01-10-2025, 09:45 PM
(01-10-2025, 09:15 PM)007BengalsFan Wrote: If you want to look at years 2017 to 2020 look at how many All Pros and Pro Bowlers Saleh had to work with vs how many All Pros and Pro Bowlers were on the Bengals defense those years. Its much easier to have great defenses when you have a team loaded with talent. Saleh benefited from the talent the 49ers organization surrounded him with. What would he do with lesser talent like the Bengals have? I dont know. Im just pointing out San Francisco gave him a lot of talent to work with so the comparison is a little hard to make.
Awuzie played at an all-pro level for a bit, Reader was pro bowl tier, Hilton has been ranked near the top for nickel CBs, Hendrickson has had superb seasons...the Bengals had players who could play on defense. It looks to my eyes like they squandered their draft capital and had a DC who could only be good if he stuck to his formula. I'm sure there's more that can be learned and said about Saleh, but you can't take away what his defenses have done. Both the 9ers and Jets have had some eye popping performances under his tutelage. The Jets had great stats with their front 4. Doesn't being able to perform well with good players count for anything?
