rebound to the position's Top 12.

Jason Wood - Chad Ochocinco seems to have soured fantasy football owners to his prospects, which is understandable coming off a 53-catch, 540 yard season. But let's not ignore the fact he was a Top 10 fantasy mainstay for the SIX prior seasons, and gets Carson Palmer back throwing passes in 2009. He also no longer has to compete for targets with T.J. Houshmandzadeh. The bottom line is Johnson has a chip on his shoulder, plays for a team that will have to throw a ton, has less competition for targets and gets his star QB back. He'll CRUSH his current ADP this year if he stays healthy.

Why he is overvalued

Sigmund Bloom - 85 is trying to revamp his image by admitting that he didn't take offseason workouts seriously last offseason. Of course, this was prompted by harsh words from his QB, Carson Palmer, indicating that Chris Henry was flourishing during Chad's absence from OTAs. Getting him the fifth round would have been unthinkable in the past, but the chances of seeing him bottom out last year and become unstartable in fantasy leagues were even more remote, so don't spend pick reserved for a starter on your team expecting the trend to reverse.

Andy Hicks - Will the departure of T.J. Houshmandzadeh help or hinder Chad Ochocinco this year? After last years drama queen performance, I also want to see a motivated Ochocinco on the field this year, not one who just talks the talk in the off season. When his name does come up for drafting consideration, I want to see a WR2 or WR3 I can be comfortable with slotting in every week, not one where I'm wondering if he has his head screwed on correctly this week/season or if he's had another clash with his head coach. The downside here is too much for a draft pick this high, while the upside is minimal.

Mark Wimer - Chad Ochocinco's attitude went into the toilet last season, to the point of having a shouting match with head coach Marvin Lewis (and getting suspended for Week 12 due to the incident). He's already lost $250,000 in bonus money this season for skipping offseason conditioning sessions - in short, it doesn't look like Ochocinco is very excited about playing in Cincinnati this season, and the lack of interest in trading for him from across the league means that's exactly where he'll be come September. No thanks, I'll invest my fantasy picks in people who want to play the game during 2009. On June 6th, Ochocinco admitted that he didn't lift a single weight or run a single route prior to the 2008 training camp - we all saw how well he delivered during the season.

Latest News

NFL | Ochocinco, Merriman trash talking via Twitter (Thu Jun 25, 12:49 PM) - Cincinnati Bengals WR Chad Ochocinco and San Diego Chargers LB Shawne Merriman have been trading barbs via Twitter about who will win the match up between the Bengals and Merriman this season. Ochocinco said he is confident that the Bengals will win the matchup, which prompted Merriman to respond 'Are you serious?' Ochocinco then challenged the Chargers offensive line to a boxing match and then talked about Merriman trying to stop him. 'Shawne Merriman tryin to stop Ocho Cinco, CHILD PLEASE, better chance at finding Osama!,' Ochocinco said.

Our View: Trash talking on twitter!?! Should we call it Twash talking, or a battle of Twits? Seems like Ochocinco is back to his old (tired) routine. It sounds like he wants to box anyone that talks bad about him. He must have been watching too much pro wrestling in the offseason. Never say never, but at this point we like the Chargers just a little bit more in that matchup.
link to story   

Bengals | Palmer says Ochocinco will be go-to receiver (Mon Jun 22, 11:23 AM) - The Associated Press reports Cincinnati Bengals QB Carson Palmer reiterated that WR Chad Ochocinco remains his top target within the team's offense. 'He's going to play (the lead role) because he deserves to play there,' Palmer said. 'He's been one of the best receivers in this league for a long time. He's still able to play at that level, and still capable of making big plays and carrying the load offensively at the receiver spot, so he will.'

Our View: It's all rainbows and lollipops with Palmer and Ochocinco, when just a couple of weeks ago it seemed like the QB was sick of his once favorite receiver. Since Ochocinco has returned to Cincinnati things have been "all good" between the pair. Palmer's health is the key to the Bengals offense, and even though T.J. Houshmandzadeh is now in Seattle, the team has Laveranues Coles, Chris Henry, and Andre Caldwell to help pick up the slack.

2009 Schedule

2008 Game Summaries

Week 1 - Johnson was a non-factor in this game (zero targets in the first half) as his sole production came by virtue of a single crossing pattern in the third quarter. Like his WR colleague on the other side of the field, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Johnson was the subject of double coverage for most of the day and also fell victim to the Bengals' offensive line's inability to give Carson Palmer any time to allow for his WRs to break free of that coverage.

Week 2 - Johnson was Palmer's most targeted receiver, but only caught four short passes. Johnson was called for holding and pass interference penalties.

Week 3 - Johnson saw seven looks go his way but was only able to bring in three of them for 29 yards through the air. There were times where Chad Johnson and Carson Palmer looked seemingly frustrated as they were unable to get on the same page with their routes.

Week 4 - Johnson was covered well all day, but did escape for a short touchdown reception early in the fourth quarter. He looked okay but Fitzpatrick was unable to deliver him the ball.

Week 5 - Johnson had two receptions of 15+ yards. Other than that, he had another quiet game, going for long stretches without being targeted. Johnson and Palmer seem to have some issues, and at one point in the third quarter, the QB became visibly upset with Johnson when he apparently ran an incorrect route.

Week 6 - Johnson was targeted a total of six times on the day as he caught five of those targets for 57 total yards. He worked some surprising short routes due to the lack of time that Fitzpatrick had in the pocket and was rewarded with a plethora of quick hitting passes to move the chains in the second half.

Week 7 - Johnson was quite involved in the first half, making a few catches on the lone scoring drive in the first half, including one in the end zone on a short pattern which led to a Bengals' only touchdown. He was the main target for the rest of the game, but was unable to get anything major going in the second half. His longest play was nine yards, hardly meeting high expectations of his fantasy owners.

Week 8 - Johnson was targeted nine times and finished with five receptions for 44 yards. He was targeted three times on third downs, and converted all three into first down plays.

Week 9 - Johnson was productive in the short passing game, catching two passes for touchdowns, as a result of excellent route running, and good hands. He showed his route running and speed on a deep pass play where he got open heading towards the end zone, but Fitzpatrick missed him. Johnson punctuated the game by kissing his head coach on the sideline after catching one of his touchdowns.

Week 11 - Johnson was clearly the second option in the Bengals' passing game downfield and struggled to make plays all day. Part of this was undoubtedly because QB Ryan Fitzpatrick was regularly under siege in the backfield and thus was constantly looking to dump the ball off to RB Cedric Benson or receivers running shorter routes. In the end, Johnson's mediocre season continued with only four receptions and 34 yards.

Week 12 - Johnson was deactivated from this game by the Bengals because of an undisclosed team rules violation and Glenn Holt got the start in his place.

Week 13 - He looked a little rusty while having a pair of drops on the game. Early in the game he was involved in some deeper looks but was not able to get on the page as his quarterback Fitzpatrick. It was a quiet day for Johnson.

Week 14 - Johnson quietly had a respectable game, though he was never a threat to score. He was only targeted five times, but caught all five.

Week 15 - Though he was QB Ryan Fitzpatrick's favorite target, Johnson still posted disappointing numbers -- much as he has all season. The Bengals' focus on short passes didn't help, and neither did Fitzpatrick's inability to effectively get the ball deep. On one of the few occasions that Fitzpatrick did throw a catchable ball downfield, Johnson hauled it in for a 23 yard gain. Unfortunately a holding call brought it back. That was the kind of day it was for Johnson.

Week 16 - Johnson did not play week 16 due to a hamstring injury.