12-18-2024, 02:18 PM
(12-17-2024, 02:53 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: The premise of riding with those 3 as the primary CB unit is based upon Battle and Stone doing a proper job at their Safety positions. I know that I joked earlier about Stone needing it "dumbed down" in order for him to perform as well as he has the past few games, but let's imagine that maybe he has turned a corner and that his level of play will remain consistent going forward. If that is indeed the case, then the team would not have to make a costly FA investment into the secondary, thus freeing up money to target other significant areas of need.
Great post. Could not agree more. Really, despite CTB's struggles at times, the CB play has been OK. Not great, but not horrific. Some of my biggest beefs have been with the soft approach on 3rd or in red zone. That's on Lou.
Now, he may be doing it because he lacks confidence to man up in coverage. Fair. But the numbers (PFF) reveal a bunch of CB2's, not a glaring hole at CB.
Player: Snaps: PFF Grades Overall/Cover/Run (Ranks of 216):
CTB: 851: 64.1/66.2/63.7 (92nd/64th/88th)
D. Hill: 262: 68.2/68.0/66.0 (64th/57th/74th)
Hilton: 589: 69.5/61.4/91.5 (56th/104th/1st)
Turner: 508: 67.8/68.4/57.1 (65th/54th/143rd)
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Fig: 319: 61.3/63.6/45.4 (113th/88th/186th)
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Ivey: 47: 51.9/49.4/68.1 (173rd/181st/65th)
M. Wilson: 224: 48.3/49.1/44.9 (185th/183rd/188th)
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J. Davis: 49: 50.4/50.8/62.3 (179th/167th/96th)
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CTB, Dax, Turner, & Fig all have higher coverage than run grades. All are top half cover guys, all exept Fig top 3rd, and Turner even sneaks into the top quarter.
Hilton is a top half cover guy (barely), but is also #1 in the entire league vs the run.
Again, we don't have a stud here. But we don't have a scrub, either. Of the top 5, only Hilton is a FA.
By way of comparison, all our DEs outside of Trey are bottom half in pass rush, with Hubbard damn near bottom. All of our returning DT's are bottom half (or far worse) in pass rush grade. BJ Hill is the exception, but he is a FA. Yoshi is next to last amongst qualified WR's with his overall grade. Higgins is a FA. Our returning TE room is Sample, McLachlan, and always injured Erick All. And Cappa and Volson are both bottom third pass blockers. And the kicker is iffy. And Pratt is falling off a cliff and ADG and Bachie are FA's at LB.
Sure, I'd love a true CB1. But we've got bigger, more immediate problems than CB this offseason: IOL pass protection, WR beyond Chase, DL pass rush outside Trey, nothing established at DT beyond FA BJ Hill, shaky TE room, shaky PK, and now Pratt.
If Geno can continue to play well the last couple weeks, and Battle at least OK, then at least the secondary isn't a train wreck. Don't get me wrong, it could use improvement. But CB is a 3rd tier problem and S could become that as well if Geno & Battle continue their upswing.
Early FA to do list:
1. Restructure Burrow (+$19 mil to cap)
2. Extend Chase
3. Tag or re-sign Higgins
4. Cut Cappa and sign a top tier IOL
5. Cut Rankins and give his money to BJ Hill
We have enough cap to get that done comfortably and have $35-$40 mil left. Further moves (more IOL, LB, DL, S, depth, re-signing more of our own, and more cuts) can be considered after that.
FA class is thin at DT, DE, and TE. And the draft is deep at all those spots. Though bringing back Gesicki & Hudson might be a good idea.
Possible cuts: Hubbard, Moss, Pratt, Stone, McPherson.
Remaining top Bengal FA's: Hilton, Gesicki, T. Brown, Ford, ADG, Hudson, Rehkow, Adomitis. Most of those should be pretty cheap outside of Hilton/Gesicki.
I'd go big-ish again at IOL and freaking fix it. Then go DE/DT/LB/S at the draft, with maybe some TE/WR3 in there as well. Maybe another IOL or PK. I'd be willing to trade down for more picks most places.
