Please tell me Nick Vigil won't be starting in 2018.

[*SHRacerX*]

(02-24-2018, 09:13 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: While I would have no problem with Vigil being kept around for depth, I don't see him as the long term answer as a starter.

What I would like to see at the SAM position, is a 6'5" #240 athlete with good speed, great instincts and ball skills.  At SAM in a 4-3, I'm not as worried about how well he can shed a block from a Center or Guard, as I am about how well he jams a TE and prevents outlet passes to RB and Slots on slant routes.

Vigil appears to be cut out for none of those duties.

But the Bengals are in actual 4-3 less than a third of the time.  The Bengals need LBs that are rangy and can stick with RBs, TEs, and slot WRs.   That play Burfict made in the preseason against the Redskins was one of the more athletic plays I have ever seen a LB make (the pick 6).  Not because he scored, but because of how he read the QB and darted to the sideline, picked it, kept his feet in bounds, and sprinted to the end zone.  I swear, I thought it was a safety and I was so geeked, momentarily, that I thought one of our safeties made a play on the ball.  When I saw #55, I was just like....wow.  

For whatever reason, maybe the slow start and no playoff hopes, Burfict really seemed to slow down and struggle in coverage a bit down the stretch.  He is still far and away our best LB, and he would be the nickel backer for certain, but the question is:  will Evans improve enough to be paired with him over Vigil?  And I doubt that will happen.  Unless they get a LB in Rd 1 (which I would not be disappointed with at all, but I don't see it happening), it will be Vigil and Burfict in nickel, and that is our main defense.