It's now official. We've been hearing for a couple days now that the Cincinnati Bengals and former Dallas Cowboy safety Roy Williams were talking, but now we know for sure.
I really like this deal.
The Bengals now add Williams, a true boom or bust type of player, to their relatively full roster of safeties. Chris Crocker, Marvin White, Chinedum Ndukwe, Kyries Hebert, and Corey Lynch are already set to play safety for Cincinnati in 2009, and the addition of five-time Pro Bowler Williams should only improve depth and add competition in training camp.
I'm not blind to Williams' flaws, he has some injury problems (two broken forearms) last year limited him to thre games in 2008. Even when healthy, the former Cowboy still had his problems. The main knock against him is his pass coverage skills. However, he is still a player that amassed 19 interceptions over his first six seasons. Williams should fit in at the role that he will be asked to fill however, as a hard-hitting tackler. Now with a team that has seen its fair share of defensive backs that appear scared of contact, his 506 career tackles fill a hole.
I'm not saying Williams will be that ever-elusive 'final piece' of the puzzle, however he may turn out to be a corner piece.
Other news in Bengals-land, Cincinnati made a blockbuster trade today... for those who don't understand sarcasm, that was a prime example. St. Louis received backup defensive tackle Orien Harris in exchange for RB Brain Leonard. Leonard was the Ram's second round pick in 2007 out of Rutgers, and rushed for 303 yards on 86 carries (3.5 ypc) in his rookie campaign. He also caught 30 passes for 183 yards that year. Leonard spent nearly all of 2008 on IR. The newest Bengal may be used as Cedric Benson's backup, or maybe even fullback, where he spent some time in St. Louis.
No comments:
Post a Comment