Some thoughts on the Cincinnati Bengals signing former Buffalo Bills linebacker Preston Brown, and what it means for the team going forward.
Entering last season, it appeared that the linebackers were arguably the best position group on the Cincinnati Bengals defense. At worst, the starters appeared to be a major strength. Between Vontaze Burfict, Vincent Rey, and Kevin Minter, it seemed the team would be well-equipped to deal with anything which got beyond the defensive line.
Those hopes were dashed almost immediately. Burfict was hit with a three-game suspension in the preseason, and health issues persisted for the rest of the group throughout the season. By the end, it was hard to find anyone who could even suit up for a game, much less do well in those opportunities.
Change needed to happen, and they need. Unfortunately, few of them appear set to provide any sort of positive adjustment to the team as of yet. Burfict is facing another suspension to start the year. Minter was the big free agency venture at the position last season. After a disappointing 2017 campaign, he’s now with the Jets. Rey was demoted to backup duty when everyone was available last season, and then had a poor season on top of that.
Brown may actually be the only positive move the team has managed to make for the position group. That isn’t exactly saying much, however. Brown has had a mostly anonymous career; his defenses have had spurts of competence mixed with long strings of ineptitude, and rarely has his own play stood out in either case. Pro Football Focus Edge has graded him as average (70.0-79.9) twice in his four year career. The other times, he was well into ‘poor’ territory.
There are some useful building blocks here, though. Brown has been an active part of both his defenses (1,000+ snaps in every season of his career) and on special teams (100+ snaps in 3 of 4 professional seasons). He’s picked up 100+ tackles in every season he’s played (with the number climbing each year), been involved in nine turnovers, knocked down 10 passes, and forced 26 run stuffs.
The most important factors here may just be his age and price. Brown is just 25, meaning he still hasn’t even entered his prime. He’s got room to improve, but if he does, Cincinnati could have a really good starter for years to come in the middle of their defense. Whether he does or not, he will cost Cincinnati just $4 million this year; they can sign him long-term after 2018 if things go well, or just let him leave if he fails to grow.
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By himself, Brown doesn’t come close to solving all the linebacker problems for Cincinnati, but should he do well he could become a really good contributor for years to come for a defense which could use some more reliable pieces.