Bengals safety Jessie Bates was a top 25 NFL player in 2020 at PFF
The Cincinnati Bengals have an elite player in safety Jessie Bates.
Bates, an egregious Pro Bowl snub and likewise snubbed with a second-team All-Pro selection, was one of the top 25 players in the NFL last season.
So says Pro Football Focus, with Sam Monson explaining:
“Not much went right for the Cincinnati Bengals this season, but one of the things that did was the play from Jessie Bates in the secondary. Bates made plays every time you put on a Bengals tape and impacted more plays from a deep free safety alignment than he had any right to. He tallied three picks and a monstrous 12 pass breakups to help him to a PFF coverage grade above 90.0 despite getting little help around him. Bates was a true impact playmaker on the back end for the Bengals, but the rest of the defense was often bad enough that it was hard to notice.”
It’s incredible to see Bates grade higher than players like Chris Jones, the superstar defensive lineman for the Kansas City Chiefs who just played in the Super Bowl.
And no wonder, as PFF graded Bates at a 90.0 on the year with 87 tackles, three interceptions and just 19 catches allowed on 35 targets.
In short, Bates was the definition of elite and was always zipping around the defense trying to put out as many fires as possible. He should only get better as the unit around him improves, too.
Inevitable extension talks are going to be critical for the future of the Bengals to say the least.
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