When the Cincinnati Bengals drafted North Carolina running back Giovani Bernard as the 37th overall selection in the 2013 NFL Draft, the running back platoon the Bengals had set up was seemingly perfect. There is Bernard, the scrappy versatile rookie who can make the quick cuts, and BenJarvus Green-Ellis, who has made his name in the NFL by being a bruising running back who can get the tough yards. These two have become the typical smash and dash duo that the NFL is accustomed to seeing in the back field. As the season progressed however, the Bengals offense saw more of the dash than the smash.
Expectations for Bernard were fairly high following college. After tearing his ACL and redshirting as a freshman in 2010, he became North Carolina’s starting tailback in 2011 and did not disappoint. Rushing for 1,253 yards on 239 attempts and rushing for 13 touchdowns, as well as tallying 45 receptions for 362 yards and 1 touchdown, he quickly became one of the top running backs in the nation.
Bernard was even considered for the Maxwell Award: a prestigious award which is presented to the nation’s top collegiate football player. He improved upon his already impressive 2011 season under a new offense, this time attaining 1,228 yards on 184 carries, 490 yards on 47 receptions, and 17 total touchdowns. Leading up to the NFL Draft, many experts had Giovani Bernard highly ranked among a thin running back class.
As the 2013 NFL season progressed, it became more and more apparent that Bernard was the top dog in the Bengals backfield. His versatility proved to be his strongest asset, as he racked up 1,209 all-purpose yards while scoring for 8 touchdowns.
His biggest game as a pro came on Halloween in an overtime loss to the Miami Dolphins. Despite the loss, Bernard still helped his team with 12 carries for 99 yards, a tremendous 8.8 yards per carry, and rushed for two touchdowns. Another big game for the Bengals was when they were up against the Pittsburgh Steelers early in the season. Bernard scored two touchdowns against the Bengals’ hated rivals, showing the NFL that he meant business, and when the Bengals played against the Colts in a blowout win late in the season, he totaled 148 all-purpose yards.
After an impressive rookie campaign, is Giovani Bernard ready to take the reigns as the Bengals’ feature running back? Billed at 5’9” and 208 lbs, he certainly isn’t built like an Adrian Peterson or a Matt Forte. What he lacks in size, he makes up for with his drive, and most importantly, his skills.
Throughout the 2013 season, Bernard has shown that he does, in fact, possess the skills which make him a solid running back in the NFL. However, with only one season under his belt, it might be too soon to give him the bulk of the workload.
The tandem of Bernard and Green-Ellis is a good one, and the Bengals have shown no signs of straying away from that productive combination, but we can expect to see something new in 2014. Bernard recently stated that the Bengals new offensive coordinator, Hue Jackson, is going to come up with “the craziest playbook ever.”
As of now, the “craziness” of the Bengals’ new playbook is something that only Hue Jackson and company know of, and we’ll have to wait till the preseason to find out just how crazy it is. If there’s one thing that’s certain though, it is that Giovani Bernard will be a big part of the Bengals’ insanely promising new offense.