Jordan Battle to start the rest of the year

[TecmoBengals]

(11-21-2023, 11:37 AM)SunsetBengal Wrote: I'm not so sure about that.  They'll still need quality depth as the next man up is always just one fluke injury play away from being in there.  Case in point, Tycen Anderson was really making a name for himself as Special Teams gunner, as well as pushing for reps on the back end of the defense.  Losing his speed and athleticism has cost the team valuable field position during his absence.

Well, let me rephrase that I hope they do not have to prioritize Safety over other position needs.

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(11-21-2023, 11:05 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: The more him and Dax get reps together, the better they will be. It's nice they can use the rest of the season to continue to gel and get better. 

(11-21-2023, 11:12 AM)ochocincos Wrote: Yep I'm sure that has played a role as well.

With Burrow out, I'm game for trying anything.

Not to derail the thread with being a fanboy, but we also may as well see what Hudson's potential can be as the starting TE given all 4 TEs are in a contract year.
If Hudson does well through the rest of the year (maintain a 25+ yards per game average, currently at 35.0), I'd love to re-sign him and have him compete for TE1/2 duties next year.
The one drawback with Hudson though is he'll turn 30 next November, and the Bengals don't typically sign players 30+ years old. They might though just on a 1-2 year deal, as Hudson has very little mileage and should come pretty cheap.

This is what I like as well....throw caution to the wind and get geared up for next year. The icing on the cake would be if both guys come into their own and help win a couple. 

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(11-21-2023, 11:36 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: I don't think people realize how much cap room the Bengals have next year. They are currently 5th in cap room with around 70 million. That's without cutting anyone as well. You can open up another 10 million if you decide to cut Mixon and Scott alone. 

They are going to have a butt load of money to spend on players to upgrade the team. 

I didn't realize it was that much myself. That bodes well.

[NUGDUKWE]

(11-21-2023, 11:00 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: Cutting Scott next year saves about 3 million in cap space. That will be nice. That was a big whiff in FA.

Yeah the signing to me was a bad on at the time. A almost 30 year old safety with one year starting experience seemed to scream bad signing. But even people covering the Bengals on Twitter seemed okay with it so I figured I was wrong. 
I can't imagine the money was too far off with Bell. I know we've had lack of communication issues with players in recent years. I wonder if we showed a lack of interest and that turned him off to resigning?

[SunsetBengal]

(11-21-2023, 11:12 AM)ochocincos Wrote: Yep I'm sure that has played a role as well.

With Burrow out, I'm game for trying anything.

Not to derail the thread with being a fanboy, but we also may as well see what Hudson's potential can be as the starting TE given all 4 TEs are in a contract year.
If Hudson does well through the rest of the year (maintain a 25+ yards per game average, currently at 35.0), I'd love to re-sign him and have him compete for TE1/2 duties next year.
The one drawback with Hudson though is he'll turn 30 next November, and the Bengals don't typically sign players 30+ years old. They might though just on a 1-2 year deal, as Hudson has very little mileage and should come pretty cheap.

I like him, he seems to do several things well.  While not having "eye popping" speed or athleticism, he catches the ball very well 18 receptions on 22 targets this year, and he seems to move well enough that he could actually get some YAC if he were to catch the ball in space.  I would also like to see him get an opportunity to fight for a position next season.

[NUGDUKWE]

(11-21-2023, 11:36 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: I don't think people realize how much cap room the Bengals have next year. They are currently 5th in cap room with around 70 million. That's without cutting anyone as well. You can open up another 10 million if you decide to cut Mixon and Scott alone. 

They are going to have a butt load of money to spend on players to upgrade the team. 

Well no excuses. This is good because I don't think even a top 10 pick is solving our issues. We need a really solid off season and can't afford to be adding to our list of needs in Free Agency. 

I think starting Battle is the logical decision really need to evaluate that position and get him starting experience. 

[WeezyBengal]

(11-21-2023, 12:20 PM)NUGDUKWE Wrote: Well no excuses. This is good because I don't think even a top 10 pick is solving our issues. We need a really solid off season and can't afford to be adding to our list of needs in Free Agency. 

I think starting Battle is the logical decision really need to evaluate that position and get him starting experience. 

Hitting on Battle and DJ Turner is absolutely huge for the long term sucess of this team. 

If one of Charlies Jones, Murphy, Chase Brown, or Yoshi flashes to close out this year...it's massive. 

[*ochocincos*]

(11-21-2023, 11:36 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: I don't think people realize how much cap room the Bengals have next year. They are currently 5th in cap room with around 70 million. That's without cutting anyone as well. You can open up another 10 million if you decide to cut Mixon and Scott alone. 

They are going to have a butt load of money to spend on players to upgrade the team. 

My personal opinion is if they were going to cut Mixon, they wouldn't have redone his deal.
He took a pay reduction so that he could stay.
With that said, he would free up $8.5 mill alone and has no guaranteed money coming to him next year, so maybe.
That would be yet another position that would need to be addressed though.

If I had it my way though, I'd address the trenches in FA and use the draft to get cheap weapons.
Having a RB and WR2 on rookie contract would really allow a team to invest heavily on the OL and DL.

[WeezyBengal]

(11-21-2023, 12:40 PM)ochocincos Wrote: My personal opinion is if they were going to cut Mixon, they wouldn't have redone his deal.
He took a pay reduction so that he could stay.
With that said, he would free up $8.5 mill alone and has no guaranteed money coming to him next year, so maybe.
That would be yet another position that would need to be addressed though.

If I had it my way though, I'd address the trenches in FA and use the draft to get cheap weapons.
Having a RB and WR2 on rookie contract would really allow a team to invest heavily on the OL and DL.

Plus they've been so bad at drafting OL and DL over the years it makes sense to get a proven quantity in FA. 

[Destro]

At this point, got to see what we got. We know Scott is not good, but why did he start in the first place over Battle?

[HarleyDog]

(11-21-2023, 11:19 AM)tms Wrote: Not to be that guy but... is this official? I don't see any mention of the depth chart at the SI link. Just an expectation that they'll "lean on" him. But I might have missed it.

The last name alone should cause a change. 

[SunsetBengal]

(11-21-2023, 01:30 PM)Destro Wrote: At this point, got to see what we got. We know Scott is not good, but why did he start in the first place over Battle?

Prior to the season taking the turns that it has, the Bengals were projected to be heavy SB contenders.  It would have been foolish of the Bengals not to have an experienced Safety in place to start the year with.  Most on here seemed to agree that Scott was just a place holder until Battle gained enough confidence to take over.  It's looking like that time to take over is now.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(11-21-2023, 10:55 AM)Wyche Wrote: Seems some of us are getting our wish as the Bengals look to move forward at safety with Battle. Scott got the 12th man on the field penalty against the Ravens and didn't play another snap.

https://www.si.com/nfl/bengals/news/film-breakdown-what-does-jordan-battle-bring-bengals-defense

Great news. Have liked what I have seen from Jordan Battle as a rookie, has been much better than Nick Scott.

Nothing to lose, might as well get our young players a ton of snaps so they get that valuable experience.

Pretty wild how Battle actually has looked more polished as a tackler and more instinctual than Scott who had valuable experience.

(11-21-2023, 11:03 AM)ochocincos Wrote: For those interested in knowing some stats/ratings on Battle:

61 run defense snaps
82 coverage snaps
24 combined tackles
1 missed tackle
113 passer rating allowed (PFR), 100 passer rating allowed (PFF)
11 Yards per completion (PFR), 9.6 YPC (PFF)
2 passes deflected
0 INTs
77.4 overall PFF rating (77.4 run defense, 63.3 pass rush, 70.5 coverage)

Overall, he's been good against the run, but he's not been good in coverage. With that said, I view Dax Hill having the skill set more of what a coverage safety has, whereas Battle has a more typical SS skill set. I would like to see him get better in coverage though, which will probably come over time.

Thanks Ochocincos. Not bad for a rookie, needs to improve in coverage but like you said, that comes with time.

I like that he is a sure tackler as a rookie, that is a damn good start.

[Destro]

(11-21-2023, 01:48 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Prior to the season taking the turns that it has, the Bengals were projected to be heavy SB contenders.  It would have been foolish of the Bengals not to have an experienced Safety in place to start the year with.  Most on here seemed to agree that Scott was just a place holder until Battle gained enough confidence to take over.  It's looking like that time to take over is now.

Yeah......what a time it is.

[*Synric*]

By alignment Daxton Hill plays the most Strong Safety. He aligns and rotates from the strong side of the offensive formation even if he does end up with alot of post safety reps... Just FYI.

[Ell Prez]

(11-21-2023, 11:36 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: I don't think people realize how much cap room the Bengals have next year. They are currently 5th in cap room with around 70 million. That's without cutting anyone as well. You can open up another 10 million if you decide to cut Mixon and Scott alone. 

They are going to have a butt load of money to spend on players to upgrade the team. 

Not if they sign the likes of Tee, reader, Chase, Jonah.

And then the team is virtually the same, and we only upgrade with the draft. Hence my tank for the draft philosophy .

[*Go Cards*]

Battle has earned it and has improved weekly imho. Time to let him and Dax develop chemistry together and believe they will become a very solid Safety tandem for the Bengals for the foreseeable future.

[Ell Prez]

(11-21-2023, 11:36 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: I don't think people realize how much cap room the Bengals have next year. They are currently 5th in cap room with around 70 million. That's without cutting anyone as well. You can open up another 10 million if you decide to cut Mixon and Scott alone. 

They are going to have a butt load of money to spend on players to upgrade the team. 

Not if they sign the likes of Tee, reader, Chase, Jonah.

And then the tram is virtually the same, and we only upgrade with the draft. Hence my tank for the draft philosophy .

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(11-21-2023, 11:19 AM)tms Wrote: Not to be that guy but... is this official? I don't see any mention of the depth chart at the SI link. Just an expectation that they'll "lean on" him. But I might have missed it.

https://www.cincyjungle.com/2023/11/22/23972673/jordan-battle-starter-strong-safety-bengals-news-lou-anarumo

[casear2727]

I believe many do not realize just how very average Battle's athleticism truly is. Scott's game speed is so much faster, Scott just isnt very good.

Hopefully his continued understanding of the game and increased anticipation will help Battle to overcome his physical liabilities.