Lou Anarumo needs to be as honest about Vonn Bell as he is with the rest of the Bengals' defense
It's no secret what Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo wanted as soon as NFL free agency officially opened this past March. The first call he made when legal tampering turned into open free agency was to his former strong safety of three years who was swiftly released by the Carolina Panthers.Anarumo wanted, maybe needed […]
It's no secret what Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo wanted as soon as NFL free agency officially opened this past March. The first call he made when legal tampering turned into open free agency was to his former strong safety of three years who was swiftly released by the Carolina Panthers.
Anarumo wanted, maybe needed Vonn Bell back in his defense. The former Ohio State Buckeye was a pillar of consistency and intellect in the Bengals' scheme that stifled elite quarterbacks for back-to-back deep playoff runs.
It's very possible that Bell is not that player anymore. If that's the case, the person who needs to realize it first is his DC.
There were multiple calamities happening under Anarumo's watch on Sunday during the Bengals' 34-24 win over the Panthers. The fire that needed extinguishing the most was Cam Taylor-Britt, who had arguably the worst outing of his professional career. Taylor-Britt was getting picked on in coverage so often that Anarumo began rotating him out and back in the game with DJ Turner II, who ended up out-snapping Taylor-Britt 51 to 36.
Taylor-Britt didn't really leave Anarumo with a choice in the matter. A change had to be made to stop the bleeding. It was a reminder that anyone could suffer the same fate.
“I think they know that we're all held accountable to how we play, how we coach all of it and we just have to make sure that we're staying on top of it,” Anarumo told reporters Monday. “Poor play can't be tolerated by anybody.”
He's right. It can't be tolerated, and Bell is not an exception.
Lou Anarumo needs to keep that same energy for Vonn Bell
The Bengals are not getting the improved safety play they sought after this offseason. Geno Stone remains a subpar run defender and hasn't made much of an impact preventing the explosive plays that have popped up over the last two weeks.
As for Bell, well, he's starting to look like a shell of his former self. Aside from his gratifying interception that was served to him on a silver platter thanks to Trey Hendrickson's usual doings, he was a liability in his revenge game in Carolina.
When you catch yourself flat-footed in the face of a routine tackle, questions will naturally start to arise.
Oof.
There are differences between Stone and Bell's situations. The former is much younger, has less experience starting, and is far newer to this defense. There's reason to expect him getting his feet back under him and prove worthy of the two-year, $14 million contract he signed in free agency.
Those excuses don't exist for Bell. Bringing him back for a veteran-minimum deal after a lost year with the Panthers was supposed to be putting a lost puzzle piece back into the same slot it was before. It's entirely possible this puzzle piece doesn't quite fit the same as it used to.
While there isn't a clear replacement for Stone on the roster, there is one for Bell. Second-year safety Jordan Battle showed plenty of promise as a rookie last year when Anarumo and Co. were living life without Bell. He ended up starting over Bell's replacement, Nick Scott, for the second half of the season.
Could he do the same for Bell? When asked why the 23-year old hasn't been getting any playing time thus far despite the defense's struggles, Anarumo pointed to happenings from two months ago.
“When [Battle] came in, he just started off a little bit slow in training camp, for whatever reason, and then again, has kind of progressed as we’ve gotten along,” said Anarumo. “So if he continues that upward trend, then, we’ll work him in there.”
This is a bit of an odd answer. Battle started off behind Bell in camp because Bell immediately was given back his starting job in OTAs. Battle's reps were limited from the get-go. Any momentum he had from the end of his first season was snuffed out by the decision to bring back Bell.
Despite this, Battle eventually made an impact in the last week of the preseason with a pick-six against the Indianapolis Colts. Clearly, some progress has been made since.
All the reasons Anarumo wanted Bell back match why he was granted the starting gig once more. Bell remains an integral piece of facilitating communication for the entire defense, ensuring the integrity of the unit is sound to keep everything sound. No leaks, no holes.
But the leakage has already begun, and the Bengals are swimming in problems he's supposed to fix. He may not be the same guy who used to patch everything up anymore.
If this realization hits Anarumo as hard as it hit him when watching Taylor-Britt on Sunday, inserting Battle for Bell needs to be an option on the table. Stopping the run is arguably Cincinnati's biggest issue, and that was Battle's biggest strength as a rookie. He's learning the mental side of the job thanks to Bell's leadership, but he can't return the favor via transferring his youthful vigor.
On Sunday, the Baltimore Ravens and their potent rushing attack will look to run all over Bell and the Bengals. If Battle watches it all from the sideline, Anarumo has no one to blame but his bias.
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