The secondary of the Cincinnati Bengals got a makeover this offseason with the departure of safeties Jessie Bates and Vonn Bell and the additions of Nick Scott, Sidney Jones IV, and rookie safety Jordan Battle.
One of Cincinnati’s draft picks from a year ago, Cam Taylor-Britt, showed in his first year that he’s a building block for the future at cornerback. However, the NFL is about elevating your game from year to year.
Of course, he’ll have to prove it himself, but Pro Football Focus thinks that he will not only play well in 2023 but that he could have a breakout season.
Taylor-Britt was thrust into action following Chidobe Awuzie’s injury in 2022, and he did not disappoint.
He ranked 59th among cornerbacks in PFF grade as a rookie but improved as the season progressed. From Week 12 on — including the postseason — he earned a 74.8 PFF grade, which tied for 19th best among 96 cornerbacks with at least 100 snaps over that span.
Taylor-Britt ended up playing in 10 games in 2022 and logged nine starts. He put up 55 tackles, six pass breakups, and a forced fumble. Also, Taylor-Britt played 17 snaps in the slot and 49 in the box in addition to his work as an outside cornerback.
As far as things to work on, Taylor-Britt did have a missed tackle percentage of 14.1 and he was also called for five penalties.
However, it’s expected for a player to have parts of his game that need fine-tuning after one season, even veterans do.
Taylor-Britt has the speed (4.38), size, and ball skills to be a good contributor for the foreseeable future.
Being thrown into the fire as a rookie can backfire sometimes, but the Bengals are being shown that Taylor-Britt is up to the task and the second-round pick that was used on him was worth it.
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