Williams vs. Iloka

[jj22]

I wouldn't say Williams is the more athletic of the two. He was a stiff at the combine. He's improved but he's no Iloka. Iloka is a sure tackler and Williams isn't. That's one of the big differences between the two. Also Iloka has better range. I don't see Williams as a FS, center fielder type.

Williams has emerged tho, and as Marvin would say "that's a good thing".

[TGISunday]

Some of the descriptions I'm reading are really interesting. Williams is a ball hawk? Coming out of college, both had similar skill sets as traditional strong safeties, but they've both grown since coming here to become better in coverage. That's a testament to both coaches and both of these guys.

So, why not both? Reggie may price himself out of Cincinnati. Just hope he doesn't end up in the AFCN.

[Stormborn]

(12-21-2015, 10:07 PM)EatonFan Wrote: It just seems like this team has difficulty in developing safeties.  We have 3 pretty good ones now and it would be a shame to let one of them walk.

Always seemed to be a weakness on the team for some time.

I wanna say this is just like similar situations we've seen in the recent past, but for the cases of JJ/Leon and MJ/Dunlap, both were similar in age. Nelson being a seasoned vet compared to Iloka's entrance in his prime make this circumstance unique in that respect.
I thought coming into the year it was a predetermined conclusion the goal was to retain Iloka and let Williams replace Nelson. But you wonder with the way Reggie has kept this level of play if he's changing minds in the FO.

Either way, I truly believe 1 will not be here next year. This team has had many offseasons of around 30 million in cap space and I expect always about 1/3 of it won't be used. Which is smart, but sacrifices are made because of it. 

[wolfkaosaun]

Iloka is better in every facet. He is much better in deep safety coverage and takes much better angles. He's around the ball when he needs to be and is certainly a hard hitter.

Shawn Williams has made two very big plays this season and is a hard hitter, but the tape is very different between the two. He certainly struggles with angles in the passing game and still has stiff hips.

Williams has done better than expected and certainly stepped up in Iloka's absence. But Iloka is the better of the two.

[Bengal Dude]

Iloka is the much better safety for us. I won't be surprised if Shawn is starting next to Iloka next season (unless we somehow re-sign Reggie and/or don't draft a safety high). Williams comes off as more of a SS while Iloka looks more like a FS. However, George can flat out hit. He's the kind of safety that Marvin has wanted to draft since he got here.