Kijana Carter

[J24]

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/nfl/bengals/2015/08/14/ki-jana-carter-cincinnati-bengals-1995/31647135/

[fredtoast]

I have been a college football fan since the early 70's and Carter was one of the best RBs I have ever seen.

And when we drafted hiim we actually had siome decent talent. I really thought he was going to transform our team.

[Shake n Blake]

Ki-Jana Carter was a superstar for Penn State in '94. He had a Bo Jackson-like size/speed combination. I was only 14 when we drafted him, but I was ecstatic about it. Our passing game had been fantastic with Blake, Pickens and Scott. Adding a top RB to the mix was supposed to make that offense unstoppable.

Even without Carter, the '95 team finished 7-9, with a 2-5 record in games decided by a FG. If they could've flipped that record, they would've finished 10-6 with a playoff berth. Heck, 9-7 would've been good enough to make it that year. That offense hung 27 and 31 points on the Steelers, who had the 3rd ranked defense in the league and went to the Super Bowl that year.

Blake and Pickens made the Pro-Bowl, but the Bengals ranked 24th in rushing. Just imagine how that season could've gone with a healthy Carter. For me, his injury was about as gut-wrenching as Palmer's. Maybe more so. At least Palmer was able to come back.

[Blake2Pickens]

(08-17-2015, 01:24 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I have been a college football fan since the early 70's and Carter was one of the best RBs I have ever seen.

And when we drafted hiim we actually had siome decent talent.  I really thought he was going to transform our team.

Shocker. You were wrong as...always. good to know your knack for being incorrect goes back 20 years

[fredtoast]

(08-17-2015, 03:04 PM)Blake2Pickens Wrote: Shocker.  You were wrong as...always.  good to know your knack for being incorrect goes back 20 years

Sorry about that thing with your mom, but you really need to grow up and get over it.

Everyone who watched Carter play in college thought he was destined to be a great NFL back.

[Bengal Dude]

Great article by Jim.

It really was a huge blow to everyone associated with the Bengals.

[*jason*]

(08-17-2015, 02:07 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: Ki-Jana Carter was a superstar for Penn State in '94. He had a Bo Jackson-like size/speed combination. I was only 14 when we drafted him, but I was ecstatic about it. Our passing game had been fantastic with Blake, Pickens and Scott. Adding a top RB to the mix was supposed to make that offense unstoppable.

Even without Carter, the '95 team finished 7-9, with a 2-5 record in games decided by a FG. If they could've flipped that record, they would've finished 10-6 with a playoff berth. Heck, 9-7 would've been good enough to make it that year. That offense hung 27 and 31 points on the Steelers, who had the 3rd ranked defense in the league and went to the Super Bowl that year.

Blake and Pickens made the Pro-Bowl, but the Bengals ranked 24th in rushing. Just imagine how that season could've gone with a healthy Carter. For me, his injury was about as gut-wrenching as Palmer's. Maybe more so. At least Palmer was able to come back.

I got over Carter very quickly when Cory Dillon busted on the scene.

[Shake n Blake]

(08-17-2015, 05:16 PM)jason Wrote: I got over Carter very quickly when Cory Dillon busted on the scene.

Me too, but that was 2.5 seasons later.

[Bengal Dude]

This reminds me of when I'd play Madden 04/05/06, whichever one. Ki-Jana and Akili were both listed as free agents. I would always sign them, win the SB, and then they'd retire. There was always something satisfying about that.

[*jason*]

(08-17-2015, 05:49 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: Me too, but that was 2.5 seasons later.

Was it?  If I remember right Kijana was relatively healthy Dillon's first year (maybe it was the season before).  That could be why they seem like they were so close in my memory.

[Shake n Blake]

(08-17-2015, 05:55 PM)jason Wrote: Was it?  If I remember right Kijana was relatively healthy Dillon's first year (maybe it was the season before).  That could be why they seem like they were so close in my memory.

Yeah. Ki-Jana missed all of '95. He was a goal-line back in '96 (Garrison Hearst was our lead back), then Ki-Jana was the starter in '97 which was Corey's rookie season. Ki-Jana actually started 10 games that year, rushing for 464 yards (3.6 ypc) and 7 TD's.

[*bengalfan74*]

I'm not going to lie I wanted them to wait and take Eddie George. Now when we took Carter I wasn't upset, he was a great back.......then

[*Awful Llama*]

(08-17-2015, 03:14 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Everyone who watched Carter play in college thought he was destined to be a great NFL back.

It's in vogue to say he was a bust and laugh at the Bengals for taking him, but at the time, it was a ballsy move by the FO and many thought he was going to be huge. Bad luck, that's all there is to it. It's a shame.

[PApinhead]

Yeah, I was stoked when we drafted him. His jersey was the first one I got since my Isaac Curtis jersey I had when I was little. I still have it.

[Blake2Pickens]

(08-17-2015, 03:14 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Sorry about that thing with your mom, but you really need to grow up and get over it.

Everyone who watched Carter play in college thought he was destined to be a great NFL back.

The Bengals didn't have an oline, a dline, line backers, a secondary or a quarterback, but yeah that RB was gonna make them go from 3 wins to 10 wins.

Lol, your football acumen is next to nothing.

[fredtoast]

(08-17-2015, 09:40 PM)Blake2Pickens Wrote: The Bengals didn't have an oline, a dline, line backers, a secondary or a quarterback,  but yeah that RB was gonna make them go from 3 wins to 10 wins.

Lol, your football acumen is next to nothing.

The Bengals more than doubled their win total (from 3 to 7) the year we drafted Carter, and that was without him even playing.  An elite RB would have helped out quite a bit

Get back on your meds son, you are embarrassing yourself here.

[Blake2Pickens]

(08-17-2015, 09:55 PM)fredtoast Wrote: The Bengals more than doubled their win total (from 3 to 7) the year we drafted Carter, and that was without him even playing.  An elite RB would have helped out quite a bit

Get back on your meds son, you are embarrassing yourself here.

The Bengals had a top 4 nfl running back in corey dillon, just a mere 1 season after 1995.

How'd they do with a better RB than Carter ever would have been?

[Thundercloud]

I thought the Kijana move was absolutely great. I'd watched him in college, and he looked like a possible super star. I think we traded into the No.1 position to get him, didn't we? And then the pre-season disaster in Detroit changed his whole career. But I admit, at the time of the draft, I thought it was just great.

[fredtoast]

(08-17-2015, 10:00 PM)Blake2Pickens Wrote: The Bengals had a top 4 nfl running back in corey dillon, just a mere 1 season after 1995.

How'd they do with a better RB than Carter ever would have been?

Dillon was not on the teams that won 7 and 8 games in '95 and '96.

You do realize there were lots of other changes other than at RB, right?  Or do you blame Dillon for making the Bengals worse when he arrived?

[Blake2Pickens]

(08-17-2015, 10:09 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Dillon was not on the teams that won 7 and 8 games in '95 and '96.

You do realize there were lots of other changes other than at RB, right?  Or do you blame Dillon for making the Bengals worse when he arrived?

The Bengals went 1 and 7 in their first 8 games in 95.

You think that team was good? Their end of the year qb, boomer, chose to go work for ABC over coming back for the 96 season.