Chad Ochocinco’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus believes that Chad “is really on a mission” this year to reestablish himself as the best receiver in the league. Ochocinco claims that his previous year’s slipup was due to lack of preparation and has reworked his offseason workout in order to return back to primetime shape. Of course, Rosenhaus supports his clients 100% in any positive publicity and therefore states that Ochocinco “will be tougher [than] ever to cover.” You should take everything an agent says about his client with a grain of salt, especially Rosenhaus. No one is Ochocinco’s biggest fan than the man that makes money off the contracts Ochocinco receives. Come to think of it, Ochocinco is probably his own biggest fan, with Rosenhaus and Ochocinco’s mother following close behind. Regardless, although Ochocinco is most likely preparing better than he has in previous years, I would not buy into Rosenhaus’ comments; they seem to be nothing more than garnered hype to spring him back into the spotlight he once engulfed.

If Ochocinco does play up to Rosenhaus’ bold statements (tougher to cover than ever before), we should see yardage and touchdown totals surpassing 1400 yards and 10 touchdowns. However, these numbers seem unreasonable for the 31-year-old Ochocinco who recently lost his partner TJ Houshmandzadeh; Ochocinco will now become a greater focal point of the offense and in turn will receive more defensive attention as well. Although I do see Ochocinco’s numbers returning to form, I do not see a career year in store for him.

Gabe Pinchev