Cincinnati Bengals: Analyzing recent offensive line rebuilds

With the Cincinnati Bengals looking to rebuild their roster, the offensive line is slated to be a top priority. Here, we analyze recent rebuilds from around the league to see how the Bengals can do it themselves. 

When the Cincinnati Bengals put together a string of successful seasons, the team fielded one of the best offensive lines in the entire NFL. After allowing key pieces to walk away in free agency, seeing players exit via retirement, and missing on several draft picks, the Queen City has seen what was once the strength of the team turn into a crippling weakness. The front office has spent several off-seasons trying to rebuild the offensive trenches but to no avail. At the halfway point of this season, the Bengals wielded a lackluster unit that ranked 30th, according to Pro Football Focus.

With the increasing likelihood that a new franchise quarterback is on the horizon, the need to finally fix the offensive line grows more urgent. Luckily, almost every season PFF finds that at least one team, and often times multiple, go from having one of the worst lines in the league to employing a top 5 unit the very next season. This begs the question, can the Bengals do the same? We’ll look at three rebuilds from this decade to find a blueprint for the front office to follow.