The Cincinnati Bengals brought back veteran safety Vonn Bell for a few main reasons this offseason.
Chief among those? Mentorship.
Communication issues plagued a young transitional defense last year that coughed up more explosives than most of the league. So what better way to help fix those than to bring back a guy who already knows the system and leads by example?
Case in point, how some have talked about Bell’s return already.
“Vonn is going to be a great veteran for the room. Great for a guy like Jordan who didn’t necessarily have that at times last year,” secondary coach Jordan Kovacs said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “We love Vonn for not only what he does on the field, but the tone that he sets in the meeting room and off the field. The culture that he sets. Having a guy like that around a guy like Jordan Battle is going to be very beneficial. We were missing that last year.”
And while many minds might go to former first-rounder Dax Hill’s position change, much of this has to do with the development of former third-round safety Jordan Battle.
Battle says the presence of Bell has had an impact already.
“Great conversations,” Battle said, per Hobson. “Just his aura when he walks in the locker room. Everybody sees it and everybody welcomes Vonn. Whatever I can learn to elevate my game and reach the next level. He’ll be a great help to the team.”
Battle’s promising climb up the depth chart last year might be the thing that prevents Bell from seeing a high snap count next season, with the other safety spot going to Geno Stone. Hill will compete at the corner spots, but could also function in a third-safety role, too.
And so far, everyone seems to be on the same page about this — Bell is back to help by any means necessary.
