Major Outlet Names Bengals Safety as Team's Top Early Breakout Candidate

Pro Football Focus has a breakout candidate for the Bengals in 2024: Safety Jordan Battle.

The rookie was the highest-graded safety from this past season's rookie class and showed strong promise after getting selected in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft.

"Battle was one of the highest-graded college safeties heading into the 2023 NFL Draft, and while he fell to the third round and didn’t get a starting job until Week 11 of his rookie season, all of those strong metrics remained," Jonathon Macri wrote. "Battle earned top-10 marks at his position, both overall (82.5) and in run defense (81.3), while also adding a 76.4 PFF coverage grade (17th). He should be locked in as a full-time starter to kick off 2024 and continue his impressive play for the Bengals."

Cincinnati is hoping Battle and Dax Hill can take a big leap together and come close to the heights Vonn Bell and Jessie Bates reached in the Queen City.