Bengals Draft Depot

In the past the Safety position has not been regarded as a position of high value. Every year Safeties slide in the draft and are rarely taken early in the 1st round due to all the money that has to be paid to top 10 picks. GM's and owners simply do not want to pay that kind of money to a Safety.

I think that is going to start trending the other way here soon. Safeties are going to start getting drafted earlier and getting bigger and bigger contracts. Why? The NFL is becoming a pass happy league more and more every year. With this happening Safeties that can cover are going to become very valuable players. Teams are going to start going after Safeties that can line up on a 3rd WR and play man coverage. The ones that can do that and cover TE's are going to start getting big paydays and taken very early in the draft.

This affects the Bengals because this year's schedule includes alot of those pass happy teams. The Saints, Colts, Chargers, Patriots, Falcons, and the Steelers are all on the schedule this year and all have good to elite QB's. The pass coverage this year could very likely decide whether the Bengals make a return trip to the playoffs. That's why alot of people are calling for a Safety early in the draft such as Earl Thomas, Morgan Burnett, or Nate Allen. All Safeties that can cover. The Bengals already have an elite duo at Cornerback and a 3rd cover guy that can play man against a 3rd WR will go a long way in shutting the opponents passing game down.