Bates - No Intentions Reporting to Camp or Play on Tag

[Whatever]

(07-16-2022, 06:01 PM)J24 Wrote: 2018- He had a PFF rating of 79.9 and was one of the top Safeties in the  NFL. 

2019- he had a bad start to the season(what player here didn't) and then had a strong finish to season. As he got more comfortable playing in a new system and a new role in the defense. His play dramatically improved down the stretch of the season. 

2020- He was the best Safety in the league according PFF and made the 2nd all pro team.

2021- It's fair to say he had a bad season but he was also instrumental in the Bengals playoff run. According to pff  he had a playoff rating of 90. 

Additionally he has only missed 2 games in his entire career, has lead the team in solo tackles the past two seasons, 3 out 4 seasons he has had at least 100 tackles, he has been  2 time captain,  and since 2019 has the highest forced incompleten rate in the NFL.

To say he doesn't deserve to get a top 5 contract is a bit absurd considering what he has done and what he will likely do in coming seasons. 

Since we've been discussing PFF grades, he didn't make their Top 101 after his rookie campaign.  He had a good year, but it wasn't elite level.

His grade for the year was still only 62.1, which is a replacement level starter.  And seriously, when we have to keep making excuses as to why a guy isn't performing at an elite level, it's usually because the guy just isn't elite.  

In '20, he played at an elite level, no debate from me.  He also made some key plays in the playoffs.  He was still garbage in the '21 regular season.

 Again, discussing PFF, they didn't even have Bates as a Top 25 S in the league entering the '20 season.  Then after his great year, we're pushing him from outside the Top 25 into the Top 5, but then not giving him a similar drop after an equally bad '21 season.  Why does one great year elevate a guy that much, but then he doesn't drop at all after a year in which he performed very poorly?  You can't even argue that bad season was an aberration after his nearly as bad '19 campaign.  If anything, '20 is the aberration if we're looking at trends.

He doesn't deserve Top 5 money because he does not consistently perform at a Top 5 level.  There is nobody that can look at his erratic levels of play throughout his career at this point and logically conclude that Bates would live up to a Top 5 S contract.  The NFL is full of one year wonders.  Look at WJIII as a great example of this.  You might gamble on a guy like that returning to top form, but not with a Top 5 contract.