4. Nick Vigil
The difference between Nick Vigil and Denzel Perryman is not huge and I went back and forth on who to rank fourth and fifth in this list. However, what ultimately gave Nick Vigil the nod is the fact that Vigil is coming off of a great season and also because of the selection of Kenneth Murray, which restrains Perryman’s role.
I think that Perryman’s ceiling, if used correctly, is higher than Nick Vigil’s. However, Vigil is more consistent and as a result, is likely going to see the field more often than Perryman does in 2020.
Vigil is coming off of his first season in which he played all 16 games with the Cincinnati Bengals and as a result, he recorded his first 100 tackles season as well. He finished the year with 111 combined tackles, four quarterback hits, one sack and four passes defended. He played in 92 percent of the Bengals’ defensive snaps.
Vigil is also a bit more versatile than Perryman is. Perryman’s role is rather established in this team while Vigil will be the first man up if someone gets banged up (or simply tired) in the linebacker room. The only player that Perryman can outright replace is Murray. Having Murray and Perryman on the field at the same time is not great.
For that reason, his 2020 impact is going to be marginally higher than Perryman’s, making him the fourth-most impactful linebacker on the team in 2020.