Kelee Ringo

[kevin]

(03-19-2023, 12:55 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: There's a phrase that applies to playing coverage in CFB, "it's better to give up 15 than 6".  It's almost like giving the rest of the defense a redo, when a corner is about to get burnt deep.  That strategy often works out well at the college level, but in the NFL it's a spot foul, sometimes costing massive chunks of yardage.  

His draft profile also says that he plays really well against what is in front of him, but struggles with anticipating pattern breaks.  This guy has a huge ceiling, but could experience a bit of a learning curve if forced to start early on.

These are good points. This is why I said remember he is coming out as a sophomore, so the UP side is he is young, the DOWN side is he is not far out of high school and would have a lot to still learn. He is young and at 6'2" and 210 lbs has Heavyweight Boxer size.  Bengals have Lou and his staff to coach him up.  Since he is only a sophomore, don't expect a lot his rookie year.  Use him in The Nickle.  In years to come he might be a Safety or a CB.  Bates up side was he was young, and Ringo would give Lou a young talent to develop. Big difference is the payroll difference between what Bates agent wanted and the far lesser amount Ringo would start out at.   As you say, huge ceiling but a learning curve.  OK, we could use a young dude to help out when in the Nickle and Dime packages. Young and at 6'2" and 210 lbs, he is like a young extra LB but a fast DB to be better than a LB on a pass catcher.  A good replacement for Bates and not eligible for free agency for a while as Bates was as a rookie.  Let Lou's D staff coach him up, and his youth, size, speed is such a raw talent worth developing since Bengals often play just 2 LBs but Ringo's size makes him like a DB and LB on the field.  Bates best thing was he was young, so bring in a young dude like Ringo. 

Playing just 2 LBs, when teams try to burn us just having 2 LBs, it would be nice to have a 6'2" and 210 lb DB like a LB on the field. As you said, a huge ceiling to this kid for Lou's staff to coach up. It would be nice to have a DB the size of a LB the way David Fulcher was. Would really help out Bengals playing 2 LB sets about 80% of the time. We would have more of an answer for Chubb and still have DB coverage.