Cincinnati Bengals safety Jordan Battle is already one of the team’s breakout candidates.
That idea only got a bigger boost when the team went out in free agency and brought back Vonn Bell to help fix the unit’s communication issues.
Bengals coaches aren’t shy about this, either. Bengals Safeties Coach Jordan Kovacs recently told Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com how Bell can help Battle:
I think competition brings out the best in everybody. We’re so early into this thing, I don’t know how it’s all going to shake out. But I think having a guy like Vonn in the room is only going to help a guy like Jordan, right? He’s the consummate professional. He has maxed out his ability because of the stuff he’s done off the field. I can’t learn enough from him as a coach. The rookies can’t learn enough from a guy like him, and Jordan Battle can’t learn enough from a guy like him. And I see them off the field talking ball. In individual, talking ball. Stuff like that is going to be invaluable to Jordan in his second year.
We’ve already seen some proof of Bell helping Battle. Heck, we’ve also heard from new arrival Geno Stone that Bell has been helpful, too.
Given this and simple projections, with Dax Hill off to cornerback, it feels safe to presume Battle sees a huge chunk of the snaps alongside Stone next year while greatly benefiting from Bell’s presence.
