George Iloka expects the Bengals to draft a safety

The Cincinnati Bengals could draft a safety at some point during the NFL draft. That's according to the intelligent safety George Iloka, who is using common sense and acknowledging that Cincinnati could respond to obvious contractual issues with their starting safeties; Iloka and Reggie Nelson are entering the final year of their respective deals and the team has to supplement some losses.

Writes ESPN's Coley Harvey:

That's why Iloka will be paying close attention in eight days when the Bengals start making their nine draft picks and signing undrafted first-year free agents. With the understanding Cincinnati could be tooling up for life after him or fellow starting safety Reggie Nelson, Iloka knows a player from his position likely will be part of the Bengals' draft plans.

"We only have four safeties on the roster. We normally carry about five or six," Iloka said. "So I wouldn't be surprised if they drafted a safety."

We're not going to pretend to know how the draft will play out, nor am I going to conjecture up a couple of names for you to inhale. We've known that Iloka and Nelson will be free agents next year, if no extension is signed by then (obviously). Drafting a player or two helps circumvent those concerns...

...but holy Bryan Price, what's going on with Shawn Williams? Selected in the third round of the 2013 NFL draft, Williams has only played 39 snaps on defense over the last two years. Granted he finished last season ranked third on the team with nine special teams tackles and plays most special teams units. However, isn't the idea that a rookie is promoted through the ranks and secures the position when he's ready? Maybe he's not ready or good enough (though I'm having a hard time believing that he struggled to navigate over Taylor Mays on the depth chart). Either way... we're done here?