Reggie Nelson Is Bengals Top Free Agent.

In my latest feature on SB Nation, I listed the top free agent on every AFC team. For the Bengals, I picked free safety Reggie Nelson.

4 months ago Jason Garrison 7 comments 0 recs |

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Agree with Nelson being the Bengals top UFA

Followed by 2.) Manny Lawson and 3.) Frostee Rucker / Pat Sims, IMO.

by The_Black_Stripes on Feb 13, 2012 3:12 PM EST via mobile reply actions

Makes sense to me.... :)

However, I would move Sims over Rucker, and maybe over Lawson. We saw how much our run defense went down after Sims injury…

by pemci on Feb 13, 2012 3:20 PM EST up reply actions

no love for the nudge?

"the bengals are not a west of the 104 longitude team."

by palewook on Feb 13, 2012 3:37 PM EST up reply actions

I like Nugent. He will most likely be re-signed, and I would welcome his return.

by The_Black_Stripes on Feb 13, 2012 4:25 PM EST up reply actions

I like Pat Sims, and I hope the team re-signs him.

However, I think his absence down the stretch did NOT have such a drastic negative effect on our rushing defense as some on this blog have claimed. While others have commented about how the run defense struggled after Pat Sims went on IR last season, the numbers (and games) don’t necessarily reflect that.

Sims was injured in the second Cleveland game at the end of November. The Bengals played 6 games without Sims (i.e. the last 5 of of the regular season + 1 playoff game), and really none of those games were lost because of Pat Sims’ absence.

12/4 @ Pittsburgh = Pitt run game did NOT beat us (many problems that day ranging from the A.J. false start which negated the Gresham TD, to Nugent’s blocked fg). Rush defense was NOT a problem that day. Bengals actually held the Steelers in game in check that day

12/11 Texans game = the Bengals held the Houston ground game relatively in check (Tate did have a ling run, but that was about it). Foster comfortably held below 100 yards.

12/18 @ Rams = Steven Jackson was a non-factor

12/24 Cardinal game = Cardinals running game was a complete non-factor

1/1 Ravens game = The Ravens running game was effective against us, thanks, in large part, to Ray Rice’s two long runs. The first long run was actually somewhat Reggie Nelson’s fault, as he left the center of the field when he bit on the fake end-around to Torrey Smith on the play. The other long Rice run in that game can mainly be attributed to Maualuga being completely swallowed on the play by a crushing Marshall Yanda block.

1/7 @ Texans Playoff game = we did NOT lose because we couldn’t stop the run. Sure, Foster finished with a nice rushing total, but that was in large part due to Crocker’s inability to tackle, and Houston running the ball at the end when the game was in hand.

All in all, I really like Pat Sims, but I just wanted to shed some light (and statistics) which show that the rushing defense did NOT really struggle during these 6 games.

by The_Black_Stripes on Feb 13, 2012 4:24 PM EST up reply actions

Lets compare the rushing D numbers with and without Sims:
with Sims: 11 games, 289 rushes, 1038 Yds, 10 TDs (~3.6 YPC)
without Sims: 6 games, 161 rushes, 818 Yds, 6 TDs (~5.1 YPC)
In addition to this, the Bengals never game up more than 4.5 YPC in the first 11 games, but managed to exceed that number (4.5 YPC) in 4 out their last 6 games (and lost all 4).

I am not suggesting that Pat Sims was the sole reason that our run D deteriorated, but losing him certainly hurt us and those are the facts.

by OhWell on Feb 13, 2012 8:01 PM EST up reply actions