Didn't make to ranking the Defensive side of the ball last year so I want to make sure they get their fair shake. You know the rules: Where do you rank Dre, WJIII, and Double D.

As always the competition:

ARZ: PATRICK PETERSON/ JAMAR TAYLOR/ BRANDON WILLIAMS
ATL: DESMOND TRUFANT/ ROBERT ALFORD/ BRIAN POOLE
BTL: JIMMY SMITH/ BRANDON CARR/ MARLON HUMPHREY
BUF: TRE’DAVIOUS WHITE/ VONTAE DAVIS/ PHILLIP GAINES
CAR: JAMES BRADBERRY/ ROSS COCKRELL/ CAPTIAN MUNNERLYN
CHI: KYLE FULLER/ PRINCE AMUKAMARA/ BRYCE CALLAHAN
CLV: DENZEL WARD/ TJ CARRIE/ EJ GAINES
DAL: JOURDAN LEWIS/ CHIDOBE AWUZIE/ ANTHONY BROWN
DEN: CHRIS HARRIS/ BRADLEY ROBY/ TRAMAINE BROCK
DET: DARIUS SLAY/ NEVIN LAWSON/ TEEZ BARBOR
GBP: TRAMON WILLIAMS/ KEVIN KING/ JAIRE ALEXANDER
HOU: AARON COLVIN/ JOHNATHAN JOSEPH/ KEVIN JOHNSON
IND: QUINCY WILSON/ KENNY MOORE/ NATE HAIRSTON
JAX: JALEN RAMSEY/ A.J. BOUYE/ DJ HAYDEN
KCC: KENDALL FULLER/ STEVEN NELSON/ DAVID AMERSON
LAC: CASEY HAYWARD/ JASON VERRETT/ TREVOR WILLIAMS
LAR: MARCUS PETERS/ AQUIB TALIB/ NICKELL ROBEY-COLEMAN
MIA: XAVIEN HOWARD/ CORDREA TANKERSLEY/ BOBBY MCCAIN
MIN: XAVIER RHODES/ TRAE WAYNES/ MIKE HUGHES
NEP: STEPHON GILMORE/ JASON MCCOURTY/ ERIC ROWE
NOS: MARSHAWN LATTIMORE/ KEN CRAWLEY/ PATRICK ROBINSON
NYG: JANORIS JENKINS/ ELI APPLE/ WILLIAM GAY
NYJ: TRUMAINE JOHNSON/ MORRIS CLAIBORNE/ BUSTER SKRINE
OAK: GAREON CONLEY/ RASHAAN MELVIN/ DEXTER MCDONALD
PHI: RONALD DARBY/ JALEN MILLS/ RASUL DOUGLAS
PIT: JOE HADEN/ ARTIE BURNS/ MIKE HILTON
SFF: RICHARD SHERMAN/ AHKELLO WITHERSPOON/ K’WAUN WILLIAMS
SEA: SHAQ GRIFFIN/ BYRON MAXWELL/ JUSTIN COLEMAN
TBB: BRENT GRIMES/ VERNON HARGRAVES/ RYAN SMITH
TEN: MALCOLM BUTLER/ ADOREE’ JACKSON/ LOGAN RYAN
WAS: JOSH NORMAN/ QUINTON DUNBAR/ ORLANDO SCANDRICK

They are up there cause of the upside of Will Jax III who i think could be the next great shut down Corner.

Dre brings us down a bit with his penalties and Dennard has to stay healthy. Overall we are very good and very deep
especially after the Draft. I really like Josh Shaw and the rest of our backups as well. I think we are around 6th best in
the NFL but could be much better if Dennard and Shaw push Kirkpatrick out of the other starting spot.

I put them in the 6-10 range. I think WJ3 solidifies himself as a top 5-10 CB in the league this year and I believe Dennard will end up showing he is one of the best slot guys. I have been vocal in saying the new press man scheme actually fits Dennard and Dre better than our old cover 2 scheme so both should be better. If Dre is our worst starting corner I feel good about our corners.

If bfine were making the calls we'd have a trio of Janoris Jenkins, Jason Verett, and WJIII.

Of course we also have Blaine Gabbard at QB, so it's an even trade off

William Jackson could put himself into number 1 CB conversation territory this year. Dennard is vastly underrated and Kirk can be solid to bad. If Kirk is solid I think these three can make a case for #1 overall CB unit.

(07-03-2018, 03:59 PM)Jakeypoo Wrote: William Jackson could put himself into number 1 CB conversation territory this year. Dennard is vastly underrated and Kirk can be solid to bad.  If Kirk is solid I think these three can make a case for #1 overall CB unit.

I don't think anyone is beating out that Rams unit, it's pretty impressive. Jaguars unit is really good as well.

(07-03-2018, 03:59 PM)Jakeypoo Wrote: William Jackson could put himself into number 1 CB conversation territory this year. Dennard is vastly underrated and Kirk can be solid to bad.  If Kirk is solid I think these three can make a case for #1 overall CB unit.

To make the matter a little more interesting (it's not nearly as divided as the QB issue). I thought of having folks list their top 5.

Mine would be:

RAMS
CHARGERS (2 personal favorites)
JAGS
PHILLY
BRONCOS

Bengals are right there.

(07-03-2018, 04:01 PM)Au165 Wrote: I don't think anyone is beating out that Rams unit, it's pretty impressive. Jaguars unit is really good as well.

I know the Rams added Talib just don't remember the other Corner they added.

Remember it was another good one though. They sure didn't mess around in FA.

(07-03-2018, 04:07 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: I know the Rams added Talib just don't remember the other Corner they added.

Remember it was another good one though. They sure didn't mess around in FA.

Talib is arguably the 2nd best corner they signed

6-10, and the new scheme could actually make that number better this season.

(07-03-2018, 04:11 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Talib is arguably the 2nd best corner they signed

Who was it again Bfine?

(07-03-2018, 04:24 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Who was it again Bfine?

Peters out of KC. Nickell Robey is no slouch either.

Slightly OT but I just read that in 2017 only 3 other teams used a nickel defensive scheme (3 cbs) more often than the Bengals (67% of defensive snaps).  But we were near the bottom (26th) in percentage of snaps in a "dime" package (more than 5 dbs).

I predict we will see more snaps from a "dime" package this year except we will bring in a 3rd safety instead of a 4th CB.

(07-03-2018, 04:49 PM)Au165 Wrote: Peters out of KC. Nickell Robey is no slouch either.

Ah, thanks Au165.

Yes, they are stacked at Corner.

I went with 6-10. Not because I think that Kirk and Dennard's physical skills are suddenly going to parallel those of WJIII, but because I feel that the high emphasis on boosting the pass rush the past two drafts/offseasons is going to pay big dividend in the secondary, in terms of opportunity stats. I.e. more INTs and PDs, due to rushed and poorly thrown balls under duress.

(07-03-2018, 05:45 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: I went with 6-10.  Not because I think that Kirk and Dennard's physical skills are suddenly going to parallel those of WJIII, but because I feel that the high emphasis on boosting the pass rush the past two drafts/offseasons is going to pay big dividend in the secondary, in terms of opportunity stats.  I.e. more INTs and PDs, due to rushed and poorly thrown balls under duress.

 I voted 6-10

Agree Sunset,

I think this will be a top shelf unit this season and if the D line ups their game it could even be top 5.

I think fans often underrate our cornerbacks due to their dislike of Kirkpatrick.

But the Bengals have arguably the best depth out there. WJIII, Kirkpatrick, and Dennard is a solid lineup. Throw in Shaw and Russell in case someone goes down, and we're still gonna have production.

I don't think Kirkpatrick is actually as bad as some fans think honestly. Sure, he does have boneheaded plays/penalties at times. But he definitely is around the ball and has certainly improved as time goes on.

As always a fun thread Bfine.  And you always do a lot of leg work.  

I'll be interested to see if Dennard ups his game again this season.    Dre does a lot of bone headed things and he's a terrible tackler.  But he does a lot of things right too.  If he can improve in a couple of areas with the new coaching (which he likes) and the new scheme we could have a good secondary.

And I'm really interested to see how the two new corners (Harris and Phillips) turn out.  They have the opportunity to upgrade our depth.

I'm in the 6-10 camp.

(07-03-2018, 04:01 PM)Au165 Wrote: I don't think anyone is beating out that Rams unit, it's pretty impressive. Jaguars unit is really good as well.

Talib is 32 and is do for a slide and peters likes to gamble a lot. I would not be surprised to see a downfall from them. I think dennard will take a huge step this year and become a top 10 corner and Jackson will play close to #1 corner in the NFL. Dennard to me is our most underrated player on the team and... Jaguars though would be tough to knock out.

Why not?  I'll vote em high even if they're not, but they are so I'm ok with that