A.J. Green has hit the age 30 mark, but he certainly isn’t washed up as an elite receiver. The seven-time Pro Bowler proved it on Thursday night when he scorched the Baltimore Ravens for three TDs in the Bengals 34-23 win. Following a 2017 season in which he had 16-game career lows in receiving yards, receptions and touch downs, Green is back on the attack like Tiger Woods on the 2018 PGA Tour.
Bob Pompeani on Twitter
AJ Green already has 3 TD this year in five quarters. #BALvsCIN https://t.co/LbFPdFHzl8
That third decade of life is usually when wide receivers generally start declining and franchises start looking at them like bananas that are going brown. Green scored 12 TDs combined in 2016 and 2017, but already has four TDs through two games this season. Son found the fountain of youth during the offseason and is well on his way to surpassing his season high of 11 TDs. Thanks to Green’s productivity, the Bengals are 2-0 and it’s realistic to think that he can break the all-time franchise career TD record of 70 set by running back Pete Johnson and the all-time receiving TD record held by Chad Ocho Cinco (66) this season.
Since being drafted by the Bengals in 2011, Green has 567 catches for 8, 374 yards and 61 touchdowns. He trails only Ocho Cinco among the team’s all-time leaders in catches and yards, and he has a chance to pass both Johnson (67) and Carl Pickens (63) in touchdowns this season.
The last two seasons he had just 141 catches and his Fantasy League love was at an all-time low as others have risen up the ladder of eilte wide receivers. With Green’s fast start this season, dudes are regretting ignoring him in their draft’s.
NFL on Twitter
Next time, just draft @ajgreen_18. https://t.co/zxZrEIcSjW
Maybe Greens play has diminished a bit along with the value of the four-year $60 million contract he signed in 2015. Since Green secured the bag, seven receivers have signed bigger deals. Brown, Mike Evans, DeAndre Hopkins, Sammy Watkins, Jarvis Landry, Brandin Cook and OBJ all make more than Green’s $15 million per year.
Green, was once considered to be in a class of top tier receivers that includes Julio Jones, Odell Beckham Jr. and Antonio Brown until an injury-plagued 2016 season caused a slip in various receiver power rankings
CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco placed Green as the 35th best player in the entire NFL, behind receivers Michael Thomas, DeAndre Hopkins, Beckham, Jones and Brown. Some NFL minds say that Greens skills are going South and others say he hasnt lost a step, blaming the anemic Bengals offense and the inconsistency of QB Andy Red Rifle Dalton. So far this season, the 6-foot-4 Green has silenced the critics and he seems ready to break out for a career year at age 30 and re-establish himself as a Top 5 pass-snatcher in the game.
