Up until this point, I had been somewhat worried with the way that the Cincinnati Bengals have approached the free agency window. While people were concerned about the safety and running back positions, they were not even remotely a priority worth spending the first two days of free agency focused on them. Regardless, they spent precious draft capital on safety Geno Stone and running back Zack Moss. Meanwhile, the team still has virtually no suitable options to start at either the nose tackle or the right tackle positions.
Cincinnati Bengals Land Defensive Super Star on the Line
Luckily for Cincinnati, that mitigated some of that worry on my end on Wednesday night when they officially signed former Houston Texans defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins. Rankins was with the Houston Texans in 2023 and put in a terrific performance on the defensive line that included six sacks, one forced fumble and 37 tackles in 15 games played. It is important to note that while those stats may not seem perfect, the fundamentals are far more important for a defensive tackle than the stat line.
On Wednesday night, Rankins signed a two-year deal that will be worth $26 million. After a stellar performance in Houston last year on a one-year deal worth a little over $9 million, Cincinnati felt the need to increase his salary to approximately $13 million. Rankins will presumably act as the replacement for elite nose tackle D.J. Reader although he is certainly about 30 pounds less than the giant Clemson product.
This might be an instance of first-hand scouting by the Bengals after Rankins absolutely torched the offensive line of Cincinnati in a close game between the teams last November. Rankins would finish the game with five tackles and three sacks just against the Cincinnati squad which apparently earned him the respect of Zac Taylor and the rest of the Cincinnati coaching staff.
Rankins finished last season with a Pro Football Focus (PFF) overall score of 62.7 (51st in the NFL amongst defensive tackles) but will be a solid pass rushing tackle with a score of 74.7 rushing the passer. It is somewhat alarming when you combine the facts that he weighs only 302 pounds and that he finished last season with a rough run stopping PFF score of 39.1. The team will likely need to figure out additional ways to stop the run if the team plans to run the tables in 2024 with a combination of Rankins and defensive tackle B.J. Hill.
Although they will still need to figure out a way to play with two tackles that belong as 3-techniques rather than use a traditional nose tackle, Rankins and Hill could be excellent if defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo decides to run more interior stunts. After three days into the free agency window, Cincinnati has finally put a check on the ledger for one of their biggest needs in the 2024 offseason.
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