Cincinnati Bengals running back Brian Leonard has studied film of former Washington Redskins and New York Jets running back John Riggins, and has patterned his game after the Hall of Famer, Carlos "Big C" Holmes of the Dayton Daily News reports.

"I’m my own person but do share some of the same similarities as Riggins," Leonard said. "He was a hard runner and had good hands out of the backfield. That’s what I feel like I do, make one cut and get up field, break a few arm tackles and make a couple of guys miss. That’s me. Hopefully, this is a breakout year for me."

Leonard (6-1, 230) has yet to prove that he's the "do everything" back that prompted the Rams to use a second round pick in the 2007 NFL Draft on him. The former Rutgers standout started 7 of 16 games a rookie, running for 303 yards on 86 carries and catching 30 passes out of the backfield, but the Rams' offense was funneled through Steven Jackson.

Leonard spent most of his second season on injured reserve (shoulder), and was traded to the Bengals last May in exchange for journeyman defensive tackle Orien Harris.

Little-used in the running game, Leonard led Bengals' running backs with 30 receptions for 217 yards out of the backfield, producing 13 first downs. Bengals running backs coach Jim Anderson expects Leonard to improve this season.

"Brian has a key role in our offense," Anderson said. "He did a tremendous job for us on third down. But yet when we called for him to play on first and second downs he can do that as well.

"He has a tremendous amount of versatility and he can add to our offense. We’re counting on him to play at an even higher level this season."