Few teams have invested so much in their offensive line over the past two years than have the Cincinnati Bengals. It remains to be seen whether or not that will all add up to the finished product they are looking for, but they should be in the best position they have been since they thought Cedric Ogbuehi would be able to replace Andrew Whitworth at left tackle.
At least that’s what offensive line coach Brian Callahan thinks. Via Josh Alper writing for Pro Football Talk, the veteran assistant coach recently told the Locked on Bengals podcast, “I think it’s safe to say it’s the best group from top to bottom that we’ve had in our time here”.
The big acquisition this offseason was the addition of Pro Bowl left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., whom they signed from the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs as an unrestricted free agent on a four-year contract worth $64 million.
That signing has the ripple effect of moving former first-round pick Jonah Williams from left tackle to right tackle, where he is expected to start the season, at least while La’el Collins recovers from a severe injury suffered last year.
Collins was part of a trifecta of free agent signings, the others being center Ted Karras and guard Alex Cappa. They also drafted Cordell Volson, who ended up being their starting left guard, so the offensive line entering 2023 should be completely different from the line as it was in 2021, only with Williams on the right instead of the left. They can determine who starts at right tackle once Collins is healthy.
“I just feel really good about the direction we’re headed, the players we’ve added and the players that we have”, Callahan added, which actually did not include any draft picks for the offensive line this year. In fact, they didn’t even sign any linemen as college free agents. They did add interior depth in veteran free agency with Cody Ford.
Truth be told, much was expected of the line in 2022 that it didn’t really deliver on. neither the run blocking nor the pass protection rose to a level above mediocrity. Late-season injuries only exacerbated the issues extensively, as would be expected.
With another year for the line to gel, the natural progression of Volson, and the addition of Brown, however, they do have a real chance to take a significant step forward this year and give that Bengals offense the line that it needs to reach its full potential.
Which is bad news for the rest of the AFC North, the AFC, and the NFL as a whole. They have already established themselves as perennial Super Bowl contenders, having nearly won it already in 2021. One can make the case that a top-10 offensive line is the final ingredient to get them over the hump.
