Zac Taylor was a guest on the Bengals Beat Podcast earlier this offseason and he openly acknowledged that the team had to improve up front on both sides of the ball following a four-win season.
During the 2021 NFL Draft, Taylor and the Bengals made it abundantly clear what their focus was.
The Bengals’ 10-member 2021 draft class is comprised of four defensive linemen (DE Joseph Ossai, DE Cam Sample, DT Tyler Shelvin and DE Wyatt Hubert) and three offensive linemen (G Jackson Carman, OT D'Ante Smith and C Trey Hill).
The seven total offensive and defensive linemen are the most ever selected by the Bengals since the NFL draft became a seven round format in 1994.
Cincinnati made a concerted effort to beef things up in the trenches.
“There just kept being value there that we liked, and we just kept adding competition. Our depth took a hit last year. You go into training camp feeling great about everything, and then your depth just takes a hit. That’s just the nature of an NFL season with 17 games in a physical division. We don’t want to go down that road again,” Taylor said.
“I don’t want to be in Week 12, Week 13 and you’re signing guys to walk in off the street and play. We’re going to go get depth, and get the guys that we like. We really feel good about how we came out of this weekend on both sides of the ball there.”
The Bengals offensive and defensive lines were decimated by injuries last season, but both units were also subpar. Cincinnati finished at the bottom of the AFC North in both sacks allowed (48) and pressures given up (191).
On the defensive side, the Bengals’ 17 total sacks ranked dead last in the NFL.
