Vs Series: Jessie Bates vs Reggie Nelson

[*Synric*]

Bates career year was 2020... I can guarantee without having to look it up Bengals were near dead last in pass rush. The injuries to the DL that year were ugly.

[Nicomo Cosca]

(03-26-2023, 12:30 PM)Synric Wrote: Bates career year was 2020... I can guarantee without having to look it up Bengals were near dead last in pass rush. The injuries to the DL that year were ugly.

Which is fair.

It’s hardly enough to refute all the stats TLL posted though. Nelson was pretty much better in every category.

[*Synric*]

(03-26-2023, 12:39 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: Which is fair.

It’s hardly enough to refute all the stats TLL posted though. Nelson was pretty much better in every category.

I think Reggie had the more consistent career but Jessie had the better career year. The difference in the size of area of responsibility for these guys is big. Reggie had a ton of chances to attack the line of scrimmage and getting into the quicker passing windows he was very very good at this. Bates played a ton more in cover 1 he had the entire 3rd level to patrol usually this doesn't lead to lot of stat sheet years (the lack of pass rush probably increased his stats). 

[Nicomo Cosca]

(03-26-2023, 12:43 PM)Synric Wrote: I think Reggie had the more consistent career but Jessie had the better career year. The difference in the size of area of responsibility for these guys is big. Reggie had a ton of chances to attack the line of scrimmage and getting into the quicker passing windows he was very very good at this. Bates played a ton more in cover 1 he had the entire 3rd level to patrol usually this doesn't lead to lot of stat sheet years (the lack of pass rush probably increased his stats). 

That seems pretty accurate. I never remember Nelson having almost entire seasons worth of down play like Bates did.

Bates was probably our best player during the Super Bowl run though, I’ll give him that. He was just maddeningly inconsistent from one year to the next.

[Forever Spinning Vinyl]

Bates averaged 11.4 missed tackles per season
10
16
17
7
7

I'm not sure if Nelson had 17 missed tackles in his entire career as a Bengal and Bates did that in one season.

Nelson, as a Bengal, is in Fulcher/Casanova territory, Bates is not.

I'm assuming most of the support for Bates is from people still in their 20s. "He had a good year once" sounds kind of hollow when measured with the consistency of Nelson. The drop off from Nelson to the pathetic Shawn Williams was drastic and I was shocked at how many people on here that thought that he was a good safety. He was the poster child for being two steps behind almost every play. With that said, all Hill has to do is not suck and he'll replace Bates just fine.