3 Bengals who must step up versus 49ers in week 14
Bengals Who Need to Step Up – Trae Waynes
The time is finally here! Yes boys and girls, Trae Waynes is healthy and it couldn’t come at a better time. While most Bengal fans have written Waynes off as wasted money, and rightfully so considering that 42 million dollar contract has resulted in exactly two games, Waynes’ availability couldn’t be more fortuitous.
Bengals CB Trae Waynes was going through drills with the other defensive backs during today's practice.
— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) December 8, 2021
While the Bengals have generally enjoyed good health, especially on defense, top corner Chidobe Awuzie tweaked his foot chasing the Chargers oversized receiving corp Sunday, and his status as of this writing is in question. Awuzie has been outstanding this season, and even though Eli Apple and Vernon Hargreaves have played well at times, they weren’t brought to Cincinnati as starters.
Enter (hopefully) Trae Waynes.
Waynes was paid by Cincinnati to be a full time starter at corner, and it’s time to earn that money. Despite the fact that San Francisco doesn’t exactly boast the most potent passing attack, with the loss of Logan Wilson to injury versus the Chargers, the Bengal secondary will be tasked with providing extra run support to blunt the Niners 70’s era-style attack.
Hopefully, Waynes’ decent size (6’0″) and 4.3 speed can aid the Bengals defense, and keep the Niners from running roughshod over the back end of the Bengal secondary. Or maybe Waynes gets hurt walking out of the tunnel for introductions.
Hard to tell either way with this guy, but for this week I’m rooting for him!