Cincinnati Bengals safety Jessie Bates is one of those players the team is going to have to start thinking about setting big money aside for an extension at a later date.
Bates has always had massive potential but needed a combination of growth and better surroundings around him to really blossom.
It appears he’s getting both.
Bates has been one of the NFL’s highest-graded safeties through four weeks, and he put an exclamation mark on that trend in Week 4, posting another grade of 86.5 and moving into first place outright at Pro Football Focus:
#Bengals safety Jessie Bates earned an 86.5 @PFF grade for his excellent play vs the Jaguars.
Bates is currently @PFF’s highest-graded safety (87.2 overall) with at least 50 snaps on the season 🔒
— PFF CIN Bengals (@PFF_Bengals) October 5, 2020
Bates was all over the field against Jacksonville, leading the team in tackles with 10, one of those going for a loss, plus two passes defensed.
There are still plenty of problems to point at for the Bengals defense. Bates is far from one of them as he puts on a show before likely seeking a long-term extension because his current deal expires after the 2021 season.
