PFF Says We Have The 4th Most Improved Line!

[BFritz21]

I guess when your line gets your new franchise quarterback hurt, you can only really go up, but PFF on Twitter ranked us as the 4th most improved offensive line this offseason:



I hope that our front office doesn't see this and decide "ok, job's done" and stops trying to improve the line because that seems like a Mike Brown move and I pray he's involved as little as is rumored.

Do you think our line could be a strength next season (or at least not a glaring weakness)?

[Nicomo Cosca]

(05-04-2021, 12:40 AM)BFritz21 Wrote: I guess when your line gets your new franchise quarterback hurt, you can only really go up, but PFF on Twitter ranked us as the 4th most improved offensive line this offseason:



I hope that our front office doesn't see this and decide "ok, job's done" and stops trying to improve the line because that seems like a Mike Brown move and I pray he's involved as little as is rumored.

Do you think our line could be a strength next season (or at least not a glaring weakness)?

The latter.

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

2 + 2 = 4 (100% improvement)
6 + 2 = 8 (33% improvement)

[Whatever]

(05-04-2021, 12:40 AM)BFritz21 Wrote: I guess when your line gets your new franchise quarterback hurt, you can only really go up, but PFF on Twitter ranked us as the 4th most improved offensive line this offseason:



I hope that our front office doesn't see this and decide "ok, job's done" and stops trying to improve the line because that seems like a Mike Brown move and I pray he's involved as little as is rumored.

Do you think our line could be a strength next season (or at least not a glaring weakness)?

I don't see the OL being a strength, but it should be solid.  We have 2 good T's in Jonah and Reiff.  Hopkins is an average starting C and Carman should be able to be an average starter at G.  The other G spot is a question mark, but Spain or XSF should at least be serviceable with the other being a solid backup G.  

[NATI BENGALS]

It's big. The 1st tackle taken in 2019 is entering his 3rd year 2nd with any actual game experience. He should take another step. X and Spain at one G spot should be OK. A monster CFB Playoff veteran true junior T is plugging in at the other G spot. And the root of our OL problems is replaced by a solid-ass veteran Reiff who won't have free runners coming at our QBs face every few plays.

And the biggest sleeper of the whole draft might be the true junior smart tank C from the heart of the SEC that we picked up.

[BFritz21]

(05-04-2021, 01:18 AM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: It's big. The 1st tackle taken in 2019 is entering his 3rd year 2nd with any actual game experience. He should take another step. X and Spain at one G spot should be OK. A monster CFB Playoff veteran true junior T is plugging in at the other G spot. And the root of our OL problems is replaced by a solid-ass veteran Reiff who won't have free runners coming at our QBs face every few plays.

And the biggest sleeper of the whole draft might be the true junior smart tank C from the heart of the SEC that we picked up.

That gave me goosebumps!  I'm starting to get excited!

That definitely did help my confidence A LOT!


Let's hope that you're right and that they can stay healthy!

[Qb7boomer]

What is this indicating?? Is it the number of players on the line teams have brought in?? Or what PFF thinks we play better this season?? Don't see how the chiefs would be below the chargers, top guard in free agency and traded for a quality LT to improve an area which was an obvious weak spot and attacked it like one. Bengals line has more health care issues than Obamacare.

[CarolinaBengalFanGuy]

(05-04-2021, 05:47 AM)Qb7boomer Wrote: What is this indicating?? Is it the number of players on the line teams have brought in?? Or what PFF thinks we play better this season?? Don't see how the chiefs would be below the chargers, top guard in free agency and traded for a quality LT to improve an area which was an obvious weak spot and attacked it like one. Bengals line has more health care issues than Obamacare.

I'm assuming it's the average PFF grade of last years line vs last years grade for the incoming line? Not sure how they determine possibly Carman unless they are using his college grades.

I think just staying healthy for most of the year would improve this line drastically.

[Bengalbug]

New coach too, that has a lot to do.

[*bengalfan74*]

I sure hope they're right but I'm still concerned. We'll see

[Luvnit2]

(05-04-2021, 05:47 AM)Qb7boomer Wrote: What is this indicating?? Is it the number of players on the line teams have brought in?? Or what PFF thinks we play better this season?? Don't see how the chiefs would be below the chargers, top guard in free agency and traded for a quality LT to improve an area which was an obvious weak spot and attacked it like one. Bengals line has more health care issues than Obamacare.

Did they forget the Chiefs prior to injuries had 2 very good tackles? One was an all pro. I see great improvement for the Chiefs if you act like their 2 starting tackles for last year were not on the roster. Otherwise, I don't see it. I do see the Chargers and agree most improved.

[Sled21]

One thing Taylor said that I really like was when addressing what they have done with Free Agents and with the draft, is that on both sides of the line they have brought in talented players who have competitive personalities and are not afraid to compete for playing time. As Iron sharpens Iron, this competition for roster spots is going to make both lines infinitely better.

[ezekiel23]

To answer your question,,,do you think our line could be a strength next season? Or at least not a glaring weakness? My answer would be not a glaring weakness.It’s obvious this line has definitely gotten better.At least on paper.We have 2 above average tackles,In Reiff and Williams.I don’t know why people are down on Spain.He’s a very good RG.Had somewhat of a down year last year,but I’m sure with having preparations this year,and not just thrown into the mix unprepared as was the case last year,he’ll be fine once he gets the chemistry down.Hoping Carman can contribute this year.With the new coach,I think XSF will be solid,as will Hopkins at Center.

[t3r3e3]

If everything breaks right this will be a middle of the road o-line. The interior o-line is still full of questions, Jonah is oft-injured, and Reiff is a middling talent at this stage of his career on a 1 year rental. In short, the line is a work in progress, and nowhere near a top unit. They’re going to need to draft additional high quality help next year and/or sign legitimate quality in FA.

[*Synric*]

Jonah Williams - Quinton Spain - Trey Hopkins - Jackson Carman - Riley Reiff. That looks like a solid starting offensive line.

The question will be injuries. Who is the backup swing tackle? Fred Johnson or Hakeem Adeniji? D'Ante Smith most likely won't be ready to take any significant amount of snaps in his first year. Adding Trey Hill makes me feel a little better about the interior depth with Xavier Su'a-Filo and Hakeem Adeniji.

How many Offensive Linemen will they carry? 9 or 10? That will be very important to who they keep.

[t3r3e3]

(05-04-2021, 12:55 PM)Synric Wrote: Jonah Williams - Quinton Spain - Trey Hopkins - Jackson Carman - Riley Reiff. That looks like a solid starting offensive line.

The question will be injuries. Who is the backup swing tackle? Fred Johnson or Hakeem Adeniji? D'Ante Smith most likely won't be ready to take any significant amount of snaps in his first year. Adding Trey Hill makes me feel a little better about the interior depth with Xavier Su'a-Filo and Hakeem Adeniji.

How many Offensive Linemen will they carry? 9 or 10? That will be very important to who they keep.

Will Hopkins be ready week 1? He was middle of the road when healthy. Price will likely see some snaps.

On paper Jonah and Reiff look good. One can’t stay healthy, and the other is in the decline phase. The backups are pretty bad or unproven.

Spain and XSF are bottom tier starters more suited to swing/backup duty.

Carman is unproven, but hopefully represents an immediate upgrade at RG.

The backups are either very young, terrible, or both (Jordan)

[*ochocincos*]

(05-04-2021, 12:55 PM)Synric Wrote: Jonah Williams - Quinton Spain - Trey Hopkins - Jackson Carman - Riley Reiff. That looks like a solid starting offensive line.

The question will be injuries. Who is the backup swing tackle? Fred Johnson or Hakeem Adeniji? D'Ante Smith most likely won't be ready to take any significant amount of snaps in his first year. Adding Trey Hill makes me feel a little better about the interior depth with Xavier Su'a-Filo and Hakeem Adeniji.

How many Offensive Linemen will they carry? 9 or 10? That will be very important to who they keep.

OT - Williams, Reiff, Smith, Adeniji, Johnson
OG - Spain, Carman, XSF, Jordan
C - Hopkins, Price, Hill

Yes, that's 12, so 2-3 will have to go.

It's going to be tough to decide which depth to keep, aside from Jordan.

Hill is probably needed with Hopkins coming off injury, and they likely want Hill to take over as backup in 2022 with Price set to hit FA.
I'd probably move on from Johnson before I moved on from Adeniji.

[*Synric*]

(05-04-2021, 01:00 PM)t3r3e3 Wrote: Will Hopkins be ready week 1?  He was middle of the road when healthy.

Spain and XSF are bottom tier starters more suited to swing/backup duty.  

Carman is unproven, but hopefully represents an immediate upgrade at RG.

The backups are either very young, terrible, or both (Jordan)

Of course we don't know enough about Hopkins injury to predict ine way or another but from everything that's been said it sounds like he is further along than Joe Burrow.

Quinton Spain has bee a solid starter his entire career. Last year was his worst year by far. He joined the team half way through the year and played 3 different positions flip flopping alot.

XSF has proven to be a solid backup interior linemen. 

We can beat down the line all we want but it looks alot better with that starting lineup than Williams Jordan Hopkins Redmond Hart.

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

PFF also said the Oline has the potential to be average this year. Same as my level of excitement, it’s improved to potentially average this year.

[BFritz21]

(05-04-2021, 05:25 PM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: PFF also said the Oline has the potential to be average this year. Same as my level of excitement, it’s improved to potentially average this year.

I can deal with average because it's a lot better than I expected.

Would I prefer it to be good?  Of course, but I just want to give Burrow enough time to make some throws and not get him killed again to the point of injury.  I think Burrow's chemistry with Chase will help out a lot and Burrow will be able to get the ball our a half second or full second faster because he won't necessarily need to wait for him to finish his route and he'll just know where he'll be.

Mixon can also be a top five or top ten back behind an average line.