Since the mass exodus of quality offensive linemen during the 2017 offseason, the Cincinnati Bengals have struggled to protect their quarterbacks and therefore have underperformed in their aerial attack. Unfortunately for the team, that has led to elite quarterback Joe Burrow suffering season-ending injuries in two of his first four seasons in the NFL. If Cincinnati wants to be a true contender, they are going to have to make a much stronger effort protecting their elite quarterback or his massive $275 million dollar contract extension may end up being a total bungle.
Bengals New Coaches indicates Emphasis on Protection in 2024
Fast forward to the teams recent hiring of passing game coordinator Justin Rascati from the Minnesota Vikings. Rascati has been the assistant offensive line coach for the Purple People Eaters for the past two seasons and as a college quarterback, that blend of coaching experience alludes to a heavy emphasis on pass protection. Recently, Rascati had an interview with Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com on just what he plans to bring to the table.
“I would say I wish I did this 10 years ago before I called plays,” Rascati said to Hopson. “Obviously, you want to build your system around your quarterback and what his skill set is. But I think it’s also important to kind of see it through the lens of the offensive line.”
“I think it’s helped me tremendously from a run game standpoint to protection plan to really understanding more than scheme. More technique fundamentals. And what problem looks they may have and how to handle it. And how to really protect those guys because, in this league, games are won at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. You can quickly get exposed at this level with your protection plan if it’s not sound.”
In the past half decade, both technique and talent have been on a steep decline among the offensive line in Cincinnati and Rascati clearly has a strong opinion on the significance of pass blocking. Cincinnati brought in highly respected offensive line coach Frank Pollack in 2021 but he hasn’t been able to maximize the talent that is available on the Cincinnati offense. The perfect example of this is Cincinnati’s highest drafted offensive lineman Jonah Williams who has shown a tremendous regression under Pollack.
Williams had been a solid player for the first three years of his career but over the past two seasons, he has been arguably the worst offensive lineman on the field for Cincinnati. Particularly at the tackle position, pass blocking technique appears to have completely left the building under Pollack as Williams, Orlando Brown Jr. and 2022 starting right tackle La’El Collins all have shown tremendously poor form.
Systemically, Cincinnati tackles have failed to hold the corner and have given up far too sharp angles to opposing defensive ends. Williams in particularly is rarely seen taking a drop step against pass rushers and has been unable to display sufficient footwork to beat speed rushers. Cincinnati will need Rascati and Pollack to team up in 2024 to bring pass blocking technique up to speed and protect their biggest asset in 2024.
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1 Comment
The issue of our line is not all with our players. Numbers do not lie. Replace Pollack. The Bengals big issue is that they hang on to people too long. If Burrow is to play well into the future, Pollack has to go. Every OL player we brought in regresses under Pollack.