The Bengals may feel better about their offensive line than they have in years, but Warren Sharp still isn’t buying it.
Sharp Football Analysis slotted Cincinnati 28th in its ranking of all 32 NFL offensive lines, putting the Bengals in the bottom five. That’s a tough landing spot for a unit that, from the outside, looks like it finally has some real stability.
There’s a case for optimism in Cincinnati. Amarius Mims has emerged as a rising star at right tackle.
Dalton Risner settled in at right guard after a long stretch of instability. Dylan Fairchild showed enough at left guard to suggest he could be part of the long-term answer there.
And Orlando Brown Jr. remains steady at left tackle.
Still, Sharp’s evaluation points to the same old issue: the run game. He wrote that Cincinnati mostly brought back the same group from a year ago, with rookies Brian Parker and Connor Lew as the only notable additions. When the Bengals’ main five starters were all on the field together, their running backs averaged 1.4 yards before contact per carry, which ranked 30th out of 48 qualified offensive line combinations.
That number tells part of the story, even if it doesn’t tell all of it. The Bengals did get decent pass protection at times, enough to keep Joe Flacco and Burrow relatively upright. And some of the rushing struggles came with Jake Browning at quarterback.
Even so, the offensive line no longer looks like Cincinnati’s biggest problem. That spot belongs to the defense, which had issues all last season. The clearest hole there is at linebacker, and the front office still has work to do to address it.
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Sports Illustrateds Matt Verderame took notice, slotting Cook and Battle among the leagues best safety tandems and putting Cincinnati in the same conversation as some of the NFLs most established back-end groups. Battles heavy workload and production last season already gave the Bengals a foundation, and Cooks championship background adds another layer of credibility, but the bigger question is whether the pairing can turn that recognition into the kind of defensive consistency that helps push Cincinnati back into the playoffs. [Read more 🡒]