If nothing else, now we know who really pounded the table for the Cincinnati Bengals to draft cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt in the second round back in 2022.
Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo held that same position in Cincinnati during the Bengals' runs to Super Bowl LVI and the subsequent AFC Championship Game. He's a savvy schemer and can clearly motivate his defenses to overachieve.
But Anarumo is also very much a "my guys" type of coach. That is, he's convinced that veterans familiar with his system should be brought aboard. Look no further than last year's acquisitions of linebacker Germaine Pratt and nickelback Mike Hilton.
In this instance, going back to that Bengals well may not prove fruitful for Anarumo and Indy.
Cam Taylor-Britt reunites with ex-Bengals DC Lou Anarumo on one-year deal with Colts
No one's questioning whether Cam Taylor-Britt has the talent to be a starting-caliber NFL cornerback. The question is, does he want to be?
Guess the Colts will mess around and find out soon enough now that they've acquired Taylor-Britt on a one-year contract in free agency, per NFL Media's Tom Pelissero.
If you're out in the wee hours of the morning, the day (not night, but still) before a game, and you're in a speeding car that crashes into a parked one, you're probably not that dedicated of a professional. That's the type of stuff Cam Taylor-Britt is involved in when he's not on the clock.
It'd be one thing if that was an isolated incident. Taylor-Britt had two separate instances of reckless driving and street racing on his own, one of which landed him in jail for five days.
Beyond all those off-field red flags, Taylor-Britt evidently showed enough to keep getting chances from the Bengals' coaching staff. He not only squandered those and was benched multiple times, but his false hope-giving prevented Cincinnati's defense from improving sooner.
What do I mean by that? Installing CTB as a starter at boundary cornerback forced Dax Hill to play the nickel at the dawn of last season. Taylor-Britt was benched time and again, Hill wasn't playing to his full potential in the slot, and longtime practice squadder Jalen Davis was out of the picture.
Once Taylor-Britt was injured and out for the rest of the season in mid-November, Hill flexed out to the perimeter, and Davis took his spot at the nickel. Cincinnati's play in the secondary was exponentially improved.
As someone who stumped hardcore for Riq Woolen back in the day, it's still a bummer that the Bengals burned a Round 2 pick on Taylor-Britt. Thank goodness for 2023 second-rounder DJ Turner, Cincinnati's All-Pro caliber corner who came on strong in Year 3. Without him, the Bengals' second-round picks since Tee Higgins in 2020 would be a lineup of full-blown disasters.
The Colts must really be desperate for cornerback depth. Good luck to Coach Lou getting the most out of CTB in Indy. Something — nay, many things tell me this will not end well.