Cincinnati Bengals: Taking stock of team’s young talent
By Kenn Korb
William Jackson III
2017 stats: 26 tackles, 1 sack, 1 INT, 13 pass knockdowns, 1 defensive TD
2017 Pro Football Focus Edge Grades (622 snaps): 87.8 overall, 87.5 coverage, 65.1 run defense, 63.1 pass rush
Jackson joined Cincinnati as the next in a long line of highly drafted cornerbacks (Dre Kirkpatrick was a first rounder in 2012, Darqueze Dennard in 2014), and it seemed he would be taking the same slow path to a major role his predecessors did (each took multiple seasons to do so). A knee injury which robbed him of his rookie season helped keep that process intact, and the initial thought was that he’d be brought along slowly this year.
Not only has that not happened, but he’s become the best player in the entire secondary. His 87.8 PFF grade is the highest of anybody on the entire team. He may not have many turnovers forced, and he just recently became the starter here (Week 13), but he’s been a brick wall for the opposition: he’s knocked down 13 passes this season, and according to PFF he has allowed a measly eight yards in coverage since becoming a starter.
It would really be a boon if he could hold onto some more interceptions in the future, but even if he doesn’t he is still the sort of player who can shut down his area of the field already. He’s as clear a building block as Cincinnati has anywhere on the roster; the question will be if they can find him some decent help on the back end or if he’ll be stuck doing it all alone.