Reggie Nelson News

Nov 29, 2009; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer looks at plays against the Cleveland Browns in the second half at Paul Brown Stadium.

Nov 29, 2009; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer looks at plays against the Cleveland Browns in the second half at Paul Brown Stadium.

The Colts finally missed the playoffs in 2011 thanks to the loss of this guy. Who will it happen to in 2012? Rob Carr/Getty Images So I've done a little research to get a good estimation on how many teams routinely make the playoffs in a given year and then proceed to miss the playoffs in the year that follows.

One of the hidden gems that the Bengals grabbed in the 2012 NFL Draft was former Boise State safety, George Iloka .

Safety Taylor Mays will start in a scheme that suits him, allowing him to have a breakout 2012 season Joe Robbins/Getty Images The Cincinnati Bengals have a hole to fill at starting strong safety after releasing Chris Crocker earlier this offseason.

Over the past 13 months, the Cincinnati Bengals have maneuvered the NFL draft as well as any team in the National Football League.

Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com writes this morning that offseason free agent acquisitions Terence Newman and Jason Allen will "play the bulk of the snaps in place of the rehabbing Leon Hall ". Hall ruptured his Achilles in a Week 10 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers and was placed on Injured Reserve the following day, effectively ending his 2011 ... (more)

Taking a moment to look back over the previous 17 months, you have to be clutching onto a feeling that things have improved within this organization.

Is there any better time than months before the NFL season starts to hand out end-of-year awards to the Cincinnati Bengals ? Sure, we can do this - and will do this - once January rolls around again, but at that point, it's less fun.

There are very few possible weak positions on the 2012 Bengals roster and some could argue that safety is one of them.

The Cincinnati Bengals had an excellent draft, at least on paper. They addressed needs, found steals through value, solidified positions, generated upcoming vicious camp battles.

The NFL Network is counting down the 100 best NFL players heading into the 2012 season.

UPDATE 5.9.2012 at 4:12 PM ET : Joe Reedy with the Cincinnati Enquirer has confirmed that he signed with a signing bonus of $160,300. According to Eric Edholm of Pro Football Weekly , the Cincinnati Bengals have signed their first pick from the 2012 draft class.

The Cincinnati Bengals enjoyed the most successful free agency period of any team in the division.

If you're not somewhat enthused about where this team appears to be headed, there might be something wrong with you.

The press-hounds and free-bloggers of the greater sports wire have quite unanimously expressed their cloistered astonishment and approval at the Bengals' impressive Draft outing this past weekend.