The Ghost of Jessie Bates

[Whatever]

(10-17-2022, 12:50 PM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: I basically haven't heard Bates name all season.

Which, for a safety, is a little good and a little bad. It means teams aren't testing him deep, which is good, and it means he isn't giving up a lot of yards whenever he's in man coverage, which is good. But it also means he isn't baiting teams into throwing into his zone and creating turnovers (like Pittsburgh's safety Fitzpatrick does) and it means he isn't making huge plays in the run game or intermediate passing game (PBUs/INTs in robber formation etc) which is bad.

At this point, I just don't think he's worth top 5 safety money, especially with Chase and Burrow being must signs and Higgins being a very very strong "should sign," but that's literally why we drafted Dax Hill. Bates will play decent to good this year and then we'll see what other teams think he's worth in 2023.

So far, he's allowed 8 catches for 106 yards and 2 TD's on 12 targets this year.  He does have the tip drill pick that drops his passer rating allowed when targeted to 99.3(down from 122 last year) and a 7.7% missed tackle %(slightly up from 7.4% last year).  

The guy is by no measure worth what he's asking.