Bengals right guard competition is heating up before Week 4 vs. Broncos

For some reason, the Cincinnati Bengals' fan base was curiously interested in the signing of guard Dalton Risner ahead of the start of the regular season. 

What we should have been more concerned with is why he was available so late in the proceedings to begin with. We might now have the answer. Unfortunately, the answer we don’t have is to the question of who is best suited for the right guard position along the offensive line. The unit is struggling, but Risner is enduring the biggest struggle of all. 

But now, that competition is thankfully heating up ahead of the Bengals' Week 4 matchup against the Denver Broncos. 

Dalton Risner not rising to the occasion for Bengals

Unfortunately, Risner has turned out not to be the answer that many fans thought he would be after being erroneously sold as a solution at the position. Against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Risner had a few unfortunate moments. The most significant of which was when quarterback Joe Burrow suffered a turf toe injury. 

According to the Pro Football Network, the Bengals had the worst offensive line in the NFL after the first two weeks. Cincinnati’s running backs’ 0.32 yards before contact ranks 30th in the NFL. Furthermore, according to PFN, the Bengals have “given up pressure on 72.7% of their long dropbacks, the second-highest rate in the league.”

According to their rankings, Risner is the most significant concern, and it is not particularly close. His 65.8 grade ranks 60th among guards in their metrics. That means he is tenuously holding on to a replacement-level of play.

For those of you hoping his Pro Football Focus grade is better, you may stop now. His PFF grade is at 46.4, for what that is worth.

The hope that Risner would be something that he was not in Minnesota has not paid off. The Vikings sent him on his way after they signed Will Fries in free agency.

Adam Patrick noted a month ago in The Viking Age that the main reason Risner is not returning is his run blocking. Patrick wrote, “Risner struggled mightily as a run blocker, as his PFF run-blocking grade ranked 96th out of 136 guards from around the league.” Unfortunately, Bengals fans are discovering this to be true. More importantly, Chase Brown is feeling that it is true. 

But if he remains in the starting lineup, it can’t get any worse, right? That question may be better suited to ask Jake Browning or Chase Brown. 

Jalen Rivers next up for Bengals' right guard job?

Risner left Sunday’s match against the Minnesota Vikings with an injury. Rookie Jalen Rivers entered the game in his stead.

Just like in the preseason when Patrick was out, Rivers, drafted as a tackle in the fifth round of April’s draft, stepped in at guard. 

After extended action against the Vikings on Sunday, Rivers sounds like he is ready and confident in what he can bring to the offense. 

The Bengals assembled this iteration of the offensive line with the intention of better protecting Burrow, albeit at the expense of the run game. What Rivers brings is a history of efficiency at both. 

One of the metrics used when drafting Rivers and Dylan Fairchild was ‘blown blocks.’ They were two of the best in recent college draft classes who preceded two of the worst at that metric in the NFL last year. 

Rivers is not only one of the best at that metric in pass protection, but had a 0.0% blown block rate. Competent run blocking without whiffing is something this team desperately needs this season. 

Rivers is now in pole position to take over for a struggling Risner. The Bengals should afford Rivers the chance to play after what has proved to be a disappointing stretch for Risner, to put it nicely. 

Lucas Patrick could make a splash upon his return 

Despite not being an inspiring signing to begin with, hopefully, the team knew what they were doing when they signed Lucas Patrick.

The initial thought was that he came in as a depth piece. It quickly became evident that the coaching staff looked at him as a starter. Or maybe they had to because the front office gave them nothing else to work with. 

Things did not begin well with a subpar performance in the preseason. Many fans were already calling for his replacement after three preseason games. 

But with their back against the wall, they brought in Risner. Fast forward three weeks, and those same fans are waiting with impatience for his return in hopes he can help revive a hapless rushing attack.

And with results in hand, it is difficult to think he is a worse option than Risner at this point. 

Unfortunately, with Patrick on I.R., we do not know when he will return from his calf injury. The only suitable answer is 'not fast enough.' 

Overall outlook for Bengals at right guard

An ideal scenario for the Bengals is if Rivers were to Wally Pipp both Patrick and Risner. Not only would that help the Bengals’ offensive line woes, but it would also add a modicum of confidence in the team’s front office that they know what they are doing when it comes to selecting offensive linemen in the draft. An ability that they have shown not to have since well before Zac Taylor arrived in 2019.

The reality is that we should, unfortunately, expect Risner to continue being the starter if healthy until at least Patrick returns from injury. But we should hope this is far from the case. 

And perhaps it is not the case that Taylor said Risner could have returned to the game after his injury against the Vikings, but rather that the coaches opted against it. As Geoff Hobson wrote on the Bengals website, "Right guard Dalton Risner relieved by rookie Jalen Rivers, left early in the second half when he hurt his calf, but Taylor indicated he thinks he could have come back."

Either way, the offensive line’s performance has been beyond awful through the first three weeks of the season. It is a major miracle that the team won their first two games. 

However, something drastic must change upfront. The first step is figuring out who is best suited to play right guard. Or it could be a question of who can play the position less badly. 

It is literally, painfully clear that the competition is heating up around the guard position. Unfortunately, it took this long. The immediate hope is that they find an answer in Rivers. If that does not work, Patrick may be the answer after all.

Or, they could continue to run Risner out until the wheels fall completely off Cincinnati’s season — if they haven’t already. 

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