The Enquirer/Jim Owczarski
Over the first four years of his career in the Cincinnati Bengals’ secondary, George Iloka was the safety considered the “thumper,” the “strong” to Reggie Nelson’s role as the “free" roamer who seemingly made a living intercepting Ben Roethlisberger and collecting errant passes dozens of yards downfield.
The pair worked well together from 2012-15. Nelson intercepted 17 passes in those seasons, forced two fumbles and recovered five more. Iloka picked off five passes of his own in that time, but he was the one often crashing down to the line of scrimmage in run support.