The Cincinnati Bengals might have a hit on their hands with new arrival Kyle Dugger.
Dugger arrived as a quiet signing in free agency compared to the likes of Bryan Cook and Boye Mafe. But as expected, he’s locked down a versatile role on the depth chart already, sure to assist Cook, Jordan Battle and others.
In an interesting twist, Dugger’s immense experience in the NFL so far has him feeling right at home.
Dugger has gone as far as to name-drop Bill Belichick and Mike Vrabel when talking about the Al Golden-coordinated Bengals defense.
“It’s a blessing to have carryover from every defense I’ve been in,” Dugger said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “It was a very different defense under Vrabel coming from Bill and (Jerod) Mayo. It’s really helpful. Especially now. Because we do a lot of the same things. A lot of similar things that we did with Vrabel here and even some of the things that we did with Belichick.”
The Bengals are still all the way in on Battle as a starter and Cook is, of course, unquestioned. But Dugger always felt like a Swiss Army Knife of sorts as a signing, to get a little cliche.
Like rookie Cashius Howell playing some linebacker, Dugger figures to play all over the field and help out as needed across a variety of packages.
It’s not just that Dugger makes the safety depth in Cincinnati better than it has been in years. It’s also another small confirmation that guys just straight up want to play for the Bengals these days and are willing to do what the team needs while joining up.
This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Bengals’ Kyle Dugger mentions Belichick, Vrabel when talking defense
