Going into the offseason, Cincinnati Bengals safety Geno Stone was a point of conversation.
Stone was Cincinnati's latest attempt to replace Jessie Bates after kicking Dax Hill to cornerback, a move that backfired as the entire unit struggled.
But the Bengals aren't giving up on Stone just yet, with Bengals head coach Zac Taylor confirming as much during league meetings, according to The Athletic's Paul Dehner Jr. on scene. In those comments, Taylor noted that while Stone is headed in the right direction, tackling by the entire unit needs to improve.
While it's just one metric, Stone's 53.1 PFF grade last year (ranked 136/171) had some eyeballing whether or not the team would cut him one year into a two-year contract to save roughly $6.475 million in cap space.
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Instead, it sounds like the Bengals will give Stone another go while bumping Jordan Battle's playing time under new coordinator Al Golden.
Stone and the overall unit's play improved down the stretch, likely thanks to a combination of an easier schedule and the defense getting "simplified" as the season continued. Now, Lou Anarumo is gone and the Bengals are banking quite a bit on Stone and others continuing to turn things around after some coaching changes.
This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Bengals' Zac Taylor confirms what fans thought on struggling position
