Cincinnati Bengals: 9 players to protect in a hypothetical expansion draft

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Jonah Williams, Cincinnati Bengals (Mandatory Credit: Kareem Elgazzar/The Cincinnati Enquirer-USA TODAY NETWORK) /

Cincinnati Bengals to Protect – No. 2: Jonah Williams

Putting Jonah Williams this high might seem insane to people but left tackles are important in the NFL. Williams, a former first-round pick by the Bengals, hasn’t been bad during his two years of NFL action and that can’t be stated enough.

Williams’ issue has been that the guy can’t stop getting bit by the injury bug. He missed his entire rookie season and then missed another six games last year. At this point, Williams is labeled as a player who is injury prone but the Bengals would still protect him in the expansion draft for multiple reasons.

First and foremost, and we already touched on this, he’s a left tackle and a pretty decent one. Per PFF, Williams graded out at 70.1 last year and allowed just three sacks in his 634 snaps. That’s not bad for a left tackle and if the guy could stay healthy, he’d be one of the better left tackles in the league.

Secondly, Williams is still young, as he won’t celebrate his 24th birthday until November. He’s in the third year of his career and this is a now-or-never season for him as far as his Bengals future is concerned. He’d still be protected though because, when healthy, Williams is a good left tackle and that’s the first thing an NFL team is going to look for when it comes to setting their quarterback up to succeed.