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Biggest mistake by the Bengals in the last decade

By Travis Steffen

CINCINNATI, OH - OCTOBER 4: Andrew Whitworth #77 of the Cincinnati Bengals attempts to excite the crowd during the third quarter of the game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Paul Brown Stadium on October 4, 2015 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI, OH - OCTOBER 4: Andrew Whitworth #77 of the Cincinnati Bengals attempts to excite the crowd during the third quarter of the game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Paul Brown Stadium on October 4, 2015 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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The Cincinnati Bengals have been known for letting big talent walk in free agency. Letting tackle Andrew Whitworth walk ranks worst of past decade.

The Cincinnati Bengals are known as a team that is unwilling to build their team through free agency. The last 15 years under head coach Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati has been extremely quiet during the free agency period while wanting to do all their work through the draft. Another issue that pops up for the Bengals is letting players walk in free agency without a reliable backup to replace them.

In the past decade, the Bengals have let players like T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Johnathan Joseph, Frostee Rucker, Manny Lawson, Anthony Collins, Marvin Jones, Mohammad Sanu, Reggie Nelson, Kevin Zeitler, and Andrew Whitworth all walk in free agency. That’s a long list of talented players that the Bengals just let walk away without having a good plan in place for when they are gone. We saw what happened when the more recent players walked like Sanu and Jones without having an idea at wide receiver in place.

The Bengals offense has struggled over the past two seasons as the team has failed to reach the playoffs or even a winning record. None of these players had a more significant impact on the Bengals production than letting tackle Andrew Whitworth walk last season. Bleacher Report ranked the moving on from Whitworth for Cedric Ogbuehi the worst move by the team in the last decade.

Whitworth left Cincinnati and signed with the Los Angeles Rams last offseason for a three-year, $33.8 million deal. Indeed a reasonable contract for that talented of a player. In his first season with the Rams in 2017, Whitworth was a first-team All-Pro showing that he is still one of the best in the league at his position despite age. According to Athlon Sports, he is the ninth-ranked tackle in the league going into 2018.

Cincinnati drafted tackles Cedric Ogbuehi and Jake Fisher in the 2015 draft as possible replacements for Whitworth. When the time came to move on from Whitworth, Ogbuehi failed to even be serviceable at the left tackle position making Andy Dalton’s blindside the biggest need for the team this offseason. It also resulted in the team declining Ogbuehi’s fifth-year option.

There’s certainly blame to be put on former offensive line coach Paul Alexander for the lack of development in both Ogbuehi and Fisher. Cincinnati’s offensive line ranked 28th in the league according to Pro Football Focus last season following the departure of both Whitworth and Zeitler. The organization moved on from Alexander after over two decades with the team and after Bengals coaches whispering about the offensive line being soft.

Frank Pollack was signed over the offseason to take over coaching the offensive line and has a great resume that has made fans excited. During his time in Dallas, the Cowboys offensive line has ranked top five every season. The team has also brought in players like left tackle Cordy Glenn from the Buffalo Bills and first-round rookie center Billy Price to replace former Russell Bodine.

Next: Who will be the Bengals red zone targets in 2018

Offensive line production was the highlight of the Bengals ranking last in yards per game in 2017. Missing Whitworth was a tremendous contribution for the dropoff in production. Does it warrant the label of the worst move by the organization in the last decade? We will let you decide.

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