(05-16-2021, 08:44 PM)jason Wrote: I don't disagree that DBs could get much more handsy with Chad though... And nobody was defenseless for a good chunk of his career.

Also had to go up against Ds led by Troy Polamalu, Ed Reed, Ray Lewis. Those two defenses were pretty much always Top-3 and he had to play them 4 times a year.

Love Chad. But this is easy. AJ in his prime was better than Chad in his prime. There is a reason AJ was a top 5 draft pick and he lived up to every bit of it.

Chad was our Babe Ruth.

Dude would point to and then hit a home run. Didn't matter the defense, the double coverage, the distance. He just produced.

AJ was solid, but he wasn't the same as Chad. If he wasn't on, he wasn't on. And for years, AJ wasn't on.

I voted AJ after commenting about them in a different thread. After re-reading the OP in this thread I’d probably change to Chad. He had a longer Bengal career and probably a longer prime than AJ.

If I could have either one now in their prime with no health or age concerns (just based on how good they were at their very best) I’d probably lean AJ.

It's so easy to poke holes in the "Dalton held AJ back" narrative.

Not only did Chad ball out with Kitna (who was objectively worse than Dalton), you can look around the league at elite WRs who balled out with bad QBs. Fitzgerald in AZ comes to mind.

Andre Johnson in Houston never had a great QB. Brandon Marshall was always saddled with a mediocre or bad QB.

Palmer himself wasn't all that. Mediocre for the vast majority of his career if we're being honest. Yeah Carson could spin it, but was his deep connection/accuracy better than Dalton's with Green?

Dalton routinely kept AJ fed, and they did have a great connection on deep throws over those first few years. The deep passing stats proved it. Maybe in an offense like ATL where they throw 650 times a year, his stats would've improved...but that isn't about Dalton, that's about the division we play in.

Throwing that much will never lead to success in the AFCN, and we never threw that much with Palmer, either.

Not arguing one side or the other, but all the Chad supporters base their arguments on a stat sheet. This isn't fantasy football. Make an argument based on watching the tape.

I'll say Isaac Curtis was better than either of them, but obviously he didn't have the stats.

(05-16-2021, 10:19 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Also had to go up against Ds led by Troy Polamalu, Ed Reed, Ray Lewis. Those two defenses were pretty much always Top-3 and he had to play them 4 times a year.

That era was a lil more physical, but I don't recall the Steelers and Ravens defenses falling off much if at all between 2011 and 2018. I don't really have a dog in this fight, and it's all barstool talk anyway, but I'd pick AJ over Chad if I were picking teams for a one off pick-up game of sorts. I prefer AJ's height. I think he's mentally tougher, and he was more willing to block in the run game. They're both great receivers though.

I voted chad despite my bias for AJ. I think AJ could have edged him out if he didn’t have all the injuries he ended up having. As others say I’m curious how he and a prime Palmer would have done together.

It's Chad. But in about ten years, we will call JaMarr Chase the best.

Loved them both, but Chad was the better of the two.

(05-16-2021, 11:05 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: It's so easy to poke holes in the "Dalton held AJ back" narrative.

Not only did Chad ball out with Kitna (who was objectively worse than Dalton), you can look around the league at elite WRs who balled out with bad QBs. Fitzgerald in AZ comes to mind.

Andre Johnson in Houston never had a great QB. Brandon Marshall was always saddled with a mediocre or bad QB.

Palmer himself wasn't all that. Mediocre for the vast majority of his career if we're being honest. Yeah Carson could spin it, but was his deep connection/accuracy better than Dalton's with Green?

Dalton routinely kept AJ fed, and they did have a great connection on deep throws over those first few years. The deep passing stats proved it. Maybe in an offense like ATL where they throw 650 times a year, his stats would've improved...but that isn't about Dalton, that's about the division we play in.

Throwing that much will never lead to success in the AFCN, and we never threw that much with Palmer, either.

Yep

I don't have the stats in front of me nor am I going to take the time to look them up. But I posted a thread in 2015 or somein and the stats proved that the Dalton to AJ deep ball stats over the previous 3 or 4 seasons were among the best in the NFL. And I don't mean top 20 they were in the top 5 duos.

The Dalton held AJ back narrative is over blown.

(05-17-2021, 09:38 AM)bengalfan74 Wrote: Yep

I don't have the stats in front of me nor am I going to take the time to look them up. But I posted a thread in 2015 or somein and the stats proved that the Dalton to AJ deep ball stats over the previous 3 or 4 seasons were among the best in the NFL. And I don't mean top 20 they were in the top 5 duos.

The Dalton held AJ back narrative is over blown.

That, and people state Palmer's superior play, but his accuracy really went downhill.

I don't know if it was due to injury or the price of aging but there certainly was a difference.

So who is to say that Chad couldn't have had better results too?

both had good Careers Chad will be remembered much longer imo.


I voted Chad... but im sure people could argue either way. But chad ran the AFC 5 years straight. and that was with Housh generally as many targets if not more)

As they say, the best ability is availability. Chad missed 9 games in 10 years with the Bengals. Green missed 33 games in 10 years with the Bengals.

Now, Green was technically more productive in the games he did play, as he averaged 5.1 receptions, 74.3 yards, 0.5 TDs per game and a catch percentage of 57.4% compared to Johnson's 5.0 receptions, 71.4 yards, 0.44 TDs per game and a catch percentage of 56%.

But the difference is so mild that it's basically negligible. Chad's availability had him producing a more consistent presence and impact on the team. He holds most of the team records at WR for a reason and AJ could have passed him if he could stay healthy, but he couldn't. At least not to the extent that Chad could.

Plus, and this is 100% bias on my part, Chad was just so fun to watch. I know you could make the opposite argument that he was a distraction, but I don't know about that. He wasn't a TO type that would cause havoc if he didn't get the ball...He just liked dancing.

(05-17-2021, 05:54 AM)Goalpost Wrote: It's Chad.  But in about ten years, we will call JaMarr Chase the best.

Seems I heard this exact same thing about 10 years ago.

(05-16-2021, 01:47 PM)Murdock2420 Wrote: A.J. was a Bengals great and a tremendous WR, but as others have said he joined a team that wasn't totally broken and played in the modern pass happy version of the NFL.

Chad was doing it before it was common place in the NFL, as Wes showed with the numbers for Chad's rankings.

Honestly, I don't know if the Bengals will ever have a WR better then Chad.

Fingers crossed Chase can get close.

(05-16-2021, 10:37 PM)Benton Wrote: Chad was our Babe Ruth.

Dude would point to and then hit a home run. Didn't matter the defense, the double coverage, the distance. He just produced.

AJ was solid, but he wasn't the same as Chad. If he wasn't on, he wasn't on. And for years, AJ wasn't on.

I like this description and think you nailed it. Chad had swagger and backed it up.

I love Green. One of our best players ever. If I had to tjrow a hail mary I would choose him over Chad. But overall Chad was better.

Both among the best WR's we've had, but Chad is the choice. I think this answer could've been AJ had he been able to avoid the injuries, but my vote definitely goes to Chad Johnson. Much respect for Green's career as a Bengal though. Seemingly such a nice and humble dude while having some of the best WR skill-sets in the NFL. During the draft we selected him I felt he was one of the safest picks in the draft, and was very pleased of course when he was the pick.

I voted for Chad based upon his entre career.

A.J. had the potential to surpass Chad if he had not been injured so much.

A.J. is a great young man, worked his but off and was an amazing player.

There is no justification whatsoever to bad mouth A. J. Injuries and bad management decisions just screwed his career.

I hope Chad comes back as a coach and that A.J. wins a super bowl ( its not going to be the Bengals this year or next if ever)

I love both of these players and am grateful they were Bengals.