INDIANAPOLIS – The No. 1 priority for the Cincinnati Bengals this offseason is finding ways to improve their offensive line.
Offensive line coach Frank Pollack will be at the forefront of ensuring it happens in his second season with head coach Zac Taylor. Pollack knows exactly what he wants his room to look like and the type of players he wants to work with.
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Over the next few weeks, Pollack will be evaluating the offensive linemen who will be available in free agency after a thorough self-scout of the players he currently has in his room. In his 16th season as an NFL coach, Pollack has established the identity he feels his group must have to be successful.
“Just from what I see on tape and then does he fit in the room?” Pollack said. “Is he a leader? Is he a guy that’s going to be that alpha male? Is he a guy that’s going to be more reserved? I’d love to have more leadership in the room, love to have more alpha males in the room, can’t get enough of those guys. Would love to have more what I call glass eaters in the room. Can never have enough of those guys. That’s what this league requires. Those are the kind of offensive linemen that we’re looking for.”
The attention surrounding the Bengals’ offensive line this offseason will be at an all-time high following how the Super Bowl 56 loss unfolded. Quarterback Joe Burrow, in his second season in the NFL, was sacked seven times in the loss to the Rams. Burrow was sacked 70 times in total, including the regular season and the playoffs. The 70 sacks Burrow took is the third-most in NFL history.
Pollack specifically addressed the number of sacks his team allowed this season on Wednesday at the combine.
“I hate all sacks,” Pollack said. “They all make me angry and upset. I understand why they happen but we don’t’ want them. I would love to be able to get zero sacks the entire year. That is what I am straining for and losing my mind the whole time every day about. That’s not realistic but that is what I am grinding on and everyone’s approach should be that way.”
At this point, there’s only one player on the Bengals’ offensive line who is guaranteed to be back in a starting role at the start of the 2022 season and that’s left tackle Jonah Williams. Cincinnati drafted Williams with the 11th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft and he’s lived up to what the team hoped he would be protecting Burrow’s blindside.
The questions are centered around every other position and player who started at any point on the offensive line, including Quinton Spain, Trey Hopkins, Hakeem Adeniji, Jackson Carman, Isaiah Prince and Riley Reiff.
Who will stay and return as a starter? Who won’t be re-signed?
These are the pressing questions director of personnel Duke Tobin, offensive coordinator Brian Callahan, Pollack and Taylor will spend time sorting through over the next few weeks.
From a salary cap standpoint, the Bengals are in good shape if they choose to go to the market to address the offensive line. According to Spotrac, the Bengals have the fourth-most amount of cap space behind the Dolphins, Jaguars and Chargers at this moment.
Tobin and Taylor will be making decisions in the next few weeks on where they’ll allocate their money. Both said at the combine on Tuesday one of the main priorities is making sure they retain several players who were on their roster in 2021 that are up for free agency. It’s important to keep that in mind as there’s a certain portion of the available salary cap money that would go the in-house players they decided to keep.
While it’s unclear at this time what the Bengals’ offensive line will look like in Week 1 of the upcoming season, it’s evident Pollack has made his expectations clear.
“Whether there was one or 70, I hate all of them,” Pollack said. “Hate all the ones where he was flushed. Hate the ones we didn’t get a sack but he got hit. Hate them all. We are not out there saying those are acceptable. That’s not acceptable.”
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