Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither just keeps impressing coaches.
With Germaine Pratt out during Cincinnati’s Week 3 win over the New York Jets, it was Daivs-Gaither who came up huge with a team-high 13 total tackles, nine of those solo and one for a loss.
And in Week 4 on Thursday night, while Davis-Gaither didn’t stuff the stat sheet, coaches such as linebackers coach James Bettcher came away impressed with how he stuck in coverage on speedy wideouts like Jaylen Waddle.
“No way were we putting a linebacker one-on-one on 17 (Waddle) and 10 (Tyreek Hill) in this game,” Bettcher said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “But, when you get matched up in zone coverages underneath defenders, you have to be able to move in the NFL and tackle because of what (offenses) do in space. They put little guys in low zones against guys that have to be able to play… it was a zone coverage where he’s the inside element of the zone coverage.”
This is the big capper and highlight for Davis-Gaither: “He’s a guy that’s just improved every year here played a lot of different positons in college and high school. I’m excited in the direction he’s going.”
A speedy subpackage player with plenty of hype for his upside coming out of college, Davis-Gaither has not just found a nice niche, he’s showing up huge when the team needs big contributions from depth pieces.
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