Thursday, December 27, 2001
Reinard Wilson finally making impact
Former first-round pick leads team in sacks
By JOE KAY
AP Sports Writer
Reinard Wilson knew it was coming. Six games into the season, the Cincinnati Bengals decided it was time to start top draft pick Justin Smith at defensive end, turning Wilson into a backup and solidifying his reputation as a first-round disappointment.
“They had to put him right in there, to show they're trying to make a move,” Wilson said Wednesday. “You don't draft anybody with the fourth pick and have him back up a guy that they said was a bust.”
No one's calling him a bust these days.
In the final year of his contract, Wilson is showing flashes of the pass-rushing ability that made him Florida State's career sacks leader and the 14th overall pick in the 1997 draft.
Wilson had three sacks in a 16-0 loss to Baltimore last Sunday, giving him a team-leading nine for the season. The last Bengal to get 10 sacks in a season was Alfred Williams in 1992.
No one has had more than 10 since 1983, when Eddie Edwards had 13 sacks, tied for second-most in franchise history. Coy Bacon holds the club record with 22 sacks in 1976.
“I've played at a good level this year, with the amount of (chances) I've gotten,” he said. “I'm looking to get at least two or three more. If I get 10 to 12 sacks, I'll be very pleased with that.”
Until this year, Wilson was an example of why the Bengals were so bad for a decade. They wanted a linebacker in the 1997 draft and passed over Alabama's Dwayne Rudd and Virginia's Jamie Sharper to take Wilson, who was a defensive end.
They tried to convert him to linebacker, but the move backfired. He started only three games and had three sacks as a rookie struggling to learn a new role.
Wilson started 15 games the next year and had a team-high six sacks, but was a backup in 1999. The Bengals gave up on the linebacker transition and moved him to defensive end in 2000, when he got three sacks.
In his limited role as a pass rusher this season, Wilson has finally excelled.
“I've always thought the scheme fit Reinard,” coach Dick LeBeau said. “It is unfortunate that it took us so long to get him in the right fit, but he is now. He's playing well.”
Wilson also is a lot happier than in the four years he was known as a major disappointment in the league's worst team since 1991.
“With what we've been going through, winning three or four games every year, we've been on the back burner of the NFL,” he said. “You go to your hometown and people say, 'You lost more games one season with the Bengals than you lost in your whole college career.' That gets to you.”
He can do something about it after the season. His sack total will raise his value as a free agent, and the Bengals must decide whether he's worth it.
“Those are bridges that we all have to cross when we get there,” LeBeau said. “We don't want to lose anybody. Reinard is playing good football. We think that our defense is on the upswing, so we don't want to lose anybody. The facts are that you will lose somebody.”
Wilson has conflicting feelings about next season. He'd like to play for a winner, but thinks the Bengals (4-10) aren't that far from becoming one. He'd like to stay in a familiar situation, but hasn't gotten any hints about whether the Bengals want to keep him.
“I know (general manager) Mike Brown is pulling for me, or he wouldn't have drafted me,” Wilson said. “They're on my side. But if it doesn't work out, I won't have any hard feelings. I'll be thankful that they got me started on my career.”
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Reinard Wilson finally making impact
