No one can deny it: the Cincinnati Bengals made a huge addition on Tuesday afternoon with the addition of former Super Bowl Champion Trent Brown. Brown has been a solid offensive tackle throughout his career but he certainly had the best season of his career in 2023 with a Pro Football Focus (PFF) rating of 80.2 (11th best tackle in the NFL). Brown is certainly a talented tackle who has managed a solid long and successful career.
Cincinnati Bengals’ Recent Signing Indicates Complete Absence of Strategy
While I was pushing all offseason for the team to select former Jets offensive tackle Mekhi Becton, I am happy with the overall choice to bring in Brown to compete for the right tackle position. That being said, it doesn’t seem to blend well with the team’s overall philosophy.
After the release of long-time bell cow running back Joe Mixon, Cincinnati appears to be pushing for a much more pass-heavy approach to the offense with elite quarterback Joe Burrow and talented wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase. For a pass-heavy offense, the best approach would be to bring in quick, athletic offensive linemen who excel at mirroring pass rushers. After all, half of pass blocking is footwork and technique.
While smaller offensive linemen would make the most sense, Cincinnati has gotten Trent and Orlando Brown over the past two offseason periods who are 6’8″ and weigh 370 and 345 pounds respectively. You would think that this team would invest in tackles that excel in the passing game but both of these guys are textbook maulers.
While maulers would help with an effective running game, Cincinnati just let their best running back leave town and brought in budget option Zack Moss to replace him. If the team were to go big into the running game, the team could’ve gone after either Saquon Barkley or Josh Jacobs to pair with that kind of offensive line. Instead, they tried to have a blended strategy with a smaller backfield and a pair of colossal offensive tackles.
Not only did they select these two tackles but they have been boasting everywhere that anyone will listen that they have two of the biggest players in football to protect Burrow. The problem is that both of these tackles are solid options but the biggest weakness for both players is athleticism. They may be able to block some of the bigger and slower edge rushers in the NFL but they will be completely mismatched against elite competition in the AFC North such as T.J. Watt or Myles Garrett.
Considering that the team’s previous offensive tackle Jonah Williams fit that same mold, it appears that offensive line coach Frank Pollack simply prefers bigger players. After all, he did go on the record at the NFL combine and basically say it:
“They’ve got to have range, got to have very quick feet. Length helps. Length will help you overcome some of your deficiencies in your feet and your athleticism,” Pollack said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com.
“Balance is a big one. Being able to bend is a big one. Out there on the edge in space, you’re going to face the cream of the crop as far as what this league has to offer. Left side, right side is irrelevant these days. I’m sure all the guys that face the Watt kid in Pittsburgh think that they’re facing the elite just as much as everyone faces the other guy in Cleveland on the left side. So, either side is going to be important. It’s not like it what it used to be back in the day. Left side was kind of the premier (tackle) and it’s not that way anymore.”
So clearly Pollack believes that athleticism is an important trait but he even said it: he believes that size is an excuse to not have athleticism. Now it makes perfect sense why he hasn’t been able to protect his star quarterback throughout his entire tenure with Cincinnati.
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