Bengals draft positional preview: What we'll learn from their approach at safety
Last year, the plan to fix the Bengals’ defense was bringing back Vonn Bell and signing Geno Stone. Everyone — from Zac Taylor to Lou Anarumo to Logan Wilson — believed the veteran safeties would get the defense back on track.
But the 2024 defense was even worse than the 2023 defense. It cost Anarumo his job. Still, we’ve all seen up close how much play at safety can make or break an entire season.
Jordan Battle will be a starter next season. Geno Stone’s role will be impacted by what the Bengals do in the draft. Third safety is an open spot on the depth chart. Justin Simmons also went on a recent podcast with Kay Adams and spoke about the possibility of signing with Cincinnati.
Aside from linebacker, safety is the position in the next-most flux entering the draft. Unlike on the defensive line, there’s the flexibility for a safety to immediately step in as a full time starter.
What the Bengals have
The biggest bright spot from the final month of last season was how the lightbulb clicked for Battle. The Bengals feel like they know what they have here.
He’s an in-the-box safety who’s athletic enough to play two-high and hold his own. His biggest strength is his vertical range. He climbs up the field to guard check downs, stop the run and make occasional plays in coverage. He could also become one of the voices of the defense this year.
Stone is still one of the 32 best free safeties in the NFL. His instincts, awareness and ball skills give him value. But he was flawed in 2024.
Stone played the most snaps at free safety in the entire NFL in 2024. I studied every single time that Stone was targeted as well as every time an opposing quarterback threw deep against the Bengals.
I only counted three real impact plays from Stone in coverage all season (an end zone PBU vs. New England, his breakup of a double pass vs. the Browns and his pick vs. the Titans). I also counted six deep completions where Stone was at fault, including three blitzes where Stone’s lack of speed resulted in him not getting home and gave the quarterback time to throw down the field.
The story of Stone’s season was the fourth quarter of the Broncos game, where Stone got beat over the top on a deep ball and later couldn’t rip out the ball on the Hail Mary. As I look at potential additions in the draft, I’m looking for a safety who can make these specific plays.
If Al Golden wants to bring his Cover-1 system from Notre Dame, the Bengals will probably need another option at free safety. I’m focusing my search in this draft class for free safety options. Regardless, Stone can still play useful snaps, and he was a great third safety in Baltimore.
The depth
Daijahn Anthony quickly went from guarding Travis Kelce to inactive and lost his role in defensive subpackages. His length and coverage skills could make him a rotational third down piece, but that’s not guaranteed based on his finish to 2024. Tycen Anderson is an elite special teamer.
The big draft debates
Traits or tape? Skill or speed? Instincts or power?
It’s a tale as old as time, and Malaki Starks vs. Nick Emmanwori is an archetype for that. They’re two projected first-rounders.
Starks is a ball hawk with range, playmaking, great instincts and a lot of high level tape. He picked up Georgia’s complex defense as a freshman and started right away. His coaches rave about his intangibles. Starks’ profile looks a whole lot like Dax Hill, Myles Murphy and Amarius Mims.
Starks has shown some real versatility with the ability to move around the field. He has a big and strong frame that helps him as a tackler, and he makes up for his slightly lacking athletic traits for a first-round pick by just knowing how to play.
Emmanwori posted a perfect 10 relative athletic score. As I watched a pick six of his, I wrote in my notes “Sweet Mother of Pearl.” He runs like Ja’Marr Chase, and he’s built like Tee Higgins. But he’s much more of an in the box safety than a free safety. He also didn’t show the power, oomph or ball tracking skills that you’d expect from such an elite athlete.
They’ll both be highly rated on my Bengals specific big board for the first round and would play a ton of impact snaps in 2025. But now there’s another question. Should you use a first-round pick at safety?
The Bengals are clearly comfortable doing that (see Dax Hill). But with more pressing needs at premium positions like on the offensive and defensive lines (or a linebacker who could also help your pass rush like Jihaad Campbell), is that the best value?
Most likely, the Bengals will stick to their board in Round 1.
Overall, the defense desperately needs some players who have playmaking upside. They could certainly get that from a rookie safety that they use a premium pick on.
The state of the class
Dane Brugler only has three total projected first-or-second rounders at safety.
The other is Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts, who’s a true center field free safety and played for Al Golden. You could see Golden’s affinity for him making Watts a plug and play starter in Cincinnati. Watts has limited size and raw athleticism, which limits his upside. But his anticipation, range, ball skills, communication and leadership were all on display in college.
Golden raved last year about Watts’ growth as a tackler as well as in man coverage, which helps give Watts more versatility than he looked to have had. Watts is a former receiver with great hands, and he’s willing to mix it up against the run even though he’s not a powerful hitter.
Starks and Watts would probably replace Stone in the lineup right away and are easy, clean fits into the Bengals’ defense.
Emmanwori is kind of his own thing as more of a strong safety/big nickel/linebacker type and doesn’t fill the Bengals’ needs as cleanly. The best explanation of what he could be with the Bengals is serving as Mike Hilton’s replacement and adding value with blitzes, deep zone coverage and a little bit of everything. Obviously, Emmanwori’s biggest value in that role would be his athleticism compared to Hilton’s instincts. Also like Hilton, Emmanwori could basically be the base third linebacker.
Outside of those guys, there’s not a safety that would immediately supplant Stone.
You shouldn’t pin your entire draft strategy around picking Watts in the second round because there’s definitely no guarantee that the only safety with a projected second-round grade won’t go earlier than expected with another team reaching for him.
If the Bengals feel like free safety is a pressing need, then they’ll either have to take Starks in round one or cross their fingers that Watts slides in the second round. The Bengals have a track record of reaching for players at positions of need on Day 2 of the draft, and safety is a need.
There’s also another tier of players who could compete for playing time in 2025 and be available later on in this draft.
Trying to find to free safety version of Jordan Battle
The Bengals have so many needs and the top of the safety draft class is so thin that they absolutely could end up in the third or fourth round without having addressed safety. For example, the draft could easily go defensive line-guard-linebacker for the Bengals.
In that case, free safety would still be a need for the Bengals. They’d probably be looking to use a mid-round pick on a free safety with a center field skill set and standout communication and football IQ (the free safety version of Jordan Battle). Like Battle did in 2023, this free safety could grow into a bigger role over the course of the season and potentially take over as a starter in the second round.
While there are only three Day 1 starters at safety in this class, there are five available free safeties in this next tier who could fit this description.
-My favorite is Billy Bowman (projected third-round pick). He’s undersized, but his combination of athleticism, production, change of direction ability and range all show promise. He tracks the ball and makes plays with the ball in his hands. Because he has the versatility to cover out of the slot, he could make an immediate impact as a third safety as he picks up the free safety role that he could eventually take over. One issue is that he doesn’t offer as much as a tackler.
-Andrew Mukuba (projected third-to-fourth round) is another undersized free safety who knows how to find the ball. He plays with his hair on fire and looks explosive on tape.
-Lathan Ransom (projected third-to-fourth round) out of Ohio State didn’t have as much production on the ball and isn’t as much of a true dynamic and fluid center fielder, but he has a combination of free safety skills, size, tacking and an aggressive style that stands out in this range.
-Malachi Moore (projected fourth rounder) checks two major boxes as a team captain out of
Alabama. He broke up 10 passes last year and showed comfort as the free safety.
-Marques Sigle (projected fifth rounder) has elite speed as well as an aggressive style. He’s a captain who recorded three picks last season at Kansas State.
The interviews with the Bengals and the intangibles will be big pieces of the Bengals’ evaluation of each of these guys. That’s what led to Jordan Battle rising up their board in 2023, and the Bengals could try to follow that model if they don’t land Starks or Watts.
You can never be sure of what to expect out of any pick after the first two rounds as they all carry some flaws on their scouting reports. If the Bengals land in this tier at safety, they’ll be counting on a step forward from Stone to open the 2025 season.
In conclusion
Outside of Battle, roles are very much up in the air at safety. One of Golden’s strengths should be his ability to get young players and rookies to quickly be able to play confidently, and he’s expected to give young players more opportunities than Anarumo did.
There’s a lot riding on the Bengals’ ability to get their evaluation at safety right. The evidence in that is how we saw weak play at safety impact the Bengals over the last two years.
How aggressively the Bengals pursue a safety in the draft will reveal a lot about how much Golden plays to turn over the keys to young pieces on the Bengals’ defense.
As you go through a mock draft, you wish that the Bengals didn’t have so many needs. At safety, they should stick to their board in Round 1, place Watts high up on their Round 2 board and then reach for a free safety in Round 3 or 4 if they don’t already have one selected.