Cincinnati Bengals: Why Cincy's Defense Will Be the Best in 2012

John Grieshop/Getty Images

Cincinnati defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer is good at his job and has been for a long time.  Since becoming a member of the Bengals' coaching staff in 2008, he's had a great impact on this defense.


Zimmer has made the defense consistently good and this year, he's got the tools to make them the absolute best. 


First and foremost, he's returning quite a few of his starters from last season, including his talented defensive line and linebackers.


To highlight the defensive line, Geno Atkins (nose tackle) is coming off a Pro Bowl season.  He collected 48 tackles and eight sacks, providing a lot of pressure for opposing quarterbacks.  Joining him was Pat Sims and the monstrous Domata Peko, who collected 66.5 sacks of his own.


At the ends, Carlos Dunlap spent a lot of the season injured—quite the disappointment after a stellar performance in 2010 as a rookie.  He was picked up by Michael Johnson and Robert Geathers, who combined for 71 tackles.  For the record, they're all returning.


Despite such an already talented defensive line, the Bengals drafted Devon Still out of Penn State and Brandon Thompson out of Clemson.  Both men were considered first or second round talent, and they slid to the Bengals in the later rounds.  There's no reason the defensive line shouldn't be extremely intimidating in 2012.


Moving onto the linebackers, that's an area that will be kind of iffy.  I'll first address Rey Maualuga, the inside linebacker Cincinnati took in the first round of the 2009 Draft.  He's been a hard-hitter since the day he walked through the door, collecting 226 tackles through three seasons.