The Bengals defense is going to look quite different at the start of this season compared to the start of last season. Heading into the new season it is weird to not have Geno Atkins, Carlos Dunlap, or William Jackson on the roster. Those are three guys who have been Bengals for a while and will always be thought of as Bengals when you hear their name. Geno Atkins is arguably the best defensive lineman to ever wear a Bengals uniform and it is gonna be hard to not miss big Geno. There is a time when you move on from the old team and start with a new look and that seems to be where the Bengals are at on both sides of the ball. This is going to be year three with Zac Taylor and defensive coordinator, Lou Anarumo. To be quite honest, the defense has looked poor the first two years under Lou as they were 22nd in the league in points allowed and 26th in yards allowed last season. The biggest problem with the defense was the ability to stop the run. With a new defensive line and a young linebacker crew that is getting better every year with experience that should be a problem the Bengals can fix.
For the last decade the defensive line was the one spot on the Bengals defense where you knew they would be dominate. From Atkins, to Dunlap, to Robert Geathers, to Domata Peko it was always the best unit on the Cincinnati roster. Now the Bengals are at a moment where they have to find their next stud up front. They did have two nice pick-ups in the offseason where they signed defensive end Trey Hendrickson from the Saints and defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi from the Browns. Both those players should have an instant impact on the defense playing next to each other. I imagine both of them will get tested in the run game early on in the season since teams will try to run the ball away from D.J. Reader and Sam Hubbard. Getting Reader back after his season ending injury last year will have a direct impact on the play of Hubbard. Last season with Reader out teams were able to put all their focus on Hubbard on the right side. This tactic by offenses really hurt Hubbard’s performance last season. Hubbard only finished with 2 sacks in 13 games compared to his 8.5 back in 2019. With Reader back in the mix defenses are going to have a hard time accounting for both of them up front.
The youngest group on the defense this season will be the linebackers. 25, 25, 23 are the ages of the Bengals three starting linebackers this year. The good news is all three of them started at least one game last season and were in the rotation all season long. Germaine Pratt started almost every single game last season and it will be his defense to call this year at middle linebacker with no questions asked. Pratt had a tremendous showing last year in his first season as the guy and he is looking to build off that with the confidence he gained from his teammates. Now with the Bengals primarily running a 4-3 Based D they have three linebackers on the field very often. This means that the “Sam” linebacker is the linebacker that plays to the field side. Last year it was often Josh Bynes who did that and he had a decent season there, but this year it going to be the young Akeem Davis-Gaither. Akeem should accel at this role with his speed and quickness for the linebacker position. You want to have a guy like Akeem there who is comfortable playing in open space and making open field tackles. I am excited to see how this young linebacker core looks this year between those two and Logan Wilson at the “Will” linebacker spot and Jordan Evans in the rotation. The fun part about having a young group of linebackers is you know you can see enormous leaps in play every single game.
I grew up playing cornerback in high school and college, so watching the secondary is always my favorite part of any football game. Knowing who the Bengals have returning in the secondary this season, they are going to be so much fun to watch. The two best players on the Bengals defense are in the secondary with the duo of Jesse Bates and Vonn Bell at the safety spots. Last season may have been a bad defensive year for the team overall, but certainly not for these two guys. Bates and Bell were the heart and soul of this defense and made big play after big play. My favorite play of all of last season is still the Vonn Bell hit on JuJu Smith-Schuster on Monday Night Football. The two of them were the teams two leading tacklers last season and Bates lead the team in passes defended with 15 and interceptions with 3. Many people, myself included, believe Bates was robbed of an ALL-PRO selection last season. He is going to come out as hungry as ever and replicate the season he had last year. Bell and Bates are going to be the leaders of this defense and be big reason why teams want to try to rely on the run against the Bengals rather than the pass. The question mark in the secondary is the two cornerback positions. The loss of William Jackson will be felt because he is a tremendous player who made some huge plays for the Bengals over the past few seasons. The guy who is taking that spot is going to be Chidobe Awuzie. Awuzie played in Dallas for the last four seasons where he started the last three. On the other side the Bengals have Trae Waynes who was at one point the top corner in college football. The problem with Waynes and the Bengals is that he never seems to be available for them. Waynes missed the entire 2020 season on the IR and is now already listed out week 1 vs his old team the Vikings with a hamstring injury. Taking his place for the time being will be Eli Apple. The Bengals have some talent in the secondary with Bates and Bell, but if they want to take the ultimate leap as a unit they are going to need to be able to count on Trae Waynes.
The Bengals defense holds a lot of mystery this upcoming season, between the additions of Hendrickson and Ogunjobi on the defensive line, the young linebacker core, and the unknown at the cornerback spot. The Bengals have the talent to improve from last season because we know they have a few players of top NFL talent on their defense, but it is going to take the other players to step up and make plays for the defense if they really want to open some eyes around the league.
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