Bengals: OL guru believes answer to the unit is already on the roster

Offensive lineman guru Duke Manyweather believes the Cincinnati Bengals have the answer to their problems in the trenches on the roster already.

Just two weeks into the season, and it has already been abundantly clear that the Cincinnati Bengals have carried over 2019’s offensive line woes into the new era. The right side of the unit is a mess and as a result, franchise cornerstone Joe Burrow has been put in harms way far too often.

However, according to highly respected offensive lineman coach Duke Manyweather, the answer to their problems in the trenches is already on the roster.

To get an idea of how much weight Manyweather carries, CBS Sports referred to him as a “guru” and the Washington Football Team stated he is thought of as one of the most respected private offensive linemen coaches throughout the NFL.

Which Bengal is Duke Manyweather referring to?

Manyweather purposely made his tweet ambiguous in order to avoid any complications but thanks to Jim Nagy, director of the Senior Bowl, fans can feel pretty confident that the player being referred to is rookie tackle out of Kansas, Hakeem Adeniji. Nagy directly states it in the comments.

Further confirming that the tweet refers to Adeniji is the fact that the talented tackle himself favorited it on his personal Twitter account.

Is Hakeem Adeniji really the answer to the Bengals’ offensive line problems?

Now, the first question that comes to the forefront when accessing Manyweather’s diagnosis becomes ‘was Adeniji his client leading up to the draft?’ and the answer is yes, he was. However, according to The Athletic, 20% of all offensive linemen invited to the NFL combine this year were trained by Manyweather.

Even with the OL Guru’s evaluation off the table, the Bengals’ official team website stated earlier this year that Adeniji “will be a starter at some point” and that it could be sooner than later.

At this point, giving Adeniji a shot among the starters is certainly worth trying. If the young, athletic, and versatile lineman can begin his NFL development early, there’s potential he can turn into a viable starter this year. That would give the front office one less thing to worry about next offseason and help keep Burrow off the turf.

There’s no telling if the coaching staff is seriously considering a change at this point but if they are, they have 10 days to mull it over before they travel to Philadelphia to take on the Eagles.