Jessie Bates III (born February 26, 1997) is an American professional football safety for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the second round of the 2018 NFL draft.
Bates attended Snider High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Along with football, he also played basketball. He originally committed to play college football for the Toledo Rockets, but he flipped his commitment to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in February 2015. Bates is the son of his single mother Theresa and has 6 siblings, his older sister Aaliyah, his younger brother Von and step-siblings Donavan, Nate, Kameron and Ariana.
Bates did not play as a true freshman at Wake Forest in 2015 and chose to redshirt.
As a redshirt freshman in 2016, Bates played in all 13 of Wake Forest's games. He returned 18 punts for 73 yards along with tallying five interceptions (two returned for touchdowns), 100 tackles (3.5 for loss), four pass deflections and one forced fumble. After the season, he was named to the USA Today Freshman All-America Team, the All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Second-team, and to the ACC All-Freshman First-team.
In 2017, as a redshirt sophomore, Bates played in 11 of Wake Forest's 13 games, missing two due to injury. In those 11 games, he returned eight punts for 161 yards and one touchdown along with recording 79 tackles (six for loss), five pass deflections and one forced fumble. After the season, he declared for the 2018 NFL draft.
On January 4, 2018, Bates announced his decision to forgo his remaining eligibility and enter the 2018 NFL draft. He attended the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis and completed the majority of combine drills, but opted to skip the bench press. Bates performed well and finished third among safeties in the 60-yard shuttle, fourth among safeties in three-cone drill, and fifth among safeties in the short shuttle. He also earned the ninth best time among his position group in the 40-yard dash and had the tenth best vertical jump.
On March 13, 2018, Bates participated at Wake Forest's pro day and performed the bench press and short shuttle (4.25s). He attended pre-draft visits with multiple teams, including the Tennessee Titans, Pittsburgh Steelers, Detroit Lions, and Carolina Panthers. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Bates was projected to a second or third round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked as the third best free safety prospect in the draft by DraftScout.com, the fourth best safety in the draft by NFL analyst Mike Mayock, and was also ranked as the fifth best safety by Sports Illustrated.
The Cincinnati Bengals selected Bates in the second round (54th overall) of the 2018 NFL draft. Bates was the fourth safety drafted in 2018.
On May 12, 2018, the Cincinnati Bengals signed Bates to a four–year, $4.94 million contract that includes $2.38 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $1.67 million.
He entered training camp slated as a backup safety, but after quickly impressing the Bengals' coaching staff he became a possible candidate to take the role at starting free safety from George Iloka. He became the de facto free safety after Iloka was released on August 19. Head coach Marvin Lewis named Bates and strong safety Shawn Williams the starting safety duo to kick off the regular season.
On September 6, 2018, Bates made his professional regular season debut and first career start in the Bengals' season-opener, recording eight solo tackles in a 34–23 victory at the Indianapolis Colts. On September 13, 2018, Bates recorded three solo tackles, broke up a pass, and made his first-career interception off a pass attempt by Joe Flacco, that was originally intended for wide receiver Michael Crabtree, and returned it for a 21-yard gain during a 34–23 victory against the Baltimore Ravens. In Week 7, he collected a season-high 12 combined tackles (seven solo) during the Bengals' 45–10 loss at the Kansas City Chiefs. On October 28, 2018, Bates recorded six solo tackles, two pass deflections, and intercepted a pass thrown by Jameis Winston to wide receiver Adam Humphries and returned it 21-yards to score his first career touchdown in the Bengals' 37–34 victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. On December 31, 2018, the Cincinnati Bengals fired head coach Marvin Lewis following a 6–10 record. He started all 16 games as a rookie in 2018 and recorded a team-leading 111 combined tackles (73 solo), seven pass deflections, three interceptions, and one touchdown. He was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team. Pro Football Focus had Bates receive an overall grade of 79.9 in 2018, which ranked 15th among all 163 safeties.
Bates and Shawn Williams returned as the starting safeties to start the season under new defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo. In Week 7, Bates collected a season-high 12 combined tackles (eight solo) during a 27–17 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. In Week 10 against the Baltimore Ravens, Bates recorded his first interception of the season off Robert Griffin III and made eight combined tackles (seven solo) during their 49–13 loss. On December 8, 2019, he made two combined tackles (one solo), a season-high three pass breakups, and had his third interception of the season on a pass thrown by Baker Mayfield to wide receiver KhaDarel Hodge as the Bengals lost 19–27 at the Cleveland Browns. He completed the 2019 NFL season with a total of 100 combined tackles (71 solo), nine pass deflections, three interceptions, a forced fumble, and one fumble recovery while starting all 17 games. He ended 2020 with an overall grade of 61.2 from Pro Football Focus, which ranked 106th out of 168 safeties.
He returned as the starting free safety to begin the 2020 NFL season, along with starting strong safety Vonn Bell. On November 8, 2020, Bates collected 11 combined tackles (nine solo), tied a season-high with two pass deflections, and intercepted a pass by Ryan Tannehill to A. J. Brown during a 31–20 victory against the Tennessee Titans.
In Week 6, Bates recorded his first interception of the season off a pass thrown by Philip Rivers during the 31–27 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
In Week 11 against the Washington Football Team, Bates recorded his third interception of the season off a pass thrown by Alex Smith during the 20–9 loss. In Week 13, he racked up a season-high 13 combined tackles (ten solo) and had his only forced fumble of the season as the Bengals lost 7–13 at the Miami Dolphins. He made a total of 109 combined tackles (78 solo), 13 pass deflections, three interceptions, and one forced fumble while starting all 17 games for his third consecutive complete season. After the season Bates was named a second-team All-Pro. Bates was the highest graded safety in the league out of 172 safeties with an overall grade of 90.1 from Pro Football Focus
Head coach Zac Taylor retained Bates and Vonn Bell as the starting safeties to kick off the season. On September 26, 2021, Bates recorded a season-high nine combined tackles (six solo), before exiting in the fourth quarter after suffering a neck injury as the Bengals won 24–10 at the Pittsburgh Steelers. The following week, he was inactive for the first time of his career due to his neck injury after 53 consecutive starts as the Bengals defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 24–21. In Week 5, Bates returned from his neck injury and collected a season-high eight solo tackles (nine combined) during a 22–25 loss against the Green Bay Packers. On October 31, 2021, Bates made eight combined tackles (six solo), a pass deflection, and had his first interception of the season off a pass by Mike White intended for Jamison Crowder and returned it for a career-long 65-yards before being tackles by wide receiver Elijah Moore during a 31–34 loss at the New York Jets. Bates was a healthy scratch for a Week 18 loss at the Cleveland Browns as head coach Zac Taylor elected to rest the majority of starters. He finished with 88 combined tackles (66 solo), four pass deflections, one fumble recovery, and one interception in 15 games and 15 starts.