The Cincinnati Bengals drafted Logan Wilson in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft, and he immediately became a key contributor, starting on the Bengals’ defense that led the Bengals to the Super Bowl and the AFC championship. He was the leader of the defense and immediately felt like a veteran presence even while on his rookie contract.
Even though Wilson still has multiple years left on the extension he signed with the team, they decided to go with youth at the position. They benched Wilson for rookie linebackers Demetrius Knight and Barrett Carter.
Carter, especially, seems to have taken on the role that Wilson formally filled. Many players would feel some form of resentment when they are still playing solidly and a younger player is given their starting job.
After being traded to Dallas for a seventh-round pick, however, Wilson showed his class and leadership in his final words for Barrett Carter, the player who took over his role for the team.
The team is most certainly going to miss Wilson and his impact on the field, but the bigger loss seems to be his leadership off the field, especially for a defense that has felt rudderless over the last two games. The team needs defenders to step up, take accountability, and have someone take charge of this defense to try to rally them into something better than what they have been, because so far it’s been ugly, and losing one of your better linebackers and one of your better people will always sting.
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