The Cincinnati Bengals knew they’d be taking Joe Burrow No. 1 overall in the 2020 NFL Draft and have had two offseasons to give him the best offensive line possible. They haven’t put as much work into doing so as they should and that’s become crystal clear in recent weeks.
While surfing Twitter on Monday, I came upon this tweet from Ben Fennell, who works for NFL Network. Fennell noted that the Bengals’ o-line has not been good and he went as far as to say that he’d replace four of the five starters on the offensive line.
While that’s a tad bit dramatic, Cincinnati has their work cut out for them when it comes to fixing this offensive line. It needs to be priority No. 1 because with a quarterback like Joe Burrow, that’s all that’s standing in the way between this offense being where they are now and being close to unstoppable.
This Bengals OL needs fixing - and emphatically.
— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) December 20, 2021
I might look to replace 4/5 this offseason.
Cincinnati Bengals have to fix their offensive line
The left side of the line has been pretty good for the most part. Yes, Jonah Williams and Quinton Spain have had their bad moments but that’s going to happen to any offensive lineman. Williams is under contract for at least one more year, most likely two when the team picks up his fifth-year option. Spain is slated to hit free agency and Cincy should do what they can to keep him around.
Center and the right side of the line, however, certainly need to be upgraded.
Trey Hopkins hasn’t played well this season and while Trey Hill is still young, he didn’t look good at all when he filled in for the injured Hopkins. Right guard has been a revolving door all season with Xavier Su’a-Filo, Jackson Carman, and Hakeem Adeniji all taking turns there.
Riley Reiff played decently at right tackle but he’s out for the year. Fred Johnson and Isaiah Prince probably aren’t the answer there. Maybe D’Ante Smith gets a shot to show what he can do at right tackle and he made his NFL debut this past weekend in Denver.
With Spain and Reiff both hitting the free-agent market, Cincinnati has to figure out if they want to re-sign them while also figuring out what to do at the center and right guard positions. Some free-agent names to watch would be Brandon Scherff, Andrew Norwell, Jason Kelce, and Ben Jones, to name a few.
Burrow will be entering year three next season and if the Bengals don’t give him a decent offensive line, this team won’t be able to reach the promised land.