When Alex Thomas was suspended indefinitely before the 2017 season, it meant the Cincinnati Bearcats were going to have a harder time defending against the pass. It also meant that Linden Stephens was without his partner on the edge. While the Bearcats didn’t necessarily completely reinvent themselves in terms of pass defense, Stephens still came through and was once again the team’s top performer at cornerback and perhaps the secondary overall.
It started with his ability to read routes and battle with receivers to make passes go incomplete rather than settle into opponent’s hands.