Even with the addition of the talented left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. last offseason, the offensive line of the Cincinnati Bengals was nothing short of a complete disappointment. Even after spending big money on three of the five biggest positions and a first-round pick starting at right tackle, Cincinnati found themselves ranked 25th in the league in sacks allowed per game at 2.9.
This offseason, the team will almost certainly say goodbye to underperforming 2019 first round pick Jonah Williams in a move that will leave a gaping void at the right tackle position. There is heavy speculation that the team will select an offensive tackle with the 18th overall pick (I’ve already voiced my heavy approval of Alabama product J.C. Latham) but it might be worth it for Cincinnati to look for alternative approaches to solving the issues in the trenches this offseason.
Cincinnati Bengals Analyst Proposes Trade for Super Athletic Offensive Tackle
While most people think of offseason additions as mainly free agency and the NFL Draft, there are other opportunities for franchises to add to their roster and that is trades. While Cincinnati has never been known to go all in on players with expensive trade agreements, they have been known to take chances on players with fliers in day two or three of the draft. That is exactly what one Cincinnati podcaster suggested this past week.
Early this week, films analyst Greg Cossell of NFL Films went on a podcast with Cincinnati announcer Dan Hoard and threw out the suggestion that Cincinnati should go after for New York Jets offensive tackle Mekhi Becton.
“He’s big. He’s athletic. He’d certainly be worth it,” Cosell mentioned to Dan Hoard on the Bengals Booth Podcast. “You’re talking about a big, athletic guy. He’s really athletic for his size. Yeah, that’s worth a flier.”
While Becton was drafted 11th Overall in the 2020 NFL Draft by New York due to his remarkable athletic gifts, the 6’7″ 363-pound goliath has struggled to stay healthy and hasn’t been able to gather much traction with the Jets. therefore, Cosell threw out that he may be worth signing him to a low salary contract to see if the young tackle can salvage his career after his injury struggles.
While I still think that Cincinnati should draft an offensive tackle with how deep this class is (there are six offensive tackles expected to be drafted within the first twenty picks), it would be an astute pick up if they could bring in Becton to anchor the right side of the line. While he is talented, I certainly don’t think that they should put all their chips in one basket.
I would still argue that Latham is going to be the better prospect down the line but one of the best things the team can do to improve the offensive line is establish some competition. Cincinnati has been far too happy with a wide talent gap between the starters and the backups at the offensive line and it appears to have generated a complacent trend. Another advantage Cincinnati has with Becton is that offensive line coach Frank Pollack was with the Jets when Becton was selected and helped him to his best season as a rookie.
Maybe if Pollack was reunited with Becton, they could finally unleash his athletic gifts and the Cincinnati offensive line would finally reach its potential.
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