02-25-2023, 03:47 PM
(02-25-2023, 10:06 AM)samhain Wrote: Right.
The thing that worries me in the secondary is the likely absence of Bates and what it does to the group as a whole. Jesse sometimes gets disrespect, but he's a rangy player that covers a lot of ground in single high. Maybe Dax can be that guy, but we don't know that yet. Even if he can there will be a leaning curve, no doubt.
Many of us thought the Bengals were dead meat after Awuzie went down and our starting corner spots were manned by a rookie and Apple. They did more than fine and the team won 10 straight. I don't think that will be the case once a player of Bates' caliber departs. They will need more depth and experience at corner, especially if Chido isn't 100 percent.
Semi-related: The defense is likely to deteriorate once the Burrow and Chase get paid. The roster on that side of the ball is loaded with free agents, and most of them are not cheap. It paid off because they won a lot more games for this team than they sometimes receive credit for. Once cap attrition hits, the offense will be the money side of the ball and will need to start putting up a lot of points consistently to protect a less-loaded defense.
Jessie does have great range, I will give him that, but he still also gives up head scratching TD's like the Kelce TD in the AFCC.
He also is not the best tackler still. I like Dax in this area much more, we will see how Dax grows under Lou's tutelage who is great
with Secondary players. Honestly I like our future on Defense as long as we keep drafting well. Extending Burrow, Tee, letting Mixon
go while adding to the OL and drafting well and we should be just fine. CTB was damn good as a rookie and Dax will follow suit I
have no doubt.
Predicting Dax Hill and ADG step up in the absence of Bates and Pratt.
