The Cincinnati Bengals were aggressive in free agency last spring. They signed Alex Cappa, La'el Collins, and Ted Karras to boost their offensive line and added Hayden Hurst to replace C.J. Uzomah at the tight end position.
The biggest priority for the team last offseason was upgrading the offensive line and that's why minutes into the legal tampering period, the Bengals signed Cappa and Karras. Collins joined a few weeks later after the Cowboys cut ties with him.
Hurst was signed to a one-year prove it deal after Uzomah signed with the Jets. He was replaced by Kyle Pitts in Atlanta despite putting together career highs the previous year.
Now that the season is in the books, let's give each first-year free agent a grade for their 2022 performance.
Alex Cappa
The first free agent that the Bengals signed last year was Cappa, who had spent the first four years of his career with the Buccaneers after they spent a third-round pick on him in 2018. Cappa wasn't the top free agent available at right guard in the offseason but the Bengals were still applauded for signing him.
Highest graded Bengals in Week 15 win vs Buccaneers:
— PFF CIN Bengals (@PFF_Bengals) December 19, 2022
🥇 BJ Hill - 82.0
🥈 Jessie Bates III - 76.2
🥉 Joe Burrow - 75.2
4⃣ Alex Cappa - 69.7
5⃣ Tyler Boyd - 69.5 pic.twitter.com/0FYKjxcUxh
Cappa graded out at 67.6 overall and had a 71.4 pass-blocking grade while allowing three sacks. It was a shame that Cappa got injured before the playoffs because the team could have really used him in those games. He was a big upgrade at the right guard position, which the previous year had been a turnstile between Hakeem Adeniji and Jackson Carman so finding a permanent talent there was a major win.