Each year around this time I do a series of posts where we rank our players against the rest of the league. This year will be no different. This year we start off with a group we didn't rank last year. The Safeties. So where you got STONE-BELL-BATTLE? As always the competition:

ATL: JESSIE BATES III/ DEMARCCO HELLAMS/ RICHIE GRANT
ARZ: BUDDA BAKER/ JALEN THOMPSON/ DADRION TAYLOR-DEMERSON
BAL: MARCUS WILLIAMS/ KYLE HAMILTON/ ARDARIUS WAHINGTON
BUF: MIKE EDWARDS/ TAYLOR RAPP/ COLE BISHOP
CAR: XAVIER WOODS/ JORDAN FULLER/ NICK SCOTT
CHI: KEVIN BYARD III/ JAQUAN BRISKER/ JONATHAN OWENS
CLV: JUAN THORNHILL/ GRANT DELPIT/ RODNEY MCLEOD
DAL: MALIK HOOKER/ DONOVAN WILSON/ JUAN THOMAS
DEN: BRANDON JONES/ CADEN STERNS/ DELARRIN TURNER-YELL
DET: KERBY JOSEPH/ BRIAN BRANCH/ IFEATU MELIFONWU
GBP: XAVIER MCKINNEY/ JAVON BULLARD/ ANTHONY JOHNSON JR
HOU: JALEN PITRE/ JIMMIE WARD/ LONNIE JOHNSON
IND: NICK CROSS/ JULIAN BLACKMON/ RODNEY THOMAS II
JAX: ANDRE CISCO/ ANTONIO JOHNSON/ ANDREW WINGARD
KCC: BRYAN COOK/ JUSTIN REID/ JADEN HICKS
LAC: ALOHI GILMAN/ DERWIN JAMES/ JT WOODS
LAR: QUENTIN LAKE/ KAMREN CURL/ KAMREN KINCHENS
LVR: MARCUS EPPS/ TRE’VON MOEHRIG/ CHRIS SMITH II
MIA: JEVON HOLLAND/ JORDAN POYER/ ELI CAMPBELL
MIN: CAMRYN BYNUM/ HARRISON SMITH/ LEWIS CINE
NEP: JABRIL PEPPERS/ KYLE DUGGER/ JAYLINN HAWKINS
NOS: TYRANN MATHIEU/ JORDAN HOWDEN/ UGO AMADI
NYG: TYLER NUBIN/ JALEN MILLS/ JASON PINNOCK
NYJ: TONY ADAMS/ CHUCK CLARK/ JARRICK BERNARD
PHI: REED BLANKENSHIP/ CJ GARDNER-JOHNSON/ COOPER DEJEAN
PIT: MINKAH FITZPATRICK/ DESHON ELLIOTT/ DAMONTAE KAZEE
SEA: RAYSHAWN JENKINS/ JULIAN LOVE/ COBY BRYANT
SFF: JIAYIR BROWN/ TALANOA HUFANGA/ GEORGE ODUM
TBB: ANTOINE WINFIELD JR/ JORDAN WHITEHEAD/ KAEVON MERRIWEATHER
TEN: ELIJAH MOLDEN/ AMANI HOOKER/ SHYHEIM CARTER
WAS: PERCY BUTLER/ JEREMY CHIN/ DARRICK FORREST

TOP FA’s: JAMAL ADAMS/ JUSTIN SIMMONS/ EDDIE JACKSON

Personally, I tjink Battle & Stone will start. With Bell backing up Battle. and Hill/Anthony backing up Stone at FS. Not sure where Anderson fits from scrimmage, though he a ST ace.

I do think we'll keep 5 safeties, not including Hill. Though I guess Anthony is a S/CB. I think he'll be S#5 and CB#6.

Ten DBs overall: CTB, Turner, Hilton, Battle, Stone + Hill, Newton, Bell, Anderson, & Anthony.

J. Davis to PS with George & some of the YSFA S's.

(05-16-2024, 04:22 PM)Isaac Curtis: The Real #85 Wrote: Personally, I tjink Battle & Stone will start. With Bell backing up Battle. and Hill/Anthony backing up Stone at FS. Not sure where Anderson fits from scrimmage, though he a ST ace.

I do think we'll keep 5 safeties, not including Hill. Though I guess Anthony is a S/CB. I think he'll be S#5 and CB#6.

Ten DBs overall: CTB, Turner, Hilton, Battle, Stone + Hill, Newton, Bell, Anderson, & Anthony.

J. Davis to PS with George & some of the YSFA S's.

Hill is going to play Corner this year.

(05-16-2024, 04:30 PM)Sled21 Wrote: Hill is going to play Corner this year.

I can see Lou employing Dax the same way he did Tre Flowers. A play-maker whose specialty is covering TEs. 

(05-16-2024, 04:56 PM)bfine32 Wrote: I can see Lou employing Dax the same way he did Tre Flowers. A play-maker whose specialty is covering TEs. 

Agree, I bet that is the way Dax is used the most this year. Dax has the talent to play on the outside and at SS though in a pinch.

Dax was our best player covering TE's last year. Hilton is so small no matter how great he is it hurts at times with big TE's.

Dax really struggled at FS after playing well at SS earlier in the year. 

So happy we brought in Geno Stone and Jordan Battle had a great rookie year. 

Getting Vonn back helps on running downs and with communication.

I think we went from being one of the worst Safety rooms last year with Nick Scott and the lack of experience to top half so far.

We will see when it is all said and done though.

Are we playing a 3 safety defense this year?

(05-16-2024, 05:19 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Are we playing a 3 safety defense this year?

Nope, but when I do these I include depth. For Instance, QB won't be JB v. Kermit; it'll be JB/JB v Kermit/Carson, etc...

CBs I'll go 4 deep etc...

(05-16-2024, 05:38 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Nope, but when I do these I include depth. For Instance, QB won't be JB v. Kermit; it'll be JB/JB v Kermit/Carson, etc...

CBs I'll go 4 deep etc...

Is it Starter/Stater/Depth for all the teams? The reason why I asked if you set this up for 3 safety defenses is because I don't see how you can bench Battle and make him the depth. (Not trying to be difficult, was just legitimately confused on the details.)

EDIT: Just saw where ESPN and Ourlads both have Stone/Bell as the starting duo. I just can't fathom benching a young promising player like Battle for a guy heading into his age 30 season who will be a FA next year, that you refused to give $7.5m/yr to last year... and I say this as a Bell supporter who thought it was dumb we didn't keep him last offseason.

(05-16-2024, 05:45 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Is it Starter/Stater/Depth for all the teams? The reason why I asked if you set this up for 3 safety defenses is because I don't see how you can bench Battle and make him the depth. (Not trying to be difficult, was just legitimately confused on the details.)

There are no official depth charts established yet. I merely used what ESPN had penciled in as the starters. Hell, Zac has mentioned Battle may be playing FS. 

I'm on the "Can't bench Battle' bandwagon, but I gotta imagine the leash will be quite short. 

It's an ok tandem but I would have liked to see us draft another FS type of player in this draft. I don't think either Stone or Battle have the Athlectisim needed to be a star in this league but both are still smart and good players. 16 between 20 is fair until proven otherwise.

(05-16-2024, 05:19 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Are we playing a 3 safety defense this year?

I don't know if we see it all the time, but Lou has said he wants to play more 3 safety sets... 

The guys on Movin' the Chains scored the Bengals Safety room at 15/20, good enough to rate 4th so far (They're 5/8 of the way through the league as of yesterday). Thus far they have the Steelers 18/20, Browns 17/20, and Cowboys 16/20 ahead of the Bengals.

who adds justin simmons

Wonder if we use Bell as a LB/S hybrid type to get all 3 on the field for some plays

(05-17-2024, 08:38 AM)XenoMorph Wrote: who adds justin simmons

Wonder if we use Bell as a LB/S hybrid type   to get all 3 on the field for some plays

Bengals have one of the best "Star" role players in the NFL in Mike Hilton. Dax might fit the Star better than Battle, Bell, and Stone too.


Edit: I wonder if Dax's transition starts with getting more slot reps against heavy 12, 13, and 22 personnel teams.

I said 17-25 and hoping for better.

Bell is older and had his worst season last year.
Stone is a terrible tackler.
Battle played well but still lacks speed.

If this group plays average should be ok.

It cannot be understated just how confident I am that Vonn Bell will stabilize this safety room.

Also, we will have one of the best 3rd safeties in the NFL in Battle.

And, in the absolute worst case, disaster scenario, Dax Hill did have moments at safety. He could move back in an emergency.

I went with top 4-8.

We accepted a downshift on athleticism to get a MAJOR upshift in IQ and communications. In our defensive system this is an emminently sensible trade to make.

(05-17-2024, 02:00 PM)Joelist Wrote: We accepted a downshift on athleticism to get a MAJOR upshift in IQ and communications. In our defensive system this is an emminently sensible trade to make.

Stone is still pretty athletic, but yeah. In the end communication and instincts matter much more as we have seen with Dax at times at FS
late last season.

Battle is extremely instinctive and should just get better in this area this year and Vonn has always relied on his instincts and IQ.