The Cincinnati Bengals are an unmitigated mess right now. They are 2-3, but definitely worse than their record indicates since quarterback Joe Burrow was involved in both wins. When he hasn’t played, the team has been stomped repeatedly.
Things didn’t change on Sunday when they lost to the Detroit Lions in it-was-much-worse-than-it-looked fashion, 37-24.
While it’s easy to blame backup quarterback Jake Browning (and he certainly has plenty of fingers pointing in his direction), it starts with the offensive line. The problem with the Bengals line is two fold: They can’t pass block and they can’t run block.
Former Bengals offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth said on Monday’s The Pat McAfee Show that the problem is the team’s poor evaluation of talent up front.
“I think it’s evaluation,” Whitworth said. “If you look at it, I’m gonna throw myself in the mix, it’s been 2011 since they drafted a guy and he re-signed a contract, and they’ve let Kevin Zeitler and me walk in free agency. So if you can’t draft an offensive lineman, and then you’ve let guys leave who continue to go elsewhere and win, you clearly have an evaluation problem of the priority of the position.”
Heading into Week 5, Pro Football Network has the Bengals‘ offensive line ranked No. 32 in the NFL. Even if their analysis is off by a few, that’s still horrific.
Whitworth knows the Cincinnati Bengals really well
Whitworth, now an analyst on Amazon’s Thursday Night Football broadcast, knows the Bengals‘ organization well, especially when it comes to how they handle veterans and contracts. He had his own issues with the Brown family around 2015-16 and, sure enough, by 2017 he was with the Los Angeles Rams.
“After I went out in the media and said there wasn’t any communication, they [Katie and Troy Blackburn] brought me in the next week and said ‘we’re going to move forward with these two guys and we think you’re done,’” Whitworth said back in 2020.
Bengals owner Mike Brown stepped in during the 2015 season because apparently that’s the only way they ever get anything done around there.
“Midseason of that year, Mike (Brown) and I ended up sitting down as we always did usually to talk ball,” Whitworth said. “He decided… him — not anybody else — Mike decided on his own that he wanted me to stick around another year so he ended up giving me a one-year extension, just between him and I.”
Whitworth’s assessment of Cincinnati Bengals’ approach is spot on
The Bengals history of drafting offensive linemen isn’t good. Per Whitworth’s comments, the Bengals haven’t signed an o-line draft pick to a second deal since 2011.
In 2012, they drafted Kevin Zeitler in the first round. They did not give him a second contract and, for the record, he’s still playing in the NFL. Bad players don’t last 14 years in the NFL.
Since then, they’ve spent first-round picks on:
2015: Tackle, Cedric Ogbuehi
2018: Center, Billy Price
2019: Tackle, Jonah Williams
2024: Tackle, Amarius Mims
Do you recognize any of those names outside of Mims? Even then, Mims was last year so he’s fresh on the minds of Bengals fans. On one hand, you could say that at least they are addressing the problem with draft capital and resources, but, Whitworth is right, their evaluation is just terrible.
The draft evaluation wouldn’t be so bad if they were able to plug in veterans and free agents, but they can’t/won’t do that right either.
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