Nobody can tell you with a straight face that the Cincinnati Bengals' front office has done well enough to protect Joe Burrow throughout his career. Lost in the muck and mire of last year's 6-11 record and another Burrow injury, though, was the fact that the offensive line was actually good.
Well, eventually. And maybe that's why the big uglies in the trenches (I say that with affection) still have a bit of a PR problem. A pass protection breakdown in Week 2 did trigger Burrow's turf toe injury, but that was the personnel department's fault for signing Dalton Risner so late.
Risner and ascending tackle Amarius Mims solidified the right side of the o-line. Rookie left guard Dylan Fairchild was a functional starter when healthy. Vets Orlando Brown Jr. and Ted Karras are solid at left tackle and center respectively.
So why is it, then, that the Bengals' o-line is held in such low esteem? I'd say it's a blend of performance precedent, underbaked research, and organizational history.
2026 Bengals offensive line places 28th in big-brained preseason rankings
Sharp Football dropped a preseason ranking of all 32 offensive lines. The Bengals were fifth-worst at No. 28. Jay Morrison of BengalsTalk.com immediately took Warren Sharp to task, to which the mustachioed fella retorted with data:
Bengals ranked #28 in pass block win rate last year
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) July 8, 2026
Allowed #3 most pressure, #2 most non-blitz pressure, #7 shortest time-to-sack
RB runs in primary OL combo (Brown-Fairchild-Karras-Risner-Mims):
3.9 YPC, -0.09 EPA/rush, 12.8% stuff rate, 1.29 YBC/att
which rank…
My guy. What are we talking about?
Courtesy of Joe Goodberry, look at how good the running game was, even with an abysmal start to the year, which no doubt has something to do with those middling/lower-ranked data points Sharp cites:
"The Bengals can't run the ball"
— Goodberry (@JoeGoodberry) June 27, 2026
Ummm, they were number 1 in EPA per rush in 2025.
They were 3rd in rush Success Rate behind Rams and Bears.
And they're bringing back all 5 OL starters, get Erick All back in the TE room and Chase Brown is in a contract year.
If you're still… pic.twitter.com/zZLrg8vHnv
Burrow has overcome poor pass protection basically every single season in Cincinnati. This returning starting five has the upside to easily be the best unit he's ever played behind in that regard.
Fairchild figures to progress in his second season. As I mentioned before, Mims is looking more like a legit franchise tackle by the day.
In the event that the aging Karras takes a bit of a step back, the Bengals could deploy either Connor Lew or Brian Parker II at center and probably be just fine. They're rookies, but they're superior athletes to Karras, which could open up the playbook even more in a lot of ways, i.e. diversifying the run scheme.
Talk is cheap at this point. The Bengals whose abilities are under question will likely scoff at this data, and be fired up to prove it all wrong. Football ain't played on spreadsheets.
And I say this as someone who respects Sharp Football/Warren Sharp (facial hair notwithstanding). The data hasn't lied about all the punishment Burrow has endured. Or how bad offensive lines of yesteryear were. But this latest allegedly "sharp" observation misses the mark by a mile.
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