Cincinnati Bengals select Alabama safety Jordan Battle in third round of NFL draft
The Cincinnati Bengals selected safety Alabama's Jordan Battle with the No. 95 pick in the NFL draft. Cincinnati, which originally owned the No. 92 pick, moved back three picks after a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Battle primarily played strong safety at Alabama. After losing veterans Vonn Bell and Jessie Bates in free agency, the Bengals are re-tooling their safety room. Cincinnati signed Nick Scott in free agency and he's immediately penciled in as the starting strong safety. Last year, the Bengals drafted Dax Hill in the first round to eventually replace Bates as the Bengals' starting free safety. Hill and Scott will be the Bengals' starting safety duo and Battle will enter the season as the No. 3 option at safety.
Anarumo likes to utilize multiple defensive packages throughout a game and having three quality safeties allows him to utilize his dime (six defensive backs on the field) package more. Dime is primarily used in obvious passing situations, which the Bengals face often in a conference loaded with talented quarterbacks.
Battle played four seasons at Alabama and recorded 141 solo tackles, six interceptions, three touchdowns and 10 pass deflections. He had a career-high 84 tackles his junior year. Cincinnati's head coach Zac Taylor and defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo like that all three of their picks so far this year come from top-tier college programs. Getting guys from Alabama, Clemson and Michigan didn't happen by accident. The Bengals are looking for a certain pedigree in their players.
He will be a core-special teams player for the Bengals in the upcoming season. Battle said he embraces this part of his game. Battle was named special teams player of the week by the Alabama coaching staff following his play against Texas A&M and Tennessee. He was voted a team captain in the 2022 season and is widely viewed as a high-character individual.
The Bengals sent a message through the first three rounds of the NFL draft this year: Load up on defense. By adding two starting caliber defensive backs to the roster in Battle and Turner, the competition level during training camp and in the preseason will be increased. More importantly, the Bengals made sure they will have no depth issues at cornerback or safety in the upcoming season.
Battle was a four-star recruit coming out one of the top programs in the country in St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. He chose Alabama over Miami, Ohio State and Oklahoma.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: NFL Draft: Cincinnati Bengals select Alabama safety Jordan Battle
