Injuries and high draft picks

[*ochocincos*]

You bring up Dennard being healthy for his rookie year, which has been a rarity for Bengals 1st rd picks in the past 1-2 decades.
It's worth pointing out that while Dennard was available for 14 games, he only played 62 defensive snaps. He was primarily a STer (207 snaps on ST) and 5th CB on the roster behind Hall, Jones, Newman, and DK.

So he also, like his fellow 1st rounders, did not contribute much of anything to offense/defense as a rookie.