Narrowing down a list to 20 of anything almost feels impossible — trying to do so with an NFL team over the past two decades is right up there in difficulty.
Yet Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com managed to do so recently, naming his top 20 Cincinnati Bengals players of the website’s 20-year history to date, measuring things like longevity and impact to form the rankings.
Not surprisingly, one A.J. Green comes in first place:
Despite missing what amounts to 15 games in the last three years, he’s still just 93 yards from 9,000 career receiving yards. His 80-yard per game average is fifth among active receivers and if he plays until 36 at that same pace for six more seasons averaging 13 games, that gives him more than 15,000 yards. That’s Hall of Fame.
It is hard to argue that point, though the rest of the list gets interesting. Willie Anderson is second and Geno Atkins third. A vastly underrated name like Leon Hall justifiably gets a top-10 slot. Corey Dillon makes the cut in that range, too.
Perhaps the biggest point of contention could be Andrew Whitworth nearly falling out of the top 10. His playing from 2006-16 and manning the left edge from 2009 onward keyed much of the offensive success in the Queen City — and fans know what happened as soon as he left.
Overall, the list is a good tale of modern Bengals history, from the seemingly underappreciated (Rich Braham) to the never-should-have-got-away names (Justin Smith).
Looking ahead, it should be interesting to see how lists like this change in the future now that Zac Taylor controls the ship.
