Geno Atkins Ranked 36th Best In NFL

Every year the NFL Network ranks the 100 best players in the NFL for the upcoming season. Every year faces come and go, times

Jan 5, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle Geno Atkins (97) rushes past Houston Texans guard Wade Smith (74) during the second quarter of the AFC Wild Card playoff game at Reliant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

change some names always stay towards the top. But some years new faces jump way up the rankings. This year one of those faces was that of Bengals Defensive Tackle Geno Atkins.

Geno Atkins went from being unranked his first two seasons in the league to debuting on the NFL Network’s Top 100 list at number 36. Not a bad place to debut at. Atkins enters the 2013-2014 season as a fourth year pro.

Atkins is coming off his best season as a pro. In 2012 the young tackle recorded 12.5 sacks tying him for third most in franchise history for a single season. He was also voted to his second straight pro bowl.

The arrival of Atkins in the top 40 of the list was not a surprise to the players that have played with him and wasn’t a surprise to NFL Network Analyst Warren Sapp. Sapp said Atkins reminds him of La’Roi Glover, Sapp detered the comparison between himself and Atkins saying he had a better wiggle move than Atkins.

Atkins is the first Bengal to appear on the list this season but AJ Green looks to have moved up from 77th into the top 30 for this season.

Either way Atkins is doing something right and that is good news for the Bengals and bad news for any offense that has to face this Bengals defense in the upcoming season.