In a bit of a pre-training camp shocker, the Bengals waived their 2007 2nd round draft pick, Kenny Irons. The move gets the Bagels down to the league mandated 80-man camp roster. This is indeed the Cincinnati Bengals so this sort of ridiculous horse-shit is expected.
Irons has had a solid career with the Bengals thus far. That is of course if you consider zero yards and zero games solid.
Kenny Irons was drafted out of Auburn just like (former) teammate Rudi Johnson. The speedy running back was supposed to provide depth at the running back position. Instead, he did his best KiJana Carter impersonation.
Irons blew out his ACL during one of the first carries of his career in the initial preseason game of 2007. He missed the entire 2007 season. Irons was also expected to miss part of training camp this year at minimum. Instead, it appears he may be in danger of missing the NFL almost entirely.
The young running back failed a physical earlier this week so it certainly seems that this is entirely an injury issue and not a talent or attitude issue. The Bengals have had plenty of problems with both of the latter in terms of their draft picks historically.
There is a slim possibility that this is a shrewd move on the part of the Bagels. If Kenny Irons clears waivers (which means no other team is interested in him, a distinct possibility), the Bengals could re-sign the kid and put him on injured reserve while potentially saving some money on a player that will clearly not give them anything anytime soon.
Why do I get the impression that the Bengals have already thrown in the towel on Kenny Irons though? Maybe it has something to do with all their other shitty draft picks as of late.
The Bengals are reportedly deep at the running back position right now. I'll believe that when I see it though. Just because you have a bunch of guys on your roster with "RB" next to their name doesn't mean you are deep at that position.
Rudi Johnson, the presumed starter at running back has had some injury problems, although what pro ball carrier hasn't? Chris Perry, the Bungles' first round draft pick in 2004 out of Meeeechigan has played in only a third of the games since he was drafted due to injury. He makes Kellen Winslow Jr. seem like an ironman by comparison.
The Bengals woes surrounding their draft picks recently have been well documented. My personal favorite draft would have to be the 2005 selections. The first rounder David Pollack was forced to retire after injuring his neck during his second season. Second rounder Odell Thurman missed two entire seasons while suspended. Odell managed to stay on the Bengals roster for those two seasons only to be cut before he could return after failing another league drug test.
And then there's Chris Henry. Henry has been arrested roughly 100 times since being drafted and was finally waived this offseason after yet another incident. Ironically, Henry was recently acquitted of the charges that brought on his release.
Marvin Lewis has stated the Bengals will not bring back Henry despite the comments of his agent. That means that the next time the Who Dey gang sees Henry, he'll be lighting them up from the opposing sideline.
The Bengals circus/training camp, starts on Monday.
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