History says Bengals rookies won't play

Nine new draft picks have been infused into the Cincinnati Bengals' locker room, which invariably creates some uncomfortable conversations with the incumbents at their positions, but the reality is that unless there is a significant injury, those rookies aren't going to see much playing time.

Yes, the team likes them. Yes, they believe they have talent and can contribute in some fashion. But they were brought in not with 2015 in mind, but down the road.

Head coach Marvin Lewis said as much on the Tuesday before the draft.

With the Bengals, it's about draft and develop. And to develop with this team, history shows it means waiting your turn on the sideline.

"Not that they have to walk in today and be a starter, but can they be a Marvin Jones-type guy that can be a starter in a couple years or a year and a half, whatever it takes, can they have some kind of special trait that does it?" Lewis said prior to the draft.

The Bengals backed up those words in practice, picking an offensive lineman in the first round who is rehabbing a knee injury and selecting a second when the team already has two established tackles. They did it by drafting a defensive lineman and a linebacker for spots that have penciled-in starters. They did it by drafting a corner in the fourth round when there are four first-rounders on the roster.

Every rookie who makes the team expects to play. They for sure want to play. But the road to suiting up on Sunday in orange and black is intentionally designed be more difficult than they would expect.

"We make it hard for the young guys to come here and take a job, but if a young guy has talent, we develop them fast so that he can help us," said Carlos Dunlap, a second-round pick in 2010 who did not become a full-time starter until 2013.

"It's not about whether you're too young to play for us right now. It's about how quickly can you help us? Just 'cause you have talent doesn't mean you can help us right now. Maybe you need to develop mentally or whatever, so be it. We're going to help you get there, but we're going to make it hard for you. We're going to compete with you."

It's not just coach or player-speak, either, especially beginning with the 2011 draft that brought the Bengals A.J. Green and Andy Dalton. That is the starting point of the current four-year playoff run and the accumulation of the best record in the AFC North.

Using the data provided by Pro Football Focus, Cincinnati.com broke down the number of cumulative offensive and defensive snaps draft picks took with the Bengals on a per-year basis.

The general rule over the last three seasons is that the Bengals do, indeed, have players work their way in slowly.

Russell Bodine (1,082), Kevin Zeitler (1,077), Dalton (1,056) and Green (915) have been the exceptions as the only rookies to play 900 or more snaps in their first year.

The rookie who played the fifth-most snaps? Tyler Eifert, with 681.

Eifert was followed in rookie snap counts by Giovani Bernard (627) in 2013 and Jeremy Hill (515) last year.

It took Clint Boling and George Iloka a year to secure 900 or more snaps. Mohamed Sanu has seen his snap counts rise from 209 as a rookie in 2012 to 1,014 last year.

Marvin Jones also made that leap, going from 366 snaps in 2012 to 555 in 2013. He would've seen another jump last year if not for a season-ending injury.

Dre Kirkpatrick, now entering his fourth year, still hasn't played over 309 snaps. But, the team picked up his fifth-year player option at $7.5 million.

"Every year we've made it a little harder for those guys to come in right away and play, and I think that's a good thing," said left tackle Andrew Whitworth. "Our kids are brought into a situation where we have a great locker room and a lot of good players. They just got to find a way to find where they fit and can help us. It's a positive thing and good thing for us to continue to build on."

Such picks may be frustrating for fans to digest, but it's a practice that good teams partake in.

Let's take a look around the rest of the AFC North using Pro Football Focus' cumulative stat breakdowns.

Pittsburgh has not had a single rookie play at least 900 snaps beginning in 2011, with the closest being offensive lineman Marcus Gilbert (832) in 2011.

Like the Bengals, the Baltimore Ravens have had four: wide receiver Torrey Smith (1,031 in 2011), offensive lineman Kelechi Osemele (1,049 in 2012), defensive back Matt Elam (1,034 in 2013) and linebacker C.J. Mosley (1,243) last year.

Then there's Cleveland.

Beginning in 2011, the Browns have had six different rookies come in and play 900 snaps or more. Three didn't even see a third or fourth season with the team. One has seen his snaps reduced considerably since. Only offensive lineman Mitchell Schwartz has been a steady contributor, and the jury is out on fellow offensive lineman Joel Bitonio (1,078 snaps in 2014).

There is a trend across the division, though. Usually, if you're going to play right away and play a lot, look in the trenches.

Of the 14 players who saw 900 or more snaps as a rookie, half are linemen.

And, if you're going to play as a rookie, odds are you need to be in Cleveland.

We expanded the scope a little further to see how perennial AFC North playoff participants New England, Denver and Indianapolis have treated rookies.

Beginning in 2011, Pro Football Focus' snap chart shows that New England has not had a single rookie crack the 900-snap plateau, just like Pittsburgh.

Denver has had three – linebacker Von Miller (907 in 2011), offensive lineman Orlando Franklin (1,062 in 2011) and defensive tackle Derek Wolfe (933 in 2012).

Indianapolis has also had three in quarterback Andrew Luck (1,189 in 2012), tight end Dwayne Allen (925 in 2012) and offensive lineman Jack Mewhort (1,018) last year.

So what does this say?

It shows that, with a few exceptions, winning teams are looking for players who can play a bit as rookies, but are seen as long-term contributors to keep that team in the playoffs.

"They probably think about the long term, which is a lot better than you can say about certain other coaches that's throwing some guys in who's not ready," said cornerback Darqueze Dennard, the Bengals' first-round pick out of Michigan State last year who saw just 61 defensive snaps.

"That can mess with their confidence and they end up not panning out, which they potentially could have."

Dennard then evoked two-time NFL Most Valuable Player Aaron Rodgers, who attempted 35 passes in seven games in his first three years in Green Bay as Brett Favre's understudy.

"You gotta look at the big picture instead of the small," Dennard said. "That's my view on things. Look at the spectrum. I play this game, I love it, I look at it long term. I want to be playing as long as (Raiders defensive back) Charles Woodson (18 years). That would be a blessing. Look at it long term, not short term. Yes, I want to play right now but sometimes it don't happen like that."