Cincinnati Bengals: Analyzing the safety position

Going in-depth and breaking down the Cincinnati Bengals safety position.

The Cincinnati Bengals have seen immense talent at the safety position recently. However, with the departure of Reggie Nelson in 2016 free agency, there was uncertainty to some degree. So where do things stand now with the group?

Though minicamp is ready to roll and OTAs are through, it’s still the offseason and time for overall evaluation and projection. Thus, we’ve been going through the Bengals one position group at a time. The quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, offensive linemen, defensive linemen, linebackers, and cornerbacks have all been delved into already.

We move on to the safeties.

Safeties

George Iloka (74 tackles, 3 INTs, 7 passes defensed)
Shawn Williams (81 tackles, 1 sack, 3 INTs, 5 passes defensed)
Derron Smith (8 tackles, 1 pass defensed)
Clayton Fejedelem (10 tackles)
Demetrious Cox (N/A)

* = expected starter | 2016 statistics in parenthesis

Last season saw a major change on the back end for the Bengals. From 2013-15, they had been starting the pair of Reggie Nelson and Iloka had been holding down the fort at safety.

In that time, they were one of the better safety pairings in the league. According to Pro Football Focus’ metrics, the average combined overall grade for the two in that time was 81.3. Among recent safety pairings in their database, only Green Bay’s Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Morgan Burnett (81.9) and Seattle’s Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas (84.5) seem to have put up better combined grades over a three year stretch.

More from NFL Spin Zone

With Nelson moving on to Oakland in 2016, there was a clear possibility that the position would take a major step back. Replacing long-term starters with lesser-known talents may have its advantages (including youthful athleticism and cheaper contracts), but it often brings at least a few short-term concerns (chemistry, playbook knowledge, understanding coverages/formations/plays shown by the other side) to the table.

Fortunately, things mostly worked out for Cincinnati in this particular instance. Williams stepped into the starting role vacated by Nelson, and while there was a slight dip in overall safety production in 2016 (combined PFF grade: 79.4), that could be more attributable to Iloka’s play (78.1) than what Williams provided (80.6).

Part of what may have helped: Williams had been with the team since 2013, and had begun picking up a more significant role in 2015. By being with the team for a handful of years before taking on the starter role beside Iloka, Williams had plenty of time to learn and understand the minute details of the Bengals defensive scheme. The increase of field time in 2015 (defensive snaps in 2013-14: 38; 2015: 473) gave him a chance to actually get involved in plays to a significant degree. Those elements combined with his talents prepared him to do well with a larger role.

Oct 23, 2016; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals strong safety Shawn Williams (36) against the Cleveland Browns at Paul Brown Stadium. The Bengals won 31-17. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /

Williams will hopefully continue to improve up his 2016, but don’t overlook Iloka. With both him and Nelson up for free agency in 2015, the team went with him; that should speak volumes for what the team thinks he can provide them long-term.

Let’s say he’s capped out as what we’ve already seen: that’s an above-average player. He’s physical and routinely finishes tackles quickly and forcefully; in three of the past four years, he’s had at least 66 tackles and been in the top five on the team in the statistic (and in the only one he didn’t, he missed four games). He doesn’t force many turnovers (2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery, and 8 INTs in his career), but he’s often still involved in breaking up plays (27 passes defensed in career).

If his averages so far as a starter (65 tackles, 2 INTs, 7 passes defensed) are what the team gets going forward, that alone is good enough to be part of a quality safety pairing. If the current 27-year old can find a new level as he continues through his prime, he could be the crux of a strong secondary for years to come.

Beyond the starting duo, there aren’t any proven contributors as of now. As we saw with Williams however, that doesn’t mean they can’t become quality pieces of the defensive equation.

More from Cincinnati Bengals

Smith is entering his third season, while Fejedelem is entering his second. Neither has gotten much action as of yet: Smith has 115 defensive snaps in two years, while Smith picked up 40 last season. With Iloka and Williams locked up long term, there’s a real chance they never get to see much more than that before they reach free agency (Smith gets there in 2019; Fejedelem in 2020). The case of Williams should be revisited in regards to them.

As mentioned before, Williams didn’t see much field time until his third season, and didn’t become a starter until his fourth. Being brought along slowly seems to have prepared him well for his current role, and depending how things go we could see the same sort of thing happen with Smith and Fejedelem.

The main difference between Williams’ and these two situationally is that there isn’t a clear starter path waiting for either of them as there was for Williams. Williams’ final year of his rookie contract lined up with the same time and Iloka and Nelson were set to be free agents; with him having shown positive signs in limited 2015 action, there was a great chance — one which ultimately came to fruition — he would be able to take the place of one of them.

That’s not the case this time. Iloka and Williams both have signed extensions in the past couple offseasons to lock them in until 2021. Assuming health, the only thing which should force them out of action is poor play, and there isn’t much of that in their histories to suggest that’s on the horizon.

Outside of special teams play, there really may not be much for these guys to do besides wait for an unlikely injury call-up. Iloka has missed only four games since becoming a starter, and injuries haven’t appeared to be a concern so far in Williams’ career. Also, unlike many teams league-wide, we haven’t seen major usage of three safety packages lately; after the combination of Iloka, Nelson, and Chris Crocker all went for 500+ snaps in 2013, the closest the team has gotten to that is 2015 (when again, Iloka missed four games).

In fact, based on the contract timelines, it may be the rookie Cox who has a better chance of becoming an eventual safety starter here. It will be a good bet at least one of the Iloka/Williams pair is allowed to leave when their contracts run out (both will be in their 30s at that time).

Cox meanwhile will be a 26-year old restricted free agent in 2020, and should be able to return on a cheap multi-year deal that keeps him on the roster as a possible long-term replacement. At the least, he can act as a special teams player for years to come; hopefully his work as a gunner could assist in improving upon the league’s 28th-best unit by Football Outsider’s DVOA metrics in 2016.

Next: NFL 2017: Ranking the top 30 pass-catching tight ends

Even if he doesn’t, it’s not something to be concerned about. For the foreseeable future, Iloka and Williams are set to lead this safety group forward as a powerful duo. Any major changes are a long ways from even beginning to need much more discussion.

Home/Cincinnati Bengals