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Both Bengals cornerbacks Leon Hall and Nate Clements, who also took quite a few snaps at strong safety, ranked in the top-10 in the league in Yards Per Coverage Snap (YPCS), according to the folks over at Pro Football Focus.
Clements comes in at No. 3 in the league just behind Bradley Fletcher and Lardarius Webb. He took 179 coverage snaps and allowed 113 yards, earning a YPCS of 0.63. Hall comes in at No. 8, having taken 508 snaps in coverage, allowing 455 yards, earning a YPCS of 0.90. Hall, however, played more snaps in coverage than anyone in the top-10 with an exception of Champ Bailey (No. 4) and Antoine Winfield (No. 10).
Since he was selected in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft out of Michigan, Leon Hall has been the Bengals' best cornerback. He and Johnathan Joseph made up one of the best cornerback duos in the league until Joseph left for greener pastures. Still, though, Hall continues to cover the best wide receivers the Benglas face week in and week out and he does a fantastic job.
Clements came to Cincinnati before the 2011 season and started alongside Hall. When the Bengals signed Terence Newman before the 2012 season and gave the starting cornerback job to him, Clements started several games at strong safety, played some free safety and also bounced back to cornerback at times as well.
The 2013 season will see Hall starting at cornerback once again but it's currently unclear as to who will be starting opposite of him. Both Clements and Newman are going to hit free agency and while the Bengals may want to bring them back, they also have to think about the future of the position. They selected Dre Kirkpatrick in the first round of the 2011 Draft but he was injured before the season began and then was eventually placed on IR after re-injuring himself later in the season.
The Bengals could look to the draft to bring in another talented cornerback to solidify the secondary as well, though most would say that the team's bigger need lies at strong safety, a position they've neglected in the past.
Either way, the Bengals must improve their secondary. While it wasn't a huge liability to the team, having a secondary that's on par with the team's front seven would give the Bengals one of the best defenses in the NFL.